BELLE — Ruth & Company Boutique was full of activity on Small Business Saturday as local makers, bakers and artisans set up indoors and outdoors to offer a full day of shopping focused on community and collaboration.

Owner Gabbie Prigge said the national Small Business Saturday movement, held the weekend after Black Friday, was a natural fit for her shop.

“Small Business Saturday is kind of a trend where, after Black Friday, we celebrate small business. And you already know how I feel about small business,” she said. “Last year, we did a holiday mart that was three Saturdays long. So this year, with the timing of everything, we decided to do one weekend, and why not utilize Small Business Saturday instead?”

Prigge hosted six indoor vendors and two outdoor vendors throughout the day, including longtime business friends and new startups.

“Today, we have some who are newer startups that I’m very proud to have. Some are business friends that I’ve had for years,” she said.

Vendors included Dogwood Confections, Eveasting Bonds, Gracelyn Scott’s Sourdough, Twelfth Oak LLC, Feather & Flame, Donna Campbell’s quilts, Faith and Allison Gieck’s Hat Bar, Alesia Tibbetts’s Ornaments and Busenhart Farmstand. Every purchase made qualified shoppers for a drawing for a hand-painted window frame from a local artist, which was won by Jamie Struemph.

Prigge said her hope for the weekend was simple.

“Shop small, support local again. You know our small businesses are the backbone of our community,” she said. “A lot of these folks are locals in general. Some are out of Linn, down from St. Louis, but are born and raised here. I believe Dogwood Confections is from the Rolla area, so really not far at all. These are local people in my mind.”

Prigge said she would love to see even more locally driven ventures take root in town, including family-focused or kid-friendly businesses.

“I would love to see, this is far-fetched, but it is like an in-house tiny house playground for kids. It’s like a whole play place,” she said. “I think that would be so cool. And I think there’s buildings in this area that are sizable enough to accommodate that. Daycare is super important. Something like that, because I’ve seen them done where it’s like a cafe and a playhouse situation.”

Prigge added that a menswear shop would also be a welcome addition to the community.

She said one misconception in rural communities is that major factories or outside industry are the only way forward.

“That’s really not the case because it’s really the small businesses, small but mighty,” she said.

Many of Belle’s businesses are owned by women, something Ruth celebrates.

“It’s like, most every small business in this town is women-owned. How about that?” she said. “Kind of a girl power moment. It really is shifting and it’s very exciting to see.”

She said that movement mirrors national trends showing steady growth in female entrepreneurship.

Prigge said her next steps as a business owner are focused on the bigger picture.

“Really I think the overall picture is bringing people to Belle,” she said. “I think that is the tone for all of the Belle small business owners, bring people to Belle and showcase what it is that we have to offer.”

She said the town’s businesses work together to highlight festivals, fundraisers and community involvement. This is something that can be used to highlight the community spirit of the town.

“Instead of something negative hitting the World Wide Web, let’s show them what positives we have to offer in our small businesses, in our partnerships, in the festivals we put on,” she said.

Prigge said small businesses consistently step up.

“I think probably every single business in Belle has donated for a fundraiser in the last year or better,” she said. “When you think of big companies, how often does Amazon take the time out of their day to think about their community?”

Since opening in fall 2023, Ruth said her shop has worked to help new entrepreneurs gain a foothold.

“Our door is always open,” she said. “We have never turned away anyone who wanted to start up a business to promote themselves. We’re here to answer questions because in May, we enter five years in business, so we are getting a little bit of seasoning.”

She pointed to Allison and Faith Gieck’s hat bar as an example.

“We put them front and center to really help promote them and advertise them because a helping hand can take you so much farther than trying to tackle it on your own,” she said.

Prigge encouraged anyone considering Belle as a vendor location to take the leap.

“If you’re thinking about coming to Belle, it’s not just Ruth and Company you can visit. We have other boutiques in town, we have restaurants in town, we have all of our different retailers, art galleries to go see,” she said. “So it’s not just Ruth and Company you’re seeing when you come to Belle. It’s everybody. And I think that is really what I want the takeaway to be. It’s not just one of us, it’s all of us.”