A line stretched from the sales counter throughout the front of the store at Picket Fence Antiques and Collectibles on Saturday morning in downtown Seymour.

By mid-afternoon customers still were looking through all the seasonal decorations, antiques and other items the store has to offer.

“We’ve been steady all day, and it was busy this morning,” said Soni Birch, who owns the store with her husband, Mike.

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The increase in foot traffic not only was due to the holiday shopping season kicking off on Black Friday, but because of Small Business Saturday. The organized shopping day is celebrated throughout the country to encourage people to use small businesses for holiday shopping and to spend money locally.

The turnout in downtown Seymour on Saturday demonstrates a change in consumers’ habits, showing a preference for purchasing from locally-owned shops as opposed to larger, big box stores, said Becky Schepman, director of Seymour Main Street.

“I think the turnout today shows the way the culture is shifting,” Schepman said.

Customers appreciate having a personal relationship with a business owner and the employees, she added.

“We like to buy things from people who we know,” she said.

Dwight Day and his wife, Cindy, walked through Picket Fence on Saturday morning looking at a variety of items. Cindy Day said she feels like each time she purchases something from a local shop, she is helping a friend.

“It all helps neighbors and helping each other,” she said with a door decoration in hand.

The couple did go shopping at one bigger store on Thanksgiving Day.

“We were at Best Buy on Thursday evening for a router,” Dwight Day said. “I waited 20 minutes outside the store, but I like the local shops better.”

Seymour Main Street and the Greater Seymour Chamber of Commerce collaborated for Small Business Saturday to help support local, downtown shops’ efforts to attract holiday shoppers.

Seymour Main Street sponsored a giveaway and a selfie contest, which encouraged shoppers to share photos of themselves at different downtown stores on social media. The chamber also had a kickoff event to draw people downtown.

Lyn Najar, owner of Quirky Living in downtown Seymour, said she had more customers on Saturday morning than usual.

“Small Business Saturday certainly brings more people out and really makes them aware of the small businesses we have downtown,” she said. “People are happy we’re here, and that they have a chance to shop and see what we have locally.”

Without support from all the customers on Small Business Saturday and throughout the year, Najar said the downtown would not exist.

“We’re all trying to revitalize downtown and to do that, you have to support the local businesses or they’re going to close,” she said.

Schepman said supporting businesses like Quirky Living and Picket Fence is a way for local residents to ensure downtown will thrive.

“I think it’s important to shop local because 80 percent of what you spend goes back to the local economy,” Schepman said. “These are business owners that had a dream to start a business, and it feels good to know that we’re supporting them and their dreams.”

Local shops, like the ones downtown, can provide a unique variety of products and services to shoppers, Najar added.

“I think it’s the uniqueness and just having something different than you do at the bigger stores,” she said of why people like to shop at small businesses.

Small Business Saturday also was an opportunity for one of downtown’s newest businesses to shine.

Toski Covey, the owner of Threads, a women and children’s apparel store, said she hasn’t even been open a month, but the volume of people walking by and coming in Saturday was a great way for them to discover the store.

“It’s brought in a lot of customers today,” she said.

She opened her doors 30 minutes early as she saw people walking around and waiting outside.

“Small Business Saturday has been great for business,” she said.

During the morning hours, the store was full of customers looking through the displays of clothing, hats, scarfs and other accessories Threads offers.

“I think there have also been customers come in that wouldn’t have known otherwise that I’m here,” Covey said.

Before opening a downtown store front, Covey sold women’s clothing online and from her home.

She enjoys being downtown, she said, because all the businesses work together and encourage customers to shop at other downtown locations.

“We have sent customers to other businesses to help each other out, and that is what’s kind of cool being down here,” she said.