A winter holiday market in Brooklyn is hoping to get locals to do their holiday shopping in the community.

“We’re trying to make it [inclusive], where it's the businesses, it's the community, it's the kids, it’s the fun, it's the holidays. And, you know, I call it my little Times Square,” Dale Charles, executive director of the Bed-Stuy Gateway Business Improvement District, said.

The outdoor market opened on Small Business Saturday.

The day was first started by American Express 13 years ago in an effort to get communities to support small businesses as the nation was facing a recession.

A recent study by American Express found that 61% of small business owners say that the current economy is making it harder to compete with big retailers.

“When [COVID-19] hit, a lot of businesses lost their storefronts,” Charles said. “I have over 80 vacant spaces on Fulton Street.”

Wells Fargo is sponsoring the holiday market for a second year in a row.

“At the time when this all began, people weren’t able to shop indoors. And so, we wanted to help sponsor a winter wonderland,” Catherine Domenech, a community relations employee at Wells Fargo, said.

Wells Fargo hopes the event will bring more business to shops in the area around Marcy Plaza in Brooklyn.

Al's Men Shop Inc. is just one of those businesses. The hat shop has been in the Bedford–Stuyvesant community for six decades.

“When [COVID-19] hit, it was devastating,” Debra Bullen, the daughter of the shop’s owner, said.

In their effort to recover, they have started selling their hats online.

“Being a small business, we try our best to kind of compete with the big competitors. So we do appreciate any little, you know, help we can get,” Bullen said.

The holiday market will be open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday through Dec. 23 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Organizers say there will be live entertainment, fashion showcases and live music for the community to enjoy.