There was nothing small about Shop Small Business Saturday at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick.

Following on the heels of Black Friday one might have suspected shoppers would be tapped out. But no, that wasn’t the case as bargain hunters turned their attention to the unique and in most cases, the handcrafted. 

The event conceived eight years ago by Sue Babin, special projects coordinator at the Rhode Island Developmental Disabilities Council, has taken off. In fact, many shoppers, and perhaps even some of the vendors, have no idea of the council’s role.

The Crowne Plaza was transformed into a kasbah.

Nine rooms, including the grand ballroom and the space around it, were filled with 166 vendors. Of those 26 were people with disabilities. You would never know it, which is just how Babin intended it to be. She didn’t want disabilities to stand out, nor did she want shoppers to take pity on the vendors. She looked for them to occupy an even playing field with other small businesses, such as that of Richard Boudreau of Warwick.

Boudreau, now retired, is a weld

er who melds his skills with his artistic talent. He has an eye for repurposing everyday items, such as spoons, pots and pans, tools, old sewing machines, wheels, bicycle chains and door handles, and the list goes on into new items such as sculptures of people and animals. Some of his creations are gigantic, like his giraffe, and stand sentinel in his yard.

Then there is Alton Stuckey, who suffers from intellectual disabilities and mild cerebral palsy. You wouldn’t know it from speaking to him behind a display of vivid landscapes he painted from his imagination or the scores of smaller dog and cat portraits covering his table.

“It keeps me happy,” Stuckey says of his art. He knows his limitations. He doesn’t spend more than four hours at a time working on a project; otherwise it doesn’t work for him. 

Accompanying Stuckey was Iraida Williams of Johnston, who became Stuckey’s foster mother when he was a teenager. Stuckey, now in his 50s and living in North Providence, is close friends with Williams and her family.

Stuckey’s success as the owner and operator of a small business is a prime example of how Babin’s efforts to assist the Center for Women & Enterprise have evolved into an event that attracted more than 3,000 people on Saturday. The center came to Babin seeking advice on how to market products and services produced by women. Babin took on the challenge, learning along the way  that while women looking to start business may have good ideas, they needed business training. She started with classes offered by the Small Business Administration that were later modified and since 2017 have expanded to eight classes.

What motivates Babin?

“[I] want to show people that people with disabilities are just as good as anybody else.”

But then, how best to market those products?

Babin turned to American Express Small Business Saturday for some help. American Express came through with promotional materials including stickers, banners, posters, signs and even rugs bearing the message “shop small.” She also enlisted the help of fellow members of the Rhode Island Developmental Disabilities Council and friends. The federally funded council is an advocacy and support group for people with disabilities.

Babin arranged the booking and setup at the Crowne Plaza, realizing that to make it all work would require pulling together vendors and promoting the heck out of the event. She left the promotion part up to Deb Morais, CEO of Communication Works Inc.  Vendors paid $75 for a table. Additional funding came from two major sponsors. And, Babin added, the council couldn’t do its work without support from the state Department of Labor and Training.

“We’re not in this to make money,” said Babin.

Overall, she said, attendance this year was down from last year. Nonetheless, she is happy watching people carry one or two or even more bags of items purchased.

“The vendors did well,” she said, reporting that some did more than $3,000 in sales.

“It’s just so cool to see people happy. It makes you feel really good,” she said.

As for small businesses, she added, “What’s better than owning your own job?”