Small business owners and advocates encourage shoppers to consider local stores this holiday season, as many face what could be a make-or-break period amid ongoing economic challenges.

A survey by the organization Small Business for America's Future reveals the extent of challenges facing many small businesses. Sixty-eight percent of owners say their customers have less money to spend, and 59% expect worse holiday sales than last year.

Nearly three-quarters of the more than 1,000 owners surveyed say they are worried about their businesses surviving the next 12 months.

Small business and the economic squeeze

Kelly Carson and Micaila Vandewalle, co-owners of The Riley Grace Company, transformed their crafting hobby into a custom line of bows, headbands, blankets, and hand towels.

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Like many small businesses, they compete against big box retailers that can stock more goods at typically lower prices.

"You have a lot of not only time and energy in it, but you have higher expense because you're not buying them (products) at 10,000 (units). We're a small business, so we don't need 10,000 for a holiday season," Carson said.

Rhett Buttle, senior advisor to Small Business for America's Future, says small businesses face multiple pressures beyond reduced consumer spending.

"We're also seeing challenges, for example, around health care costs and tariffs. This is all contributing to this uncertain situation, but it's also driving up costs," he said. "The same way consumers struggle with affordability, small business owners have the same challenges."

Money spent locally stays local

Buttle emphasizes that money spent at small businesses helps support local suppliers and local jobs.

Research from Capital One Shopping supports the local economic impact, finding that $68 of every $100 spent at local stores remains in the local economy.

Its research finds that dollars spent at independent shops "may recirculate in the local economy an average of six to 15 times."

Small Business Saturday

While shoppers hunt for big savings ahead of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday is a crucial opportunity to support local entrepreneurs after the Thanksgiving holiday.

"This is where a lot of small businesses, especially those in local industries, make the vast majority of the revenue for the entire year," Buttle said.

Painted Tree Boutiques provide a space for local vendors to sell their products, such as handmade jewelry, body oils, clothing, and home decor.

"This is their dream. When you're shopping here, you're not only supporting that dream, but you're helping to support their families too," said Painted Tree manager Olivia Arthur.

If you can't shop in person on Small Business Saturday, many local businesses also sell their products on platforms like Amazon or Etsy, allowing consumers to support them while online shopping.

At a time when most people don't have much extra to spend, small business owners hope what consumers can spare stays local.

"These are exclusive designs. You won't find this at Walmart, right?" Vandewalle said.

The push to eliminate artificial food dyes from products is gaining momentum across the country, as the Make America Healthy Again initiative has sparked new conversations about what's in our food. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called for the phase-out of petroleum-based synthetic dyes by next year.

Skepticism of artificial dyes in our food isn't new. But new rules, calls from the federal government and promises from food product companies have ignited a new shift towards natural alternatives. For American consumers already facing high grocery bills, the transition might wind up costing us more.

Companies like Kraft, Walmart and General Mills have already made promises, pledging to remove artificial dyes from their food products.

"I think those large companies want to keep their customer happy and they think that this move is going to do that," said Melissa Wright, a food safety extension specialist at Virginia Tech.

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Wright says replacing artificial dyes isn't as simple as it sounds. Natural colors are less stable and more expensive to produce. Blues and greens are especially hard to source naturally compared to reds and yellows.

"But also I think they have to be aware that the customer is going be unhappy when their product changes. We eat with our eyes first and we buy with our eyes," Wright said.

A lesson General Mills, the maker of Trix cereal, learned in 2015. After removing the dyes, consumer pushback resulted in the company adding the synthetic colors back two years later.

"For the vast majority of people, there are no real concerns for many of these food dyes," said Jamie Alan, an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University.

Alan says there are legitimate concerns about artificial dyes. Some studies suggest they may cause hyperactivity in certain children. But there's a lot we don't know when it comes to the additives' health impacts.

"One of the things we're unsure of is how much of that is due to the food dye versus a preservative like sodium benzoate. And then of course, many of these foods that are brightly colored also have a lot of sugar," Alan said.

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But the transition comes with challenges. Larger companies have the resources to make the switch.

"They have enough money to buy these really limited quantities of natural ingredients," Wright said.

Smaller producers struggle with limited supply and higher costs.

"And so the smaller producers are going to have to push a lot more of that price onto their customer," Wright said.

Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream in Madison, Wisconsin, has already shifted the majority of its colors to natural alternatives. CEO David Deadman says it could add up to as much as 10 cents to each cone.

"To move to natural, that's just going to be the cost. And I have kids. It's definitely worth it," Deadman said.

Natural alternatives have their own issues with flavor and availability.

"Different ingredients will definitely have a different flavor. So we're trying to adjust and change that up again," Deadman said.

Both Wright and Alan agree the timeline for companies to fully transition by the end of 2026 is ambitious particularly when it comes to the supply chain.

They also stress that access to affordable, nutritious food should remain the top priority.

"The color is not really the issue. It's the fact that it's a really highly processed food. And people tend to kind of glaze over that point," Wright said.

You don't need to panic clean your pantries. Experts tell us, looking at the role dyes play in our overall health is important, but in areas with food deserts or restricted access to fresh foods, nutrient-dense foods and stocking pantries should be the priority.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.