While stores and shoppers brace for Black Friday, the day when crowds clamor for “door-buster” deals and shops open to crowds at midnight, some Vineyard businesses are embracing the ideals behind a day better suited to the Island: Small Business Saturday.

This weekend marks the second annual Small Business Saturday, a movement sponsored by American Express to promote small businesses on the busy shopping weekend.

Some Vineyard business leaders said a shop local movement needs to gain traction on the Island, and Small Business Saturday might help spread this message.

“We are embracing it,” said Dennis daRosa, president of the Oak Bluffs Association and a longtime family business owner on Circuit avenue. Mr. DaRosa said he has sent out e-mails about the event to Oak Bluffs stores that are open and distributed promotional posters to businesses.

“We’re aware of what’s going on, and we’re really trying to have a festive atmosphere in Oak Bluffs,” Mr. daRosa added, noting that holiday lights will be lit in town.

While Mr. daRosa said the weekend after Thanksgiving is not traditionally very busy, with many people leaving town to visit friends and relatives, Oak Bluffs stores do see “a slight uptick, and some stores take advantage more than others,” he said. “Some people really embrace sales promotion festivities and they do a lot better,” he added.

Small Business Saturday is “perfect for the Vineyard,” Mr. daRosa said. “We’re all small businesses.”

Claudia Canerdy, the owner of Claudia jewelry stores in Edgartown and Vineyard Haven, said she has a sign on the door promoting Small Business Saturday, and has already started a 20 per cent off sale.

But Ms. Canerdy said she is more focused on a more popular Island tradition: Christmas in Edgartown, which will be held Dec. 9 through Dec. 11 this year.

Off Main street shopping alternatives this weekend include the 15th annual Thanksgiving Day artisans festival held at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury on Friday and Saturday.

Further afield, Island Alpaca will participate in an American Express promotion. The credit card company will give a $25 statement credit to customers with registered American Express cards who make a purchase Saturday at participating small business stores. (A list of other participating Island businesses can be found on the American Express Web site).

Kerry Quinlan-Potter, the owner of The Collection in Vineyard Haven, was mildly critical of Small Business Saturday, calling it an opportunity for American Express to ride on the backs of small businesses.

I’m trying do something for Martha’s Vineyard rather than for American Express,” Ms. Quinlan-Potter said. Her monthlong promotion at The Collection has a more local flavor: In exchange for a donation of a toy, book, or other item to the Red Stocking fund, customers can take 15 per cent off their purchase.

American Express also charges merchants more in credit card fees than other credit card companies, Ms. Quinlan-Potter noted, though the small business promotion might benefit businesses in the long run.

For Ms. Quinlan-Potter, the idea of helping small businesses strikes a chord. “I really am focused on keeping the community healthy,” she said. With stores like Bramhall & Dunn closing in Vineyard Haven, it is a “really scary situation for businesses that are trying to make it.”

Ms. Quinlan-Potter, who opened her boutique in May, expressed concern about trying to run a business during the off-season. She said she wants to gear her shop toward the local community, but when people head off on the ferry to shop at Target and Wal-Mart, “they’re bringing their money off-Island,” she said. “It’s really hard to get the Vineyard community to support the businesses on a larger scale.”

Promoting Small Business Saturday is “something I’d like to do more with next year,” said Dawn Braasch, the owner of the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven who recently stepped in as president of the Tisbury Business Association.

This year, she said, the business association did not run any ads about the event, though a Bunch of Grapes poster reminds customers about the day. The bookstore will not have discounts and sales like some big stores, Ms. Braasch said, though the store recently started offering Island Club members a 20 per cent discount off hardcover books.

Ms. Braasch said it is important to stress the importance of shopping locally, and said she wants to give the shop-local movement the same momentum that the eat-local movement has had on the Island.

Island businesses, including Bunch of Grapes, support local charities, Ms. Braasch said, and provide an important resource for year-round residents. People love the absence of big box stores on the Island, but “I believe everyone goes off-Island and their first stop is a Walmart,” Ms. Braasch said.

Shopping off-Island may save a few dollars, but “down the road, you pay for it. Less of your money stays in the town,” she noted. “Those retailers don’t pay taxes.”

Events like Small Business Saturday might be one way to spread the word about shopping locally, she added. “I love that there is a movement,” Ms. Braasch said, noting that the business community needs to band together to promote on-Island shopping and solicit feedback from residents about what they need.

“Part of what gives a community its flavor is its small businesses,” Ms. Braasch said. “It’s important that we stay . . . the only way we stay is if people shop with us.”