Celebrating Small Business Saturday With Films

November 30 is Small Business Saturday. In appreciation of small business owners and their employees, we have compiled a list of some of our favorite films about small businesses and the challenges they face. We hope these films will inspire you to support local businesses as their employees work hard to keep your community unique and thriving.

"The Shop Around the Corner" (1940)

Alfred Kralik (Jimmy Stewart) is a successful salesman at a small shop in Budapest, but he is less successful in finding love. That changes when he contacts an unknown woman through a newspaper ad. Meanwhile, shop owner Hugo Matuschek (Frank Morgan) hires Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) as a saleslady, and she and Kralik can't stand each other. If this plot sounds familiar, it is because it is an adaptation of the same play that inspired "You've Got Mail" (1998).

"The Pajama Game" (1957)

In this adaptation of the stage musical of the same name, Babe Williams (Doris Day) and other employees of the Sleeptite Pajama Factory are demanding a raise of 7½ cents per hour, but factory owner Myron Hasler (Ralph Dunn) refuses to budge. New superintendent Sid Sorokin (John Raitt), who is madly in love with Williams but had to fire her, discovers the corrupt reason why Hasler won't relent. Will his discovery avert a strike and win back Williams?

"McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971)

When John McCabe (Warren Beatty) arrives in Presbyterian Church, Washington, in 1902, the only building in town is the church for which it's named. McCabe soon establishes the town's first non-mining businesses — a saloon/gambling hall and a small brothel. Constance Miller (Julie Christie), a cockney madam, soon arrives and convinces McCabe to form a business partnership, with her managing the struggling brothel. Quickly a bustling town forms, catching the attention of a large mining company looking to buy out McCabe's businesses, whether he wants to sell or not.

"Ghostbusters" (1984)

At its heart, "Ghostbusters" is the story of three entrepreneurs (Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Harold Ramis) who start a small business to eradicate evil spirits from New York City. While the service they provide may be unique, they face the same problems as many small-business owners — finding an affordable workplace, hiring new employees, and dealing with government regulators who want to shut down their ecto-containment system.

"Jerry Maguire" (1996)

When high-profile sports agent Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is fired from his high-paying job with one of the top sports talent agencies in the nation, he decides to start his own agency. With just one employee, single mother Dorothy Boyd (Renée Zellweger), and one client, cocky wide receiver Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.), Maguire sets out to change the industry for the better.

"Chocolat" (2000)

In the winter of 1959, single mother Vianne (Juliette Binoche) upends a small French village by opening an unconventional chocolate shop during Lent. The devoutly Catholic locals are both curious and appalled, and the town mayor (Alfred Molina) urges them to boycott her shop, with the hope of putting her out of business by Easter. Can Vianne win over the townsfolk with her chili-pepper hot chocolate and delectable truffles?

"Barbershop" (2002)

Struggling to keep his Chicago barbershop afloat, Calvin Palmer Jr. (Ice Cube) sells the business to the ruthless loan shark Lester Wallace (Keith David). He quickly regrets his decision, but Wallace wants double what he paid to return the shop. Palmer has one day to save the neighborhood establishment while simultaneously managing employee crises and his growing family.

"Kinky Boots" (2005)

Charlie Price (Joel Edgerton) is struggling to keep his family-owned shoe factory in business. A chance encounter with drag queen Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor) opens his eyes to a niche market — drag queens seeking heels that can withstand extra weight and fit larger feet. When Charlie and his former employee Lauren (Sarah-Jane Potts) fail to design a suitable product, they bring in Lola as a consultant, which does not sit well with many of the factory's employees or Charlie's fiancée.

"Sunshine Cleaning" (2008)

Single mother Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) needs money for her hyperactive son to attend private school. Cleaning houses does not pay the bills, nor does it fulfill her need to get more out of life, so she enlists her aimless sister Norah (Emily Blunt) to join her in starting a specialized cleaning service — crime scene cleanup. As the sisters learn the ins and outs of biowaste disposal, they quickly discover the grueling demands of running a small business.

"Theater Camp" (2023)

When Camp AdirondACTS founder Joan Rubinsky (Amy Sedaris) suffers a "Bye Bye Birdie-related injury" leaving her in a coma, her inept son, business vlogger Troy (Jimmy Tatro), takes over management of the cash-strapped camp. With foreclosure imminent, Troy seeks novel ways to cut costs and increase revenue, including having campers "act" as servers at a Rotary Club event, sharing his bunk with an Airbnb guest, and replacing several longtime teachers with one instructor — the highly unqualified Janet Walch (Ayo Edebiri).

Check out our blog to learn more about how you can participate in Small Business Saturday.