LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Black Friday is a distant memory.

And local business owners are hoping a significant number of consumers didn’t blow their holiday gift budget all in one day yesterday.

It’s Small Business Saturday! The third annual “holiday” in fact.

Greg Mills, reporting for CBS2 and KCAL9, went in search of small business owners to find out if the day was a boom or a bust. He found lots of boom.

It was a special day at Lolo Boutique in Fullerton. He spoke to shop owner Susan Upton. In terms of sales, “I expect to have the best day I ever had.”

Tom Elliott’s sports collectibles shop, several doors down from the boutique, shared a similar take. “The first year people didn’t have a sense of it. Last year I did good. This year has been real good.”

As good as Elliott did today, he doesn’t want to see a Small Business Saturday, he wants an entire month to celebrate the little store owner. “We’re competing against the big boys and everybody’s online.”

Since American Express started Small Business Saturday, more than half a million stores nationwide are taking part — 52 in Fullerton alone.

Theresa Harvey of the Fullerton Chamber of Commerce knows Small Business Saturday is good for consumers and store owners alike. “Small business is the heart and soul of Fullerton,” she believes.

Stores comes up with clever ways to get consumers to try to mom and pop stores and not focus so much on the malls.

Fullerton resident Jeanne Zamora took note. “I like the smaller stores.”

She appreciates the more familiar customer service and friendly atmosphere. That goes ditto for Fullerton resident Julia Ying who also said, by competing with fewer consumers in the bigger stores, you can always get and find what you want and “you can get more products and you can order.”

Store owner Upton believes Small Business Saturday is here to stay and will grow. “I can’t imagine a small business, especially retail, staying in business very long without offering that extra customer service, that extra personal attention.”