Shop local and celebrate community on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015
All day throughout downtown Highland Park, retailers will be participating in Small Business Saturday(SBS), celebrated every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Shoppers are encouraged to “shop small” and patronize downtown bricks-and-mortar businesses.
First observed on November 27, 2010, SBS is a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday that feature big-box retail and e-commerce stores, respectively. By contrast, Small Business Saturday encourages holiday shoppers to patronize downtown businesses that are small and local. Small Business Saturday is a registered trademark of American Express corporation.
The day of shopping will conclude with a community party – the downtown tree lighting from 6 to 8 p.m. The residents gather in the municipal lot next to Main Street Highland Park’s office at 212 Raritan Avenue for the town’s annual tree lighting, complete with live music, caroling, hot chocolate, candy canes, and Santa!
Residents also celebrate lower gas heating bills
Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), New Jersey’s largest utility, announced on Nov. 23 that it will provide bill credits this winter that will lower bills by about 30 percent during the months of December, January and February for a typical residential gas heating customer. Those customers will see a total bill credit of approximately $124 this winter.
Including this winter’s bill credits announced today, since January 2009 annual bills for PSE&G’s typical residential gas heating customer will be 55 percent — or $916 — lower due to supply rate reductions. In fact, PSE&G’s gas supply rate is at its lowest in 15 years.
“I can’t think of any other commodity that costs 55 percent less today than it did in 2009,” said Jorge Cardenas, PSE&G vice president of asset management and centralized services. “Falling natural gas prices, our transportation and storage capabilities, and the way we manage our contracts have enabled us to pass these savings along to our customers as the temperature drops.”
Serving 1.8 million gas customers, PSE&G makes no money on the commodity itself, passing along what it pays to customers. Its profits derive from delivering the fuel to homes and businesses through its network of pipelines.