Fintech startup Honeycomb Credit launches Small Business Saturday market in Pittsburgh

A new holiday market is coming to Pittsburgh this season thanks to a local startup dedicated to helping small businesses. 

Honeycomb Credit, a local fintech startup, is launching its inaugural Small Business Saturday Holiday Market on Nov. 29 at the Maverick hotel in East Liberty. The free event will feature live music, raffles and more than 30 local vendors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., offering Pittsburghers an opportunity to “forget Prime” and shop local this season, according to the startup’s cofounder and CEO George Cook. 

“Most people, in their heart of hearts, really care about small business, but sometimes they don’t know how to support small business,” Cook told Technical.ly. “It’s become so easy to shop online, but it takes a little more effort to shop locally.” 

Honeycomb offers a crowdfunding platform for everyday investors to support local businesses. The idea behind the market was to bring what the startup does online into real life, Cook said. 

The effort comes after a “wild five years for small business owners,” Cook said. Since the pandemic, a lot of business owners have struggled with decreased foot traffic, he said, and current economic factors aren’t making it much better. 

A wide range of local businesses will be at the event, including vendors selling handcrafted goods such as jewelry, art, hair products and holiday treats, as well as service-based businesses offering fitness coaching or skincare treatments. 

Small businesses seek connection with local customers

Tariffs, inflation and other cost pressures are top of mind for small business owners, as nearly 60% say they’ve been hurt by these economic factors more this year than last year, according to research from the popular small business platform Gusto.

Tyler Overmier, owner of the energy snack business Sigma Snacks, said his business has definitely felt the impact of rising ingredient costs and freight increases this year, with many of his raw materials now carrying added tariff costs. 

“As a Pittsburgh-founded brand, this market means everything to me,” Overmier said. “My entire business model is built around growing here in Pittsburgh first, and markets like this are a huge part of that story.” 

Tariffs aren’t the only challenge for local businesses this year. Broader economic pressures on everyday consumers are starting to show in sales. 

For Jocelyn Avila and Rob Hackett, founders of Clark Morelia, a business creating handmade leather wallets and bags, they’ve fortunately been able to avoid tariffs by sourcing materials from the US, but they’ve noticed a decline in consumer spending throughout the year. 

This issue can be exacerbated when online sales are less profitable for small businesses than in-person purchases, they said. 

Gordon Hackett, owner of the restaurant Waffles, INCaffeinated, has noticed the same problem. In-store sales from local customers contribute to more than 95% of the business’s sales, but that’s under threat when customers face inflation and lower disposable income, he said. 

“Federal and state governments have forgotten about small businesses by creating conditions for rampant inflation,” Hackett said. “In the interim, small businesses, such as restaurants, suffer in our communities with many closing and going bankrupt.” 

The competitive online market and rocky economic conditions likely aren’t going away anytime soon, though. While this is the first of Honeycomb’s holiday markets, Cook said the startup intends to make this a seasonal tradition moving forward. 

“Small businesses are the lifeblood of communities,” Cook said. “When you choose to spend locally, you’re strengthening the relationships that make Pittsburgh thrive.”