If the thought of facing hordes of crazed department store shoppers on Black Friday is too much to bear, check out Windependent Weekend instead.

Windependent Weekend , organized by the advocacy group Friends of Old Town , is an opportunity to buy unique holiday gifts from small businesses in downtown Winchester.

"I think we all know that small businesses have been hit pretty hard this year and have had to weather some things: tariffs, economic turmoil and the government shutdown that hit Virginia pretty hard," said Brady Cloven, executive director of Friends of Old Town.

But with the winter holidays now upon us, Windependent Weekend will give those small businesses an opportunity to get back in the black.

"Close to half of all small businesses report they get half of their annual in

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