Mary Ringbloom grabbed an ax by its wooden handle Saturday afternoon and lunged toward at a target on the nearby wall. The ax missed the bull’s-eye, ricocheting to the ground.

“Try to hold it steady and throw hard,” said her coach — and co-owner of the ax-throwing venue — Brian Mangone.

The second and third times were no better.

“Don’t flick it,” Mangone offered. “Just let it go.”

“It’s definitely not as easy as it looks,” Ringbloom laughed.

On the Murrysville resident’s fifth and final try, the ax hit its mark, its blade digging in and clutching the cork-like wooden wall.

Ringbloom had never tossed an ax before coming on Small Business Saturday to New Kensington and stopping into Las Hachas, the Alle-Kiski Valley’s only ax-throwing establishment.

She was glad she did, taking part in Las Hachas’ Small Business Saturday special — $5 for five throws.

“This is actually a lot of fun — I’d highly recommend it,” Ringbloom said. “We’re basically wandering around to see what small businesses New Kensington has, and which small businesses we can support.”

Ringbloom and her golfing buddy, Laura Maginness of Plum, were just two of several shoppers who strolled up and down Fifth Avenue in New Kensington’s rebounding business district Saturday afternoon to show their support for locally owned shops.

This year’s Small Business Saturday program involved shoppers visiting and collecting stamps from some 36 businesses. Its name? Shop Small, Shop New Ken.

Around since 2010, Small Business Saturday encourages the public to support local independent businesses by “shopping small” from the Saturday after Thanksgiving throughout the holiday shopping season.

Started by American Express, the financial services company, the day began as way for independents to counter large retail chains and online retailers. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has been an official cosponsor of the event for 12 years.

Jamie Parker wore two hats on Small Business Saturday as she sipped a mug of hot tea in Sweet Alchemy Bake Shop: business owner and community organizer.

The Penn Hills resident and Penn State New Kensington alumna helped launch the free Small Business Saturday effort locally in an effort to drum up foot traffic in the city’s business district. 2023 is the program’s third consecutive year.

“Events like this are great — we’re bringing in members of the surrounding communities,” Parker said. “We’re saying, ‘Here’s what you thought New Ken is. But this is what it actually is.’ We’re going to keep promoting New Ken as a destination.”

One specific destination Parker was promoting: Sweet Alchemy, whose baked treats are entirely vegan but is an establishment that doesn’t bill itself as a vegan hot spot.

“You don’t have to be vegan to come in here,” said Parker, who went meat- and dairy-free in 2013 and opened her vegan eatery in another New Kensington location in 2021. “We’re just focused on good food here.”

Crowds gobbled up much of the shop’s inventory by 1 p.m., leaving behind a few homemade PopTarts-style pastries and one slice of cherry pie. The donuts flew out the door, said Scott Blades, Parker’s partner. So did the ladylocks, which Sweet Alchemy sells for $7 for a half-dozen.

Charlotte Kymer and Alex Oliver grabbed some sweet treats at Parker’s shop Saturday. It was the second time the Springdale residents had come to New Kensington on Small Business Saturday.

And what treats did Kymer buy at Sweet Alchemy?

“We’ve gotta get them all,” laughed Kymer, 38. “I enjoy supporting small businesses.”

The Pistininzis weren’t stamping anyone’s small-business maps at their Fifth Avenue design shop, Modfinish. But they were serving wine, coffee and cookies, and walking people through the industry-influenced space, whose hours they hope to expand in 2024.

Corey and Alyssa Pistininzi moved to New Kensington about 10 years ago after living in an 18th floor condo in Downtown Pittsburgh. A year later, they bought 1013 Fifth Ave., which in a previous life had been an electrical supply store.

In addition to this shop, Corey Pistininzi, now a city councilman, co-owns and helps run botL, an eatery at 1716 Freeport Road that succeeds Hilltop Tavern, a “shot-and-a-beer” joint a World War II Army veteran ran for 50 years before he died in 2016 at age 99.

He also owns National Public House in Leechburg and, rumor has it, makes a mean Old-Fashioned.

On Saturday, Corey Pistininzi talked to curious customers and passers-by as he sat on a massive “wood pattern,” a roughly 400-lb block of wood that industrial giants like U.S. Steel and Westinghouse used in their heyday to forge custom metal parts.

Corey Pistininzi estimates he has about 1,000 of these pieces in storage, and helps retrofit them at Modfinish into furniture or mountable art for lofts seeking an industrial touch. They are popular with Pittsburghers living in former warehouses in neighborhoods like the Strip District, he said.

“We’re saving them, we’re repurposing them,” he said. “It’s history. And, it’s a table you’ll never see anywhere else.”

The elected leader and owner of multiple Alle-Kiski Valley businesses says it’s also not a stretch to make connections between industrial molds and the people who are trying to turn around this Rust Belt town.

“There’s a sort of grittiness and durability to this,” he said, as he pointed toward another massive “wood pattern” mold, “and to the stick-to-it-iveness of the people.”

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