As of today, there are nine shopping days remaining before Christmas.
As that day fast approaches, it seems an appropriate time to remind everyone to shop local and buy local.
In pointing out the many benefits of shopping for locally-made gifts at local, independently-owned businesses, we realize it may also be perceived as a de facto call for a boycott of the big national chain stores. This is hardly the case. We recognize, too, that those stores serve an important role in our local economy; for one thing their employees are local folks, too, and as important to our community as the folks who operate the mom-and-pop stores.
That said, there are many, many reasons why there are great advantages to buying these locally-produced gifts at locally-owned stores.
According to research firm Civic Economics, 68 cents of every dollar spent in a locally-owned store stays in the community. By contrast, just 43 cents of each dollar spent in a national franchise stays in the community. Needless to say, virtually none of the money spent online comes back to the community.
Apart from the economic impact, there are other reasons we find “shopping local” preferable.
For starters, local stores are far, far more inclined to offer those “one of a kind” gifts that make Christmas gifts more personal. It’s called the “where did you get this?” factor. More often than not, these kind of wonderful surprises are found in the small, locally-owned stores. Big chains operate on volume and are the product of careful marketing and sales strategies. The chains are not built on selling those “one of the kind” items; they want to sell lots and lots of the same items.
That is not the case with small stores, for whom a limited inventory is actually an advantage for a shopper who wants to make sure that they gift they give isn’t something the recipient already has.
In the Golden Triangle, we are blessed with an uncommonly large group of skilled artists and craftsmen. While some of these gifted people sell their work themselves, many rely on retailers to reach their customers. Almost all of those retailers are local. It is a rare thing when a big chain commits to carrying the wares produced by our creative neighbors.
Just as we benefit from the presence of our gifted local artisans, we have found our area has a vast array of wonderful shops and stores.
Of course, finding a local shop that produces those one-of-a-kind gifts is not difficult. You will find such shops almost everywhere you look.
But you do have to look. Too often, we suspect, the big chains are our default shopping option.
There are often good reasons to shop at the big national chain stores, we realize. But there are also many excellent reasons to shop local and buy local, too.
As Christmas approaches, we encourage everyone not to forget the little guy.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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