With a little more than two weeks remaining before Christmas, the shopping season is headed for the home stretch.
For those with names remaining on their list, we take this opportunity to encourage you to shop in a way that benefits not only that person, but the community as a whole.
In other words, we encourage you to shop at locally-owned businesses, who — like all businesses — rely on the busy Christmas shopping season for much of their annual sales.
According to statistics compiled from December 2014, 90 percent of Americans did at least a portion of their shopping online. And while we understand the appeal of online shopping — wide selection, free shipping, the ability to shop from home — those purchases do little to benefit the community in which you live.
When you shop local stores, those benefits reach into every part of our community. The benefits do not end at the cash register, either. While local purchases pay the salaries of business owners and their employees, they also stimulate the local economy and provide sales tax that funds a wide range of services — from police to fire to community development.
There is nothing abstract about these benefits; they show up on the ledger of our city. Over the past year, Columbus in particular has seen a boom in new businesses, which has increased the city’s sale tax receipts by almost $1 million.
While it is impractical to suggest no one should shop online, we encourage you to first explore our local stores. Chances are, you will find that same item. Free shipping? The only thing better than free shipping is no shipping, which is what you get when you make your purchase in person. There is also the benefit of actually holding that item in your hands and examining it closely, something you can’t do from your computer.
As for convenience, it really is a matter of perspective.
Essayist G.K. Chesterton once wrote that an adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered; an inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.
There is something about joining the hustle and bustle of shopping that somehow adds to the spirit of the season, if only we will allow ourselves to embrace it and view it as a tradition of Christmas rather than an burdensome task.
We all want our Christmas purchases to be appreciated. When we make those purchases at our local shops, the benefits come back to us and to our community.
What could be better than that?
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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