Friends don’t let friends shop at ‘Big Box’ stores say the small business owners in our community. Buy Local. Shop Local. ‘Tis the season to support local and family-owned businesses.
The Buy Local movement has existed for some time. It has become even more important in the post-COVID era when so many small businesses suffered badly from forced government shutdowns. Many closed for good, and the ones that remained need our support more than ever.
Frank Montenez, Chamber of Commerce of the Mastics & Shirley, said “Our whole mission is to support our small businesses and local businesses in the community. Especially now during the holiday season, I think it's important to go out and support the local vendors. The local businesses are the ones that contribute back to the community and contribute to organizations in the community. We do as much social media promotion of events at our local shops as we possibly can.”
“They're the ones that sponsor the baseball team and donate the gift card for your school raffle”, says Montenez. “They are the ones giving to all the local organizations and schools and volunteer in organizations like the Chamber of Commerce or the Kiwanis or the Lions Club.”
Buy Local is more than just supporting Bob General Store or Sue’s Candle Shop. Buying local churns dollars into the local economy more than buying at chain stores. The people who own the local stores also employ local people and those dollars stay local rather than being sent far away to the corporate headquarters.
The New Economics Foundation (NEF) says, “At the most basic level, when you buy local more money stays in the community.” Compared to when people buy produce at a supermarket vs. a local farmer’s market, studies found that twice the money stayed in the community when folks bought locally.
NEF researcher David Boyle says, “Many local economies are languishing not because too little cash comes in, but from of what happens to that money. Money is like blood. It needs to keep moving around to keep the economy going.” Boyle says that when money is spent elsewhere—at big supermarkets, non-locally owned utilities, and other services such as online retailers - it flows out, like a wound.”
When you are looking for holiday gifts or anything at any other time of the year, look local. Support your local business district. Remember they support you, too.
Montenez concluded by saying we need to “keep shopping local because the small businesses are the lifeblood of the community. And that's what we need. We need to keep our local small businesses alive and thriving, or we don’t have a community.”