Show Your Community Love and Shop Local

As we begin to brace ourselves for the onslaught that comes with the hectic holiday shopping season, it’s more important than ever this year to keep in mind our neighbors who support and strengthen the local economy as small-business owners.
With the temporary statewide shutdown of businesses and services deemed nonessential, a limited and cautious reopening and the devasting floods that ripped through our region in the spring, 2020 has tested the limits of every local and independent storeowner. Yet these entrepreneurs remain the backbone of the community.

• By frequenting independent stores, you’re investing in yourself by keeping the community economically viable. Varying studies have shown that anywhere from 48% to 73% of each dollar spent locally remains in the local economy.
• You can expect better service, more attention to detail and a more knowledgeable staff from a local business. They are going to develop personal relationships with their valued clientele.
• Local stores give a community an individuality that can’t be found or replicated anywhere else.
• The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council said businesses with less than 20 workers make up 89% of the businesses in the nation. That’s a lot of jobs and opportunities being created by your support.

This issue of Great Lakes Bay Magazine is dedicated to shopping local. Showing these businesspeople some love this holiday season pays some extensive dividends for you as a conscientious community member. Making the decision to shop locally is reaffirming your dedication to, and investment in, your fellow residents and their commitment to enhancing quality of life in our own backyard.

Happy shopping.