With different places all over the world in various stages of lockdown, some of the hustle and bustle of this time of year has come to a halt. However, where does this leave small and local businesses that are doing their best to stay afloat? This holiday season, I urge you to give back to your community and shop small and local for all your gift-giving needs.
Why shop local?
Throughout the pandemic, giant retailers like Walmart, Target and Costco have seen significant growth in their profits, while countless small and local businesses have been forced to shut down. According to Statistics Canada, 88,187 businesses closed in April 2020 alone. To add insult to injury, this hasn’t stopped big-box stores from plastering their Black Friday sales everywhere they can and even extending their sales throughout the entire holiday season. When you shop from a small business, often times you are not only paying for a unique and higher-quality product, but you are also allowing someone to pay their bills and live their dream. Even better, buying local promotes job growth; this is critical given that 2.2 million Canadians were unemployed in July 2020.
How do we shop small?
Knowing why to buy small and local is all good and well, but how good can it really be if you don’t know how to do it? A good starting point is to look up if there’s a directory of all local businesses in your municipality. If you live in Hamilton, Ontario, there is a website called Hometown Hub that was recently launched to showcase local businesses in the area, including restaurants, storefronts, independent artists and more.
Struggling to shop for the person in your life who’s trying to downsize? With the way this year is going, traditional gifts have become optional; consider getting them takeout from their favourite local restaurant. If the person fancies themselves as an amateur cook, you could even buy them some artisanal ingredients from a local farmer’s market so that they can whip up their own five-star meal.
Maybe in-person shopping isn’t an option for you right now, but don’t worry: the world is still your oyster. Many small businesses have turned to e-commerce, allowing you to meet all your holiday needs from the comfort of your home. One of my favourite platforms for finding small business items is Etsy. Etsy is an online marketplace platform dominated by small businesses and independent creators, which even allows you to filter for items made in your city. The platform features mostly handmade and vintage items, such as jewelry, clothing, art pieces and more. If budget constraints are a concern, you can filter your search by price and seek out shops doing holiday sales. Whatever you’re looking for, there’s a small business somewhere online selling it.
The bottom-line:
Regardless of how you choose to shop from small and local businesses, your support will bring a smile to your loved-one’s face and enable one more business to stay open. This holiday season (and all year round), challenge yourself to not only give gifts, but also give back and support your community.
Shop small, shop local.