Spread Holiday Cheer by Shopping Local

As published in Tallahassee Democrat, 11/26/2015

‘Tis the holiday season! The holidays are my favorite time of year: an opportunity to reflect, give thanks, celebrate and stimulate our local economy by shopping locally for holiday gifts.

Today is Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year. According to the National Retail Federation’s latest survey, holiday shoppers plan to spend “an average of $463 on family members, up from $458 last year and the highest in survey history. Average spending per person is expected to reach $805, with more than half of shoppers planning to splurge on non-gift items for themselves.”

Given the National Retail Federation’s latest statistics, let’s be mindful of where we invest our hard-earned dollars this holiday season. Think about it: Tallahassee is not home to corporate America. Most jobs aside from government, education and health care are created by local small businesses.

Although it’s simpler to stay home and shop online, think of the investment you make in our community by shopping locally. When we shop online with a nonlocal business, a much smaller portion of our dollars is recirculated in our local economy. There is enormous value to recirculating local dollars within our community as it contributes to our economic vitality.

At AMWAT Moving Warehousing & Storage, we are keenly aware of the importance of the local market’s purchasing power and the positive impact local dollars make when invested in our company. As business owners and consumers, we make every effort to invest in our community by purchasing the majority of our services and products locally. Just as we rely on the local market for our success, so do many of our local small businesses. With an increase in holiday shopping dollars, let’s make our best effort to invest in our local community by shopping locally. The holiday season is a financial game changer for many local retailers and service industry providers.

Tallahassee and area code 850 are home to many diverse and unique shops Let’s use social media to promote and post images of the fabulous items our local businesses stock or services offered by using #shop850 or #shoplocalTallahassee.

Our collective dollars stimulate our local economy by creating opportunities on so many different levels. All of us have a role in the success of our community. Happiest of holidays!

Gloria Pugh is CEO of AMWAT Moving Warehousing Storage. She is also a candidate for City Commission, Seat 1. Reach her at gloria@amwatmovers.com.

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