Sunday is the first day of December…the year 2019 is quickly coming to a close. My, where has the year gone? To the past, time would say.
What’s happening in December 2019? This month brings with it snow (for many), family, feasts, and fun, but remember to grab some hot cocoa during this winter month and relax when you can.
’Tis the season when one can make merry by lighting a nine-branched menorah and spinning a dreidel, trimming a Christmas tree, or finding other elements of light and warmth. In other words, there’s a holiday for everyone.
But, it’s also the biggest shopping season of the year. This has been a busy week for a lot of families, with Thanksgiving Day followed by Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping events of the year. From now until Christmas, stores will be trying to one-up each other with extreme deals that drive customers to their stores.
We understand the need to get a good deal. Christmas shopping can be expensive, especially if you are shopping for a lot of people. We would never begrudge someone making their money go as far as it can.
We do ask that you do us, and the community, one favor this holiday shopping season — don’t forget about local businesses. While we all know Black Friday shopping was the day after Thanksgiving, Saturday is Small Business Saturday. The day encourages people to shop at local stores.
This year is the 10th anniversary of Small Business Saturday, and the numbers show just how important it is to shop locally. According to the official Small Business Saturday website, 67 cents of every dollar spent at a small business goes back into the community.
In this age of internet shopping and giant chain stores offering deals that only they can, it’s easy to forget that there are a lot of local businesses who have quality goods that will look good under the tree this holiday season. That is especially true in Elizabethton, which has a plethora of stores that offer unique items you won’t find anywhere else.
Shopping locally provides several benefits for our community. First, supporting local businesses helps our economy by allowing those businesses to continue to employ members of the community.
Not only are you helping those who work at and own local businesses, but you are also helping keep tax dollars in the community. While many of us lament being overtaxed, sales taxes provide much-needed money to the community that support a variety of initiatives in the area. Shopping Small business and local businesses are the backbone to our economy. The merchants providing goods and services are members of the community. Elizabethton is their home.
They aren’t going anywhere. They’re raising their children here. They attend our churches. They are in the stands each Friday night. Just as important, they’re providing jobs to others and spending their profits within the community.
Local businesses tend to buy from other local businesses. That prevents money from leaking out of the community, state or even the nation. Meanwhile, the recirculation of these dollars within Elizabethton provides more tax revenue and increases the standard of living by providing the government the funds necessary to meet our needs. One of them is filling those potholes, which, like it or not, will begin to annoy us in the spring.
So when you are planning out how and when you are going to shop this holiday weekend, don’t forget to support your local businesses too, where you can get great gifts and support the community at the same time.