Nov. 30 - Dec. 6, 2023
Falls Church, Virginia • w w w . fc n p . c o m • Free
Founded 1991 • V o l . X X X III N o . 42
The City of Falls Church’s Independent, Locally-Owned Newspaper of Record, Serving N. Virginia
Popular F.C. Gift Card Initiative Booming
LET THERE BE LIGHTS!
Federal Covid Relief Funds Help Businesses, Customers by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
With remaining federal American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds aimed at helping communities recover from the Covid19 pandemic beginning to run low, the City of Falls Church has reintroduced its creative way of putting those resources into direct support of small local businesses through its “Little City Gift Card” initiative. $100,000 of the remaining funds are being dedicated to this purpose, and with the formal launch of the second year of the gift card initiative last weekend, sign ups have been even more brisk than the weather the last couple days. According to Farah SwintonNussbaum, marketing specialist of the City’s Office of Community Planning and Economic Development Services, there have been 731 sign-ups for the card in just its first days earlier this week, and so far 73 businesses have signed up to participate. That’s significantly ahead of last year’s numbers when the program was initially launched. The card (actually, a webpage that is accessed online) functions like a debit card and the service is run by an affiliate of MasterCard, which assures its efficiency and accuracy. There is no plastic involved, per se. But the savings are remarkable for those who sign up. It works like this: a customer goes
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A NEW ANNUAL CELEBRATION marking the onset of the season in Falls Church, the “Lighting of the Trees” event, gathered another large contingent to the plaza at the center of the new Founders Row complex. Voila! All the street trees on W. Broad from Washington to West streets are now draped in white lights! (Photo: Gary Mester)
‘Shop Local’ Holiday Push Underway in F.C.
by Brian Reach
Falls Church News-Press
Last weekend Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday ushered in the 2023 holiday shopping season, and U.S. consumers were ready. Americans spent a record $9.8 billion on Black Friday, a 7.5 percent increase from 2022, and a record $12.4 billion, a 9.6 percent increase, on Cyber Monday. But what about Small Business Saturday — and what effect does shopping locally really have on the community?
The biggest benefit, ultimately, is money. Dollars spent at local businesses have significantly more impact on the local economy (and local charities) than those spent at national chains. The local economic effect of spending money at local businesses is, appropriately, called the local multiplier effect. Though numbers for 2023 are not known at the time of publication, in 2022 Small Business Saturday spending totaled an estimated $17.9 billion. According to a Civic
Economics impact study, $12.2 billion of that — 68 percent — was likely reinvested by those small businesses into their local communities. The study found that just 14 percent of national retailer revenue is locally reinvested — compared to 52 percent for local retailers. An even higher 79 percent of local restaurant revenue was found to be reinvested into the local community, compared to 30 percent for chain eateries. Local businesses also give more — way more — to local
charities. A Score report found that small business giving to local charities was, on average, a full 250 percent higher than their big-box competitors. Local businesses have local employees, rent locally, and pay local taxes. Most important, however, they are also our neighbors — part of our communities. The National Retail Federation estimates that, on average, consumers spent about $321 on holiday-related purchases
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