Shop Local 2022

HOLIDAY! HOLIDAY!

One thing to remember this year:

BE KIND.

“Small Business Saturday and the holiday season is critical for Main Street, but there is a real need this year for kind ness, appreciation, and patience,” said Tom Sullivan, Vice President for Small Business Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“Businesses have been facing worker shortages and supply chain challenges for months. Having grace and understanding for the employees at your favorite local restaurant or corner store will ensure a smooth and successful holiday season for shoppers and workers.”

Imagine your neighborhood or city without any of its small, local businesses.

Coffee shops, hair and nail salons, corner stores, spas, boutique clothing stores, consignment shops, restaurants, craft stores, bars, fruit markets, shoe/ bike/tire repair shops, laundromats, art supply stores, gift shops, gas stations, pet stores, and more – all gone.

What would be left? What would the streets look like? Desolate, depressing, empty, boring, abandoned… like a regular day on the zombie apocalypse TV show, The Walking Dead?

Just how much of a presence and impact do small businesses have on our communities? The Small Business Admin

istration (SBA) reports 28 million small businesses operating in the U.S. alone. And since 1995, those small businesses have generated 66% of all new jobs in the United States. Small businesses are a big deal.

Which brings us to Small Business Saturday, a nationally recognized holi day held the Saturday after Thanksgiving (U.S.). It has now become a tradition –encouraging holiday shoppers to support local brick-and-mortar businesses rather than big box brands or online-only stores.

Originally conceived and promoted by American Express back in 2010, Small Business Saturday last year alone attract ed more than 88 million people to “shop small.” But what exactly are the benefits

of shopping small, and why should you do it on Small Business Saturday, and every day? Here are some huge reasons:

1. Small businesses give back (more) to your community

When you support a local business, you’re also supporting your town, city, and neighborhood. Business pay sales taxes to the city and county the business is located in. Stray to a big box business elsewhere and that money isn’t benefit ing your community at all. Plus, that tax money is used to support public schools, parks, roads, and sidewalks, as well as fund public service workers, like firefight ers.

What’s more, according to Civic Eco

Includes turkey, gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, candied yams, stuffing, a dinner roll and

Happy Holidays

Keep Money Local —

Sales taxes fund our communities and provide vital services such as police and fire protection, street repairs and trash col lection.

2

Local Investment —

Local businesses are less susceptible to national downturns and more likely to work harder to stay open. “Local ownership means that important decisions are made by people who live in our community and feel the impact of those decisions,” explains Chris Bran son, co-founder of Keep It Local OK.

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Locally-Made Products —

Local business owners often sell local products, which helps preserve the community’s distinction and creates more jobs locally, as well.

Support for Nonprofits —

Local businesses support good work in our community. “Studies show that nonprofits receive 250 percent more support from small businesses than large ones,” explains Dr. Sue Lynn Sasser, professor of economics at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Discover Interesting Things and People —

“One-of-a-kind shops and restau rants are part of what makes our city a great place to live,” Branson adds.

Personal Connection —

Getting to know the store owners is a great reason to shop local. “It’s their business, they are the decision-makers and they build a personal relationship with their custom ers,” Sasser says.

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Product Knowledge —

Local business owners are well informed about their products and

know what they are selling. “Because they know their customers, they can easily adjust their inven tories to include the goods and services local people want to buy,” Sasser explains.

Diverse Products —

Local stores carry inventory you might not find at national chain stores. “Local business owners choose products based on what their customers want and often carry unique items from local artists and farmers,” Branson says.

Cost Effective—

“Sometimes prices at local businesses are better because they don’t have the overhead that larger stores may have and they may be more willing to negotiate to meet your price needs,” Sasser says.

Better Experience—

Local shopping can translate to more convenient retail experiences.

Less “Leakage”—

Local businesses tend to buy and sell with other local businesses. “With national or multi-national firms, a percentage of that profit ‘leaks’ out of the community, the state or even the nation,” Sasser notes.

Increased Expertise—

Shopping at a local store means you can get an expert opinion about the prod ucts that you’re purchasing. “Local shop owners have to be experts in their field to compete. Use them—ask them questions and get advice about products,” Bailey encourages.

Create Community—

“We are a transitory society so people don’t always have a connection with the communities where they live. I would encourage people new to an area to ask the locals where they shop,” Sasser says.

Better Service—

Local business owners do what they do because they are passionate about their products and typically take more time to get to know their customers. “They’ll often go the extra mile to help you and to ensure you’re a satisfied customer,” Sasser says.

Support Future Growth—

Our experts agree on the last reason— shopping locally is the best way to show pride in your city and help protect the businesses that make our city unique.

Editor’s Note: These little mouse ornaments are a symbol of my own childhood, and to this day, our family’s Christmas Tree is adorned with sleeping mice that my grandmother made 30+ years ago. The tradition has carried on with my own kids, who make them with their grandmother (my mom)! We like to use the marker to write the year on the edge of the walnut shell; they’ve become a legacy decoration in our home, and they are very easy to make with young children. Just watch those little fingers if you’re using hot glue!

Walnut Mouse Ornament (supplies for one ornament)

• half a walnut shell

• one hazelnut

• small scraps of felt or fabric

• 1 cotton ball

• small scraps of felt, suede or leather for the ears and tail

• craft glue

• cord for hanging (we like to use hemp cord)

• scissors

• thin black permanent marker

Instructions

1. Clean out half a walnut shell and test fit a hazelnut to make sure it will sit snugly inside (tip: use the most “bulbous” end of the walnut shell for the “top”).

2. Glue a loop of cord to the inside top of the walnut as a hanger.

3. Cut two ear shapes from scraps of felt, suede or leather for each mouse. Cut a thin tail from the same material. Glue the bottom of the ears inside the top of the walnut shell, in front of the hanging cord. Glue the top of the tail inside the center bottom part of the shell.

4. Put a small amount of glue on the back of the hazelnut and set it inside the walnut shell with the pointy end out as the nose. The top of the hazelnut should fit firmly against the bottom of the ears.

5. Cut a small half circle of felt or fabric as a miniature blan ket. Stuff a cotton ball under the mouse’s head and tuck the fabric circle around the cotton ball until it’s snug. You can glue it all down if you wish, but the tight fit should keep everything together without glue.

6. Finally, draw a simple sleeping face on the mouse with black permanent marker. Allow the glue to dry, then hang your Christmas mouse on the Christmas tree.

nomics, “on average, 48% of each pur chase at local independent businesses is recirculated locally, compared to less than 14% of purchases at chain stores.”

2. Small businesses make a major economic impact

As mentioned above, more than half of the U.S.’s jobs since 1995 were created by small businesses. And according to the SBA, since 1990, big businesses eliminat ed 4 million jobs, while small businesses added 8 million jobs. The more you shop at a local store, the more potential job opportunities you could help them provide.

3. Small businesses provide better customer service

Small business owners strive to survive and one of the biggest advantages they have over large retailers is the ability to provide more personable, hands-on, and memorable customer service.

4. Small businesses provide greater access to product diversity

Small businesses have just as much access to vendors (who also determine pricing, not stores) that big box business es do. If a small business doesn’t have the products you want or need, ask them –they’re also usually much more receptive and willing to order them for you.

5. Small businesses create a sense of

community

You’re much more likely to get to know a small business owner in your neighborhood. According to a study conducted by Trulia and noted in Forbes, the second most popular desire amongst urbanites is a stronger sense of community – number one being more local restaurants.

6. You’re going to feel good

Would you rather feel the pang of guilt buying so-so coffee from Star bucks or a lifeless burger at McDon alds, or be entirely satisfied with your latte made with love from Sextant Coffee Roasters, and a bangin’ burger from V Cafe?

How do you get more

The math for buying close to home is compelling—for every $100 spent at a locally-owned business, $73 remains in the local economy. Compare that to the same $100 spent at a non-locally owned business, where only $43 remains in the local economy. Recent research from Civic Economics (civiceconomics.com) indicates that local eateries return nearly 79 percent of revenues to the community, compared to just over 30 percent for chain restaurants.

involved

in the small business movement?

This is a great start:

• Shop small, of course! And not just on Small Business Saturday, but every day that you can. • Need milk, eggs, bread, or beer? Go to the local corner store instead

– Say “hey” and get to know the owner who’s paying taxes to keep your neigh borhood in tip-top shape.

• Get vocal on social – Post pictures, tweets, and status updates of either the small business you own, or of yourself

shopping at one, and be sure to use the hashtag #ShopSmall. Also write positive Yelp reviews for the small businesses you love and support.

• Sign up for local business’ loyalty programs – Does a local business have a customer loyalty and rewards program? Sign up for it – not only will you be sup porting a local business, but you’ll get discounts and rewards for it, too.

• Check out the official Small Business Saturday site, the local business map (note, not all participating stores are listed on this map), and “Like” the Small Busi ness Saturday Facebook page.

• Keep up with The Small Business

Administration, and read up on additional tips such as the National Retail Feder ation’s post, 3 Tips for Involving Your Community in Small Business Saturday.

• As a small business owner, promote Small Business Saturday in-store (down load marketing materials online) send promotions via email and text, post on social and take advantage of the traffic by signing up new people to your loyalty program.

Share this post and others like it –Raise awareness and show your support. What are your reasons for running a small business or shopping at one? We’d love to hear them!

bring cranberries, brown sugar, orange juice and orange zest to boil. Lower heat and simmer 10-15 minutes, or until most cranberries burst. Remove from heat.

Cool completely at room temperature then transfer to bowl; refrigerate.

To make crust: Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter 8-inch springform pan and line bot tom with parchment paper. Set aside.

In medium bowl, mix cracker crumbs, butter, brown sugar and salt. Press crumb mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 325 F.

To make cheesecake: In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese at medium speed until smooth. Add cane sugar and beat 2-3 minutes. Scrape sides of bowl as needed. Add flour, vanilla and salt. Beat 1 minute until incorporated.

Add one egg at a time, mixing until incor porated. Add sour cream and mix 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl as needed. In medium bowl, mix half of cheesecake batter with 1/2 cup cranberry compote.

Wrap springform pan with aluminum foil and place in large roasting pan. Pour cream cheese and cranberry mixture into prepared pan. Top with remaining cream cheese bat ter. Place roasting pan in oven and add hot water to 1-inch of springform pan. Bake 1 hour, 15 minutes, or until cake looks set in center. Remove from oven and rest 1 hour. Refrigerate in pan overnight.

Decorate cake with fresh and sugared cranberries, rosemary springs and whipped cream.