Wait, wait! Before you buy from an online retailer let me tell you why shopping at local businesses is a great thing to do.
- By supporting local business, you support those who grow, manufacture, and service these local businesses. It provides an economic base for our community.
- Local businesses also support community groups like schools, sports teams, clubs, and youth groups.
- Shopping locally keeps a community unique. Richard Moe, President of the Historic Preservation Trust states, “When people go on vacation they generally seek out a destination that offer them a sense of someplace, not just anyplace.”
- We reduce the environmental impact. Local businesses contribute less to sprawl, congestion, habitat loss, and pollution.
- Jobs are created by local businesses. Small, local shops and stores are the largest employers in the nation. Mom and pop stores are the backbone of our national economy. These employees in turn spend their paychecks primarily at home.
- Better service.
- Local businesses contribute to our community financially by paying sales and property taxes that in turn help educate our children and help provide critical infrastructure.
- Maybe the most important reason is: it is fun!
Every time I visit a local store, I always run into someone that I haven’t seen for a long time. It is not uncommon for a trip to the grocery store to last over an hour because I have had a chance to reconnect with a friend, neighbor, or even family member. These conversations are uplifting, and often inspiring as I glean information about people and events going on in our community.
Years ago, Lehi had the Gift-A-Rama. For everybody who spent a dollar in town they got a ticket to be placed in a huge barrel. Each business in town donated gifts and gift certificates to be won by those whose ticket was drawn. The night the tickets were drawn in the bank parking lot, hundreds of citizens waited, sometime in freezing cold weather to see if their name was drawn. It was such a fun event! Everyone looked forward to seeing friends and neighbors on Main Street. Marketing has changed since those days, but the motivation to promote Lehi’s businesses is still alive and well.
As Lehi grows, feeling connected with others is more difficult, but shopping here at home keeps those connections vibrant and alive. Holiday time is a great opportunity to visit local businesses and feel the holiday spirit that permeates every nook and cranny of Lehi’s unique stores and shops. This is something that cannot be duplicated in front of your PC or laptop.
