Originally posted in Monadnock Shopper News

While Plaid Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cider Monday and Giving Tuesday have come and gone, Monadnock Buy Local’s Shift Your Shopping effort continues through December.  The Shift Your Shopping movement supports job creation and economic growth by inspiring you to shift more of your holiday spending to locally owned and independent businesses.

If everyone in the Monadnock Region shifted just 10% of their annual purchases from national chains to locally owned retailers, we would return $27 million to our regional economy annually.  This money would recirculate through our economy, generating ripple effects that create new jobs, charitable contributions and community prosperity.  From your holiday gift giving to your New Year’s celebration, are you ready to Shift Your Shopping?

Here are five Shift Your Shopping tips to boost your effort:

• For inspiration, browse our online directory of 393 locally owned businesses. 
• Ask for advice from 3,880 Monadnock Buy Local fans at our Facebook Page.
• Discover special events on our online calendar or Facebook event feed.
• Make your own gifts (whether art, food or other creation) and buy your raw materials at locally owned businesses.  You may be able to buy what you need in bulk and save.
• To amplify your impact, buy New Hampshire made and grown gifts at locally owned businesses. 
  

“We are supporting Shift Your Shopping because every penny spent locally counts, and when you buy locally produced gifts at our co-op, you are supporting two local business with one purchase,” shared Emerald Levick, Marketing Manager at the Monadnock Food Co-op. “Locally made gifts don’t just convey the richness of our region, but the deeper meaning of your gift is that it gives back to your home community, your friends and neighbors.”

Last Minute Gift Shopping: Think Before You Click

Now, as the month of December speeds by, you might find yourself in a panic to find a special gift for a loved one.  While your instinct might drive you to hop online and shop with Amazon, we’re asking you to “think before you click” and consider the larger impacts of this choice on our community and local economy.

Here’s a summary of those impacts:  In 2015, Amazon sold $272.3 million worth of retail goods in New Hampshire -- equal to 189 retail storefronts, which might have paid $3.6 million in property taxes. That represents a $6.96 subsidy to Amazon from each household in our state.  While Amazon employs 95 workers in our state, their sales resulted in a net loss of 1,541 retail jobs in New Hampshire last year.  These statistics come from a study by Civic Economics and the American Booksellers Association.  Read more at: civiceconomics.com/empty-storefronts.html.

Let’s say you love shopping online -- why not shift your shopping from Amazon to online shops managed by locally owned businesses?  The Toadstool Bookshops has an incredible online book directory.  Search for books at toadbooks.com, select the books you want and decide whether to pick up your purchase in-store or have it delivered right to your house or a loved one’s home (gift wrapped and ready for giving).

Other Monadnock Buy Local Members with online gift shops include Badger Balm, Beeze Tees Screenprinting, Bunny Boogie Products, Cheshire Horse, Cheshire Garden, Eight Cattails Imagery, Good Fortune Jewelry, Hike Monadnock, Holland Homestead Farm, Jack’s Crackers, Jayelay Jewelers, Jeni Skin Care, Korvin Appliance, Of Moose & Mountain, Prime Roast, Thistle in Thyme, Wilderness Creations and Woodard Sugar House.  Search this list by town or product at monadnocklocal.org/online.

Don’t forget! You can also purchase gift certificates either at a locally owned store or sometimes online.

Please join us and Shift Your Shopping this holiday season.  Together we’ll create a true holiday gift to our community -- one that will keep on giving throughout the New Year.

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