For most Americans, the holiday season is the busiest time of year. All the visiting and traveling and shopping and cooking – all of that has to be squeezed into the same 24-hour day we use for the rest of the year and, frankly, life can get hectic.
With Thanksgiving a week away, we suggest taking a moment to breathe. This year of all years, things seem a little more harried than usual. The dizzying pace of modern life is faster than ever and there is seemingly no end of sources for stress.
Fortunately for all of us, we’re living in the antidote. Not only are we blessed to live in Maine, here in the Midcoast, we are still fortunate to live in communities where most of us know our neighbors.
While volunteers and public servants are often the most visible members of our community, a big part of what makes this community wonderful is the entrepreneurs and businesses who make it go. All of that depends on strong community support. Study after study after study has demonstrated the economic wisdom of shopping close to home. As a small, locally owned business ourselves, we can’t bang the shop local drum hard enough.
Studies have shown dollars spent at a locally owned or independent business circulate in that community 2-4 times more than a dollar spent online or at a national chain. Of course, as those dollars move around, they generate more dollars.
All of that circulation generates economic health, supports local causes, and creates jobs. Lincoln County is rife with small businesses that can offer something for the holidays and we direct your attention to them.
We are familiar with the complaint that it is often cheaper to buy online or at a large store than buying from a small business, and due to the economy of scale, there is something to that. However the price tag itself doesn’t reflect the actual cost the customer pays in travel, time, and lost opportunity. When you figure the value that purchase adds to the community, your community, our community, isn’t it worth it?
We think so.
Shop local this season. It’s good for everyone.
