Shop Small Saturday - November 28th
The biggest shopping day of the year in the US is coming right up. Where will you be on November 28th, the Saturday after Thanksgiving? We hope that you will be in the Tobacco Valley spending your money at local businesses. Mountain Gift, My Sister's Apparel and The Front Porch are just some of the many shops that have the ideal item on your shopping list. And the Chamber of Commerce is helping small home businesses set up tables in the community room of Glacier Bank that day as well. There will also be a free (that's right - free!) matinee for the kids at the Majestic Theater that Saturday afternoon. You can have a great morning with the whole family doing the town and then after lunch, drop the kids off at the theater while you finish up your shopping. If you get tired of lugging around too many packages, consider purchasing gift coupons for that special someone. Heavens Peak, Cafe' Jax, and Latte' Da and are just a few of our local businesses that are happy to sell you a gift certificate in the amount that suits you. So many choices!! A cool pair of winter boots from the Sunflower Moose? Perhaps a basket from The Woolery Mammoth with some dreamy wool for your knitting friend? Or a new Carhartt jacket from Graves Creek Service for that man on your list? And, let's not forget that Home Businesses will be at Glacier Bank community room and in the old Bank Building across the street! There really is just about everything you might want to purchase right here in town. So not only are you saving gas, but you are helping to support local merchants who in turn support so many things in the Tobacco Valley from sports teams to the arts.
Shop Small Saturday is actually a national event that was started in 2010. Last year, it was estimated that 88 million people across the country supported their local businesses on that Saturday. The American Independent Business Alliance shows that for each dollar we spend at local businesses, there is three times the return to our local economy than one dollar spent at a chain store. And local businesses donate more than twice as much per sales dollar to our community's non-profits, events, and teams as those big impersonal box stores. There are so many excellent reasons to shop local. Circle the date on your calendar and look forward to a relaxing shopping day here in the valley. You won't have to deal with traffic or finding a parking space. It is the perfect way to start your holiday season.
About the Author: Rita Collins. I am a believer in the power of community and for now I call the Tobacco Valley home. I have lived in nine states and three counties and this community here amazes me - how people reach out to neighbors and even travelers. I've never lived in a place that demonstrates people caring for each other so well. And I've never lived in a place that has such a high percentage of talented musicians and artists. I work with the the Sunburst Community Service Foundation, a nonprofit that began in Eureka twenty years ago and now serves numerous communities in western Montana. And I just started a new business, St. Rita's Amazing Traveling Bookstore and Textual Apothecary. I never could have imagined life being this exciting in my sixth decade.
