Top Ten Reasons to shop local for the holidays

10. Your only threat of being trampled is by the store owner's hound dog who may be a bit over-exuberent in greeting you.

9. Mrs. Baldwin might share her family secret recipe for that fruit cake of hers you've loved since you were a kid.

8. Mr. Baldwin might share his family secret recipe for homemade rum that goes in that fruit cake.

7. Catch up on all the news going on around town.

6. Discover that you are actually living an exciting life that's more fun-filled than Bond, James Bond's life, at least according to your neighbors and friends.

5. Don't know what to get for that person who has everything? Bet that shop around the corner has something that hard-to-shop-for person doesn't have and the national chains have never heard of it.

4. Which would you rather hear when you stop to grab a bite to eat: "You want fries with that?" or "Hey, honey, how have you been? I've heard you've been leading an exciting life lately. How are your kids?"

3. Find fresh preserves, jams, and relishes packed in real Mason Jars and send them off to your kids in the military or college. They'll think you slaved for hours in the kitchen making the special taste of home because you love them so much.

2. Sardines blindly follow each other and get packed tightly in a can. Striped bass blaze their own trail and never get packed in a can. Which do you want to be, a sardine or a striped bass?

And the number one reason to shop at your locally owned and operated businesses this holiday season:

1. Give a gift to your community. For evey $100 you spend at a locally owned and operated business, $68 remains in your community to support your friends and neighbors, sponsor a field trip for your local school club, provide after-school or summer activities through your local civic organizations, or upgrade a playground at your community park. The same $100 spent at a national chain leaves $13 in your community to achieve the same things.

Welcome Westside Car Wash

Let's welcome Westside Car Wash to the family of locally owned and operated businesses.  Located in Dover, De, three generations of family of provided superior car washing and detailing services to residents of Kent County, DE.  Environmentally friendly, they do what is best for your car and the environment!



 

 

Are you really shopping local?

Let's have a serious talk...even toot your own horn, if you like.

I just spent the last two hours looking at shop local videos on YouTube trying to learn what works and doesn't work. Of course, it's Saturday night and I have my Budweiser with me. Budweiser is the only beer I drink and have drank since my college days. I have sampled other beers as long as I can buy them one bottle at a time, but... when I buy to stock my fridge, Budweiser is all you will find.

Then I came across a video where a chef took to task the shop local message. His point was that consumers are driving the shop local message, but are local shop owners practicing what the consumers are preaching? Since he is a chef and owns a restaurant, he pointed out that in his restaurant he carries almost exclusively locally produced beers, wines, and spirits and he suggests them to his diners over the national brands, like Budweiser.

His comment got me thinking on three fronts.

First, as much as I push "buy local", I have been remiss on supporting our local breweries. I have a few decades of brand loyalty to Budweiser, yet I bet the folks at Budweiser couldn't find Delmarva, much less Toddville, on a map. Sure, when I first started drinking beer back in college, there was no such thing as locally produced beers, but now there is. Unless Budweiser gives back to Toddville by sending a couple of ice cold kegs via Clydesdale horses for a community crab feast every year for the next thirty years (my time investment in Budweiser so far), I need to find a comparable locally produced beer. At least I know if I spend my ten bucks every Saturday on a 12-pack of a locally produced beer, $6.80 will stay in my local community, adding to its strength and vitality it so desparately needs. That's a much better investment than the $1.30 that Budweiser leaves for my community. I do want to see those Clydesdales up close so, if Budweiser is listening, I'm willing to negotiate a year-to-year deal.

Second, if you own a restaurant or bar, how much of your inventory is locally produced beers, wines, and spirits and do you often suggest or actively advertise them, like with plenty of signage, verbal suggestions to every customers, or in printed ads?

Third, I figure I have a lot of "brand loyalty" to many basic household items, food, and drinks in addition to my brand loyalty to Budweiser. I need to take a closer look at what I am buying and try to find an acceptable, locally produced alternative. If you are a locally owned and operated business, will you join me in the quest to find locally produced alternatives your customers will love?

This is where you get to toot your own horn. If you are a locally owned and operated producer of goods, tell us. I know I need to find new brands. If you are a locally owned and operated business that sources its products locally, first, tell us. I need to know where to go to experience the true flavor of shopping local. And if you are a shopper who already knows where the great locally owned and operated businesses that offer locally produced goods are, tell us. That's a secret everyone should know!