Perhaps it’s the sound of holiday bells shimmering on the antique doorhandle of the beloved, old-fashioned penny-candy store, or the scent of coffee and book pages mingled pleasantly under-nose at the book shop and café on the center street of your town, or the first name basis greeting and familiar faces at the checkout of your local deli. All of these increasingly rare nuances insinuate shopping local.
In addition to often providing shopping experiences full of enough ambiance to make one wax poetic, shopping local is more than just pleasant and nostalgic -it is one of the most powerful choices we can make to shape the future of our local economies. The holiday season is a particularly wonderful time to reflect on how our consumer choices can shape the future of our communities. The US Small Business Administration shows that, as of June 2025, there are over 36 million small businesses in the United States. These local shops, boutiques, and businesses aren’t just there to offer picturesque storefronts to admire from a distance, they’re the heartbeat and undercurrent of our towns. They provide jobs and support families for people you know and care about. Local businesses often give back as much as they receive from their community by supporting, and even spearheading initiatives that enrich our neighborhoods and communities.
Of course, the hustle and bustle of modern-day life cannot be dismissed and discounted no matter how appealing that may sound. People are busier than ever with budget constraints of all kinds and severities -especially in the current economy with things like tariff worries and cost-of-living increases. A busy mom faced with a minute-by-minute-packed weekend who also needs to get a birthday gift for her child’s schoolmates birthday tomorrow is going to pop into a big box store on the way to the party. Sometimes, the tool you need just isn’t at any local stores. Sometimes, a meager budget needs to be respected and prioritized, and the least expensive option is easy to find with a few clicks on the phone. Convenience and thrift are not sins, they are realities, but they shouldn’t be our only plan.
One of the biggest and most obvious community-positive impacts of shopping local is that a substantial amount of every dollar spent with a small business strengthens the local economy. Shopping small isn’t just about making a purchase—it’s an investment in your community. When we choose to spend our money on local shops and businesses, we create what is called the “local multiplier effect” and it impacts local communities exponentially. The effect is defined as the occurrence where financial resources expended within a specific geographical area circulate repeatedly, thereby generating additional, stable economic activity and wealth. This makes sense because, according to BusinessDasher, statistics show that about $68 of every $100 spent at a local business stays in the community, while approximately only $14 of every $100 spent at a big box store stays in the community. With a greater percent of your money spent at local business staying in and supporting the local economy, it is more than an altruistic gesture to include community businesses in your shopping plans, it is a smart place to put your money.
In addition to boosting your local economy, shopping local and small is less of a drain on the environment. Local and sustainably made products travel fewer miles, use fewer resources, and are often made and produced with less destructive methods than mass produced products. Even packing material from online ordering is becoming a major pollutant. A study from PakFactory found that 1.8 billion tons of greenhouse gasses are emitted yearly from plastic packaging production. Ten percent of packaging’s carbon footprint is attributed to transportation and shipping. Seventy-nine percent of that produced plastic packaging waste ends up in landfills. In addition, 25% of global plastic packaging waste is attributed to packaging used in shipping. Buying from your local shops and businesses usually only results in something like a small, paper bag -perhaps some tissue paper inside, and the fuel used to drive a short distance if walking wasn’t an option. These things are mere crumbs in terms of waste and footprint compared to the Mt. Everest we have built out of material waste from big box stores and shipping companies.
One lesser considered benefit to shopping local this holiday season is that it is often far more intentional. Local businesses wear their hearts, and products so-to-speak, on their sleeves. They have often either made or carefully curated their inventory. Nothing is in a small shop that hasn’t been considered and/or made by the owner. You are purchasing something with a tangible, purposeful energy and the recipient is bound to notice. A thoughtfully made gift has meaning and purpose. It tells a true story about craftsmanship, sustainability, and care. Be it a hand-poured seasonal candle, seasonally baked goods, or art work from a local artist, gifts like these usually lead to connection, not clutter.
Economy is not the only thing to benefit from shopping locally this holiday season. As a local consumer you are also helping to preserve craft, arts, and culture. Behind many small businesses there is an artisan – a creative maker or craftsperson who is an expert in their trade. Small business owners are often keeping traditions alive by producing their goods and inventory with their hands -or at least via a very hands-on process, devoid of heavy-duty machinery. Another consideration is that different ethnicities in your community often share their culturally-based arts, crafts, trades, and skills via local businesses -be it as the owners themselves or having their products carried in and showcased in a shop. According to the United States Census Bureau, 12.7 million non-employer businesses and 1.3 million employee businesses are women-owned, and 385,119 employer firms in the United States are owned by minority women. When you buy local, you are helping preserve creativity, equal-opportunities, artistry, and heritage—things that can’t be mass-produced in a factory.
The result of shopping local and small this holiday season extends past the logical and ethical -it simply feels good. A study via a buyer behavior report from Arizona State University showed that consumers who made purchases at a local, small business left with a greater sense of community than they did leaving a big box or chain store establishment. They felt increased purpose in their purchase choices and also because they experienced moments of connection with the local shop owners as well as the oft-familiar clientele. More of us are coming around to the importance and benefits of shopping small and local.
A report from IPX 1031 shows that 57% of Americans are willing to pay a bit more to shop locally. Around one in five Americans go out of their way to shop locally each month. Three out of four consumers say they would like to shop locally more often but it can be hard, and sometimes impossible, to do so when budgets and time are tight. Ninety percent of Americans would like to see more locally owned-small businesses in their areas and 60% of people shop more at local stores during the holidays than any other time of year. This is no small show of support as 44% of small business owners report that the holiday season support is at least 38% of their annual sales income -meaning that choosing some businesses for your holiday purchases quite literally keeps them in business.
Here in Massachusetts, we rank 13th in the nation for the most small businesses per 100,000 residents at 10,290 locally owned, small businesses in the state. Forbes magazine published that people in Massachusetts claimed to be willing to spend $150 more a month to go out of their way to support local and small businesses year-round and that increased to $250 during the holiday season. These amounts may seem inconsequential, but combined these financial choices can make or break our local industries.
In spite of the importance of local and small businesses in our communities, it is more difficult now, in some ways, to start and maintain them than ever before. New businesses have a high failure rate with nearly 90% of them closing within the first five years. Funding a new business is also increasingly challenging with the costs or rental spaces, adequate marketing support, and manufacturing and materials being more expensive in the last ten years. Many small business owners are inexperienced in cash flow management and the complexities of hiring and retaining employees.
The Q3 Small Business Index shows that inflation is a top concern for 46% of small businesses and 79% of small businesses are worried about tariff’s and say they would negatively impact, if not shut down, their business. Changes in consumer trends also indicate an ironic shift in consumers being more cautious and conservative in their spending the last two years while also seeking joy and comfort by spending more money on nostalgia and “treasure-hunting” experiences.
Regardless of changes and challenges our local businesses face, the solution is always the same: US. The Consumers. We, alone, have the collective ability to stabilize and boost our local economy and community through our consumer choices. Whether we choose to purchase the majority of our holiday gifts from local or small businesses, or even one or two of them, every decision to stay small and close to home is another “penny in the barrel”. As Peter Drucker said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Let’s make sure the future of our communities is one of equal opportunities, available jobs, and chances to create and use talents to make a living. We may not be able to navigate the choppy waters of a global economy, but we can easily, and collectively, steady the ship locally for those in the community who have taken great personal risks to pour themselves into starting and maintaining their businesses which in turn, do nothing but local good. You may find yourself noticing that holiday spirit shines a little brighter for everyone when you choose local.