HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — "The pandemic makes us look a little bit different. We have a new normal that we look at but it doesn't stop us from doing what's the right thing to do, supporting our local neighbor," Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said.
And doing the right thing shouldn't have to come with a trade-off.
"What we really want to stress is, you don't have to make a sacrifice to shop local or shop downtown, you can actually find more interesting, more unique goods," Chad Emerson, President & CEO of Downtown Huntsville, Inc, said.
Shopping locally is a give-give situation for both the buyer and seller.
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"You're giving not just a unique gift when you give from a local business, when you purchase from a local business but you're supporting that family and supporting those local employees," Bekah Schmidt, executive director of South Huntsville Main Business Association, said.
"I know it's easy to shop online, I know it's easy to just go to amazon but we really want to encourage you to support our small businesses this year and every year," Sameer Singhal, vice-chair of Small Business & Events in the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber, said.
Speaking of the internet, the chamber has made it easy to support small businesses online. Getyourgifton.org features local restaurants and retail and is set up for gift card purchases. You can buy them from a number of places. This website is free for local businesses to use.
Supporting the economy of small businesses also supports the economy on a larger scale.
"Every time that you buy locally, you're supporting a schoolchild, you're supporting someone who might have to do distance learning, you're supporting a teacher. So, those types of things are very important for us and our community," Mayor Battle said.
Besides finding unique items there are other reasons that buying locally is great during the holiday season.
"It is so efficient and quick for the gift receiver if they need a different size, or different color or something like that. So that is a big advantage of shopping local," Emerson said.
"Our local business owners, they are the ones who invest in our economy, their our soccer coaches, they're supporting our local non-profits and they've had a rough year and it's their turn to receive that support from the community," Schmidt said.