It’s still November, but Christmas is already in the air in downtown Nanaimo and at shopping malls around the city. And that’s OK – our merchants deserve this chance to embrace the yule season.
Depending on the household, the past couple of Christmases might have been a little different during pandemic times – possibly fewer holiday guests and probably some tweaks to traditions. So this year seems like a good year to make the thought count and come up with some gift ideas that will be sure-fire hits on Christmas morning.
Those gift ideas are there waiting for us at Nanaimo’s shops. Our right-size city is big enough to have a selection of stores where we can find pretty much anything we could want or need. And there are definitely gifts we didn’t even know we wanted or needed on shelves in Nanaimo stores, too, if we take the time to do a little shopping locally.
It sometimes feels like Christmas costs a small fortune – surely some of that can be spent consciously shopping locally.
Our business community welcomes us. There are some Christmas-themed events going on downtown – see pages A30-32 for more information – and seasonal sales worth seeking out.
Our local merchants not only do their business in Nanaimo, but they live here, spend money here, sponsor events and sports teams here, and pay taxes and create employment here, and all of those things make our community a better place to live.
When we leave their shop with our purchases and they wish us a ‘merry Christmas,’ they mean it. And when we shop local we really do make it a merrier Christmas for our community.
READ ALSO: Nanaimo feeling Christmas spirit as Santa Claus arrives downtown
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
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