If you’re like a lot of us, you’ve already started looking for the perfect Christmas gifts for your friends and family. More often than not, those presents can be found on store shelves right here in Nanaimo.
As always at this time of year, we’re asking readers to shop locally in the lead-up to Christmas, or at least try to look locally first.
Buying locally helps our communities as a whole thrive. Research shows that for every $100 spent at a local business in B.C., $63 is recirculated back into the provincial economy, compared to just $14 for a multi-national corporation. That means jobs and prosperity for our friends, neighbours and families.
If you haven’t recently checked out the shops in Nanaimo’s downtown and other parts of the city, now is the time. And yes, that even applies to those who prefer to do their shopping online. Why not take a look at the websites of some of our local Nanaimo businesses first? You may be pleasantly surprised at the way retailers have pivoted their businesses to keep up with the times.
Local shops are great places to find unique gift ideas that might not occur to you if you don’t stop in. And if stuff isn’t what you’re looking for (we all know that person who has everything) you can try getting someone an experience like a massage, manicure, restaurant meal or tickets to a show. From books to gift cards, clothing to cosmetics, Nanaimo has a lot to offer.
A B.C. Buy Local campaign this month encouraged people to shift even one per cent of their holiday spending to local businesses. And we can surely do better than that.
Let’s make that extra effort to spend here in Nanaimo, in this place where we’re lucky enough to get to spend the holiday season.