Think local this holiday shopping seasonDate: 12/13/2011 Dec. 12, 2011
By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
If local businesses weren’t feeling enough competition from a variety of sources, last week’s post on Gawker.com showed just how much pressure independent businesses are experiencing.
And the Christmas season is the make or break time for many businesses.
The website reported, “Apparently concerned that it’s not already doing enough to undermine local physical retailers across the country, Amazon.com announced it will pay customers up to $5 to go into a local store, scan an item, walk out, and buy the same item on Amazon. Please don’t do this cheap, sad thing.”
The story continued, “To get 5 percent off, up to a max of $5, you’re supposed to use Amazon’s ‘Price Check’ iPhone and Android app to scan in the bar code of certain qualifying items and then indicate what price the item is being sold at. This gives Amazon valuable intelligence on how various retailers are pricing various items. ‘We scour online and in-store advertisements from other retailers, every day, year-round,’ an Amazon director said on ‘All Things D.’ But now Amazon won’t have to work so hard in the future, since hordes of consumers will (theoretically) sell out the merchants who pump sales taxes into their localities with sales taxes, all to save a measly five bones.”
With these kind of pressures, the staff of Reminder Publications would like to suggest this holiday shopping season not just to shop in locally owned businesses, but also seek out locally made products to keep more of the region’s money right here.
How important are local purchases to an area’s economy? According to the National Retail Federation, the average family spends $704.18 for gifts during the holiday season and United We Stand, a national organization of independently owned businesses, asserts if just $100 of that amount was spent at independent businesses $7.8 billion would be returned to local communities.
On the United We Stand’s website a calculator shows the impact on a local basis. An expenditure of $100 in the greater Springfield area means that $18.16 million would be returned to the region.
There are certainly locally owned stores selling a wide variety of merchandise and, with a little effort, one can see that there’s also quite a variety of items made in the Pioneer Valley. The daily double would be buying a locally made item at a locally owned store.
The news staff of Reminder Publications has assembled a list of potential gift ideas that are made locally. This is by no means complete, but a starting point to encourage the growth of the local economy. The local businesses producing items suitable for gifts range from artisans who make individual works of art to one of the largest toy manufacturers in the world to the dominant name in candles.
Besides actual manufactured items, gift certificates to area businesses are a great idea to boost the region’s economy, according to Tamara M. Fricke, vice president of the Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce Inc.
“If folks are looking for local gifts from local businesses things such as gift certificates to area golf courses would be good for sporting folks of all ages. For kids, gift certificates to local skating rinks, roller or ice, would be another great gift idea. Other service oriented places like hair/nail salons and area restaurants also boost the local economy and make great gifts,” she said.
Many locally owned restaurants offer either gift cards or certificates all year-round that make for great gifts for any special occasion.
Hasbro Games division in East Longmeadow makes many of the games and puzzles sold by the toy giant. Please see Assistant Managing Editor Katelyn Gendron’s sidebar for a look at several of its newest offerings.
Speaking of games, Callaway Golf in Chicopee makes high quality balls that are treasured by golfers around the world.
Western Massachusetts may be the candle center of the country, if not the world. Yankee Candle has grown from an enterprise in a home in South Hadley to a brand known around the world and the flagship store in Deerfield is one of the area’s busiest tourist attractions. Yankee Candle founder Michael Kittredge and his son — recently profiled in PRIME Magazine — have now started Kringle Candles in Bernardston.
Both firms make their merchandise in the Pioneer Valley, as do Whip City Candle (available on the Internet at www.whipcitycandle.com) and Pioneer Valley Candles (www.pioneervalleycandles.com).
Another firm with a national reputation for more than a century is Lamson & Goodnow in Shelburne Falls. In business since 1837, the company makes knives and kitchen tools and has a factory store featuring their line. It’s a perfect destination for anyone who loves to cook. For more information, go to www.lamsonsharp.com
A simple decision to buy a baked good from a local firm can also help the local economy. Fight the inclination to pick up pies, cakes and cookies baked out of state while at the grocery store and go to a local bakery.
Most communities have at least one local bakeshop, but if your town doesn’t, consider going to downtown Chicopee where there is a cluster of three shops all within walking distance of one another: Bob’s Bakery and Bernardino’s, 218 and 105 Exchange St., respectively, and Evelyn’s Cakes at 8 Center St.
Sticking to sweet stuff, the Valley has several manu-facturers of gourmet quality chocolate candy. Richardson’s Candy Kitchen on U.S. Route 5 in Deerfield makes a wide range of confections, as does Chocolate Works in the Stop & Shop Plaza in East Longmeadow.
The growth of microbrews in the region has been explosive and for the beer lover in your family, consider a mixed six-pack of locally crafted beers. Many package stores carry the local beers and Reminder Publications Assistant Editor Chris Maza, who writes the beer column seen in our Dining and Entertainment pages, reminds readers that a trip to a brewery is also worthwhile.
He suggests the following possible destinations: Berkshire Brewing Company Inc., 12 Railroad St., South Deerfield; Amherst Brewing Co., 10 University Drive, Amherst; Barrington Brewery & Restaurant, 420 Stockbridge Road, Great Barrington; OPA-OPA Steakhouse & Brewery, 169 College Highway, Southampton; Northampton Brewery, 11 Brewster Court, Northampton; High & Mighty Beer Co., 108 Cabot St., Holyoke; The People’s Pint, 24 Federal St., Greenfield; Paper City Brewery Co., Inc., 108 Cabot Street, Holyoke; Lefty’s Brewing Company, 301 Wells St., Greenfield; and Element Brewing Company, 30 Bridge St., Millers Falls.
PRIME Editor Mike Briotta, who is also a musician, suggested seeking out local bands and supporting them by considering buying their CDs. Venues that frequently feature local or regional acts include Club Meadows, East Longmeadow; Maximum Capacity, Chicopee; Bishop’s Lounge and The Elevens, both in Northampton; The Waterfront Tavern, Holyoke; Theodore’s, Springfield; and the uNi Coffeehouse in Springfield.
For hand-made items, there is one website that is a comprehensive portal to many artisans in Western Massachusetts: www.artisansofwmass.com. Not only is the number of artisans impressive, but also the wide range of what they offer. From jewelry to photography to custom-made shoes, this site illustrates the wide range of talented craftspeople in our region.
For the people on your gift list, Western Massachusetts has a lot to offer.
Reminder Metro reporter Debbie Gardner also contributed to this story.
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