Shop local

Speaking of values, there’s another way to support your community this holiday season: shopping locally. We know you know that buying from independent shops keeps your neighbors in business. What’s surprising is the ripple effect—from $100 to $9 million to $2.9 billion.

Here’s how that math works. More than 70 alt-newsweeklies across the country (including the CN&R and our sister papers in Reno and Sacramento) have committed to a crusade that urges readers to spend at least $100 of their holiday money at locally owned stores. If you take those 17.5 million readers and factor in the multiplier effect of all that spending, the amount grows to a whopping $2.9 billion—$9 million from Butte County readers alone.

This isn’t some knee-jerk stance against Walmart and the Internet; fact is, dollars spent with local businesses stay in the community at a much higher percentage than dollars spent at big-box chain stores, and purchases at any brick-and-mortar location—even big boxes—not only keep North Staters employed, but also fund public safety and other vital services through sales-tax revenue.

We ask you to join our campaign (which dovetails with another—Think Local, Chico!—detailed here). Instead of shipping off all your money this holiday season, keep more of it right here by spending $100 at locally rooted, human-scale businesses. You don’t have to spend a fortune to make a measurable impact.