5 Ways to Support Local Businesses

There’s meaning behind shopping local for both the owners and the customers. Local businesses care about their customers and their establishments. Unfortunately, the quality of service and passion tends to decline when you shop or eat at corporate franchises. Local business owners make it their mission to always create an environment that was intended all along. Each local shop has its own qualities and characteristics that make it worth coming back.

Not only are you going to have a one-off experience by shopping local, you’re also going to be supporting individuals that share the love for your town, and economically help your town thrive! Here are five ways you can support local businesses in your area: 

1. Discover the local businesses!

In order to shop local you have to know where the locals go! Spend a day exploring your town to the fullest. If you really want to do it right, discover the places that are in walking distance from your house! If you’ve never really shopped local and you’re unsure where to start, there’s a travel guide called Discovery Map that most likely has your town. This website will show you all the local establishments within a given area that are true to the town and come highly recommended!

2. Shop at small businesses! 

Now that you have discovered your favorite local stores, eats, and hangouts- it’s time to shop them! By shopping locally, you’re going to be giving back to your community and helping the economy thrive. For example, Vidler’s supports our community in many different ways; we sponsor community events, buy program ads for school plays and civic groups, sponsor little league sports teams and many, many other local raffles and charity functions– and that’s only part of it! Shopping local keeps profits local. Local businesses pay local taxes and purchase items for store repairs and maintenance from local suppliers and contractors. When we don’t have a particular item, we recommend other local shops to customers. The more you shop local, the more local establishments will continue to come to your area. We’re almost positive you’ll have a better customer experience as well!

3. Participate in Small Business Saturday. 

Have you ever heard of Small Business Saturday? It comes during the busiest shopping season of the year… Thanksgiving weekend. While everyone is normally preparing for Black Friday sales and Cyber Monday, you should be mapping out how many local businesses you can hit on your Saturday stroll! Every year, on the last Saturday in November, local businesses are supported all over the US. It’s an opportunity to promote community and economic growth. Mark your calendars for 2019’s Small Business Saturday, November 30!  

4. Leave positive reviews online

Reviews can go a long way for any company, but especially for small businesses. The more reviews a local business gets, the better it will rank alongside the corporate businesses. It’s hard to get heard when you’re small, right? We live in a digital-based world. Ask yourself this question: has there ever been a time that you have researched something like: “Good BBQ near me?” When you search this, it’s naturally going to pull up the restaurants in your area that have the most reviews or highest paying ad budget (which, for the record, will most likely not be your small local businesses). We think you’ll find that local businesses also have a much superior customer service experience. We know where everything is and how it works – unlike the warehouse atmosphere of some of the big box stores. If you have a good experience at a local business, be sure to say so! It goes a long way in the overall growth of that business.

5. Tell your friends! 

Mouth of word is the best form of marketing! How often do you choose to go to a restaurant that came highly recommended by your best friend rather than the reviews on Google? As humans, we trust other humans more than anything. If you REALLY want to help a local business, you’ll tell everyone you know about it, not just Yelp. 

Speaking of sharing the best local businesses… Vidler’s Five & Dime Store has been local to East Aurora, New York since 1930! If it wasn’t for our customers, we would’ve been out of business a long time ago! We are so thankful for the continued business we receive on a daily basis. Share this article with your friends to support all local businesses, and support your favorite 5 & 10! We appreciate you more than words can describe.

Stop in for a local experience like no other! Learn how to find us here!