If it seems to you as if the Christmas shopping season has had an unprecedented early launch this year, you're not the only one. We heard our first Christmas carol accompanying a holiday shopping ad on Halloween.
There's probably good reason for that, and we shouldn't grouse about it: We're trying to dig out of a recession, and the experts tell us that the best way to do that is to spend. There's nothing like a Christmas-present-buying spree to precipitate spending.
The traditional beginning of Christmas season is the Friday following Thanksgiving. It has the ominous-sounding name Black Friday, but this year, it could represent blue skies for retailers and the economy in general.
But nobody is waiting for Thanksgiving. Stores have already begun stocking up on merchandise and offering sales. All the trappings of pre-Christmas retailing will likely be in place well before Thanksgiving.
If shoppers are swept up in the momentum, we could see more buying than ever before, and that would be good for all of us.
Some shoppers will raid the Internet looking for bargains. We would respectfully ask that, instead, they give local merchants a chance first.
Spending nationwide is going to be a help to all of us this year, but local spending, as always, is going to be a particular boost for our own local economy.
Even if some items cost just a little more than they do at certain Web sites, we implore browsers to consider buying locally. For the sake of a mere few dollars, they could inject some desperately needed vitality into the North Country. Those dollars can turn over and over, to the prosperity of many.
Also, consider locally made products. The North Country has an international reputation for certain goods — buy local maple syrup instead of confections made far away; Adirondack products have an attraction that transcends our own unofficial borders.
But even if the products aren't made locally, if they're sold here, buy them here. If you go to Burlington, Albany or Montreal to shop and see something you could buy here, resist the temptation and wait to make the purchase in our own stores.
The value of local purchasing goes beyond the very palpable value of money in a local merchant's pocket: It means sales tax for the area, and that is also something that will help us all. Every dollar taken in in sales tax is a dollar that doesn't have to go on the property tax. We all realize what a drain taxes are at this stage of our economic history. We should want to enhance our property-tax situation wherever possible. Buying locally is an indirect but a real means to do just that.
Whenever the buying bug hits you, please take our advice and give the local merchants the first crack at satisfying your needs. We'll all be richer for it.
Opinion
November 9, 2009
EDITORIAL: Shop locally this Christmas
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