Loose Ends: Big business booming

Small businesses have finally gotten into the action for Christmas shopping. The nationwide effort to get people to buy at their local small businesses the day after Christmas was a good one. While merchants find it hard to offer competitive prices to meet the challenge of big box stores and Internet shopping, they continue to try to specialize in items not found elsewhere.
The days of doing all of one’s shopping locally seem to be behind us, so the small businesses that are doing their best to provide a welcoming shopping atmosphere and a good selection of merchandise are the most likely to stay in business. While the jury is still out on whether Small Business Saturday was a Christmas shopping coup or not, just the attempt is laudable.
The recent reports of punching, trampling and pepper spraying coming from the Black Friday shopping experience give new meaning to getting the jump on  holiday buying. Get into a conversation with our own local folks (not businessmen and women) and you’ll find that many of them would like to purchase as much as they can locally. The prospect of going to the smaller stores the day after the official kick-off of the holiday shopping season probably wasn’t as exciting, but there are stalwart shoppers out there who prefer to buy from “Mom and Pop” sized stores rather than the “Big Daddies” out there.
Every year the talk of too much commercialism at Christmas surfaces but holiday community events in small towns across our state help keep us all sane. The Christmas tree lightings, Santa’s visits in the town squares and craft fairs make the season truly jolly.