Christmas is right around the corner and as people continue getting gifts for loved ones, local shop owners are encouraging them to “shop small.”
These shop owners aren’t necessarily saying to get lesser amounts of gifts this year. Rather, they’re hoping that you support smaller, localized businesses.
Bill Sartain, owner of Tutoring Toy in Salt Lake City’s Foothill Village, says that business has been good and that his neighborhood store has gotten to know most of their clients by name, including their children. Sartain says that the thing keeping customers coming through the doors is the personal service his shop has been providing for the past 34 years, something you don’t get shopping at a big box store or retail giant.
Yvonne Willden, owner of Quilt S’More in Gunnison, has been running her quilt and sewing supply store for nearly twenty years and just like with Sartain, the secret behind her success is personal service, knowledge, and convenience that customers don’t get anywhere else. Willden says that, even though people are going through tough economic times, it’s more important now more than ever to support local hometown businesses.
Willden says that she’s always been a firm believer in shopping local and even if it’s cheaper to buy from large companies, in the end, people will be paying a much higher price by neglecting those smaller businesses.
