Why you should buy local

Christmas is just around the corner – where do you go to look for presents? So many people are now turning to online shops to answer all their shopping needs. Sure, there may be a better bargain online somewhere or they offer free shipping, but your local shops right here in Calgary are suffering and they need your help. Calgary has been through a tough couple of years with the economy, and our local businesses need our support now more than ever.

The City of Calgary has launched Calgary’s Comeback, a campaign aimed to revitalize our city. They are focusing on three pillars to get our city and economy back on track: support local businesses, rejuvenate our downtown and revisit our fiscal responsibility. When it comes to supporting Calgary’s entrepreneurs, the city has launched a new hashtag to help promote this campaign citywide: #BuyLocalYYC. Every time you visit a store here, buy something local, sell something local or feel like promoting a fellow business, use this hashtag to help spread the word and support our small businesses right here in Calgary.

This new initiative to support local businesses aims to help boost our economy from the inside out, so that we too can be the flourishing city we once knew again:

“The best way to help Calgary’s economy is by supporting local businesses – and we have so many amazing ones,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “Calgary is full of hard-working entrepreneurs who pour their hearts into our city. We’re working hard to make Calgary the best place to start and grow a business – and you can help too. Let’s show our support and #buylocalyyc.”

Never mind just Christmas shopping, this is a practice we should all adopt year round to support our local neighbourhoods, entrepreneurs, businesses and economy. Sure, Amazon has a wider range of products and often at a low price, but the quality isn’t always there. Buying local allows you to see the product first-hand before you buy it, so you can ensure that it is exactly what you want. There are countless benefits to buying local products rather than purchasing something online that you’ve never seen before:

• You get to bring your product home right away, no waiting 2-4 weeks for regular shipping.
• You get to see it before you purchase it, whether you’re curious about size, shape, feeling, etc.
• Better yet, there is a physical store you can visit and a real person you can talk to if you have any questions or need to return your item, rather than messing around with online returns, printing labels and finding a post office that’s open/not busy.
• You’re supporting a local business, perhaps a fellow neighbour, and helping bring our once booming Calgary economy back to its former glory.

If you’re a local business here in Calgary, the city has created some promotional tools for this campaign so that you can help join in the movement #BuyLocalYYC. Let’s help our fellow neighbours and hardworking entrepreneurs by shopping in the same city we work, eat and live in.