#ShopLocal and #GiveLocal this holiday season
This year has taught us many lessons, but perhaps one of the biggest takeaways from 2020 is the need to support our local businesses and nonprofits, particularly as the Central Massachusetts economy strives to recover its footing from the coronavirus pandemic.
The holiday season already got off to a rough start for in-person retailers, as Reuters reported marked drops in Black Friday crowds shopping in retail stores amid a spike in online sales. Online megaretailer Amazon is already planning on taking advantage of the increasing shift to online shopping brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The company plans to expand fulfillment and logistics space by an astounding 50% this year, including new locations in Milford, Bellingham and Northborough. The plan for Worcester’s Greendale Mall to be demolished and be replaced by an Amazon fulfillment warehouse, instead of a mixed-use development including some retail, shows even a high profile urban location can be converted to a use traditionally more suited to large suburban or rural tracts of land. Online shopping continues to take a huge bite out of retail sales, and this project is a prime example of that trend.
Of course, missing out on the latest in-person Black Friday deal for a big-screen TV at Walmart isn’t going to break the local economy, and – from a consumer perspective – is probably the smart choice given the importance of social distancing and crowd avoidance during a peak period for the spread of COVID-19. But as you choose where to spend your money and your company’s money this holiday season, we strongly encourage you to look for locally owned retailers and businesses, who are finding new ways to survive in the pandemic. Most have adopted online or contactless pickup at this point, and local businesses are likely to offer unique goods and services than the commodity products you will mostly find offered through Amazon.
Beyond your holiday shopping list, there are a number of worthy, local nonprofits who are collecting donations – both money and goods – this holiday season. Few of these organizations have been immune from the financial squeeze created by the pandemic, and smaller nonprofits have fewer resources to help them weather the storm. Giving locally has always been a business priority, but doing so this year likely means even more to the organization that it has in the past.
Giving Tuesday and Small Business Saturday may have passed, but we can act in the spirit of those efforts to focus as many of our holiday purchases and year-end donations to businesses and organizations within our Central Massachusetts community. By doing so, you’ll help ensure our region can shed the lingering effects of the pandemic and recover quickly as possible.
WBJ Web Partners
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