Will You Shop Locally for Christmas This Year?
Georgians are part of a national movement to keep holiday cash at home.
“Look, Charlie, let's face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It's run by a big eastern syndicate, you know.” – Lucy van Pelt to Charlie Brown in “A Charlie Brown Christmas”
Americans have worried about losing the true meaning of Christmas since at least 1965, when Charlie Brown lamented the holiday’s commercialization in a Peanuts special.
This year, there’s a movement afoot to bring Christmas closer to home. An apparently anonymous essay circulating on the Web has drawn the attention of people in Georgia. It calls for buying local services as gifts instead of products manufactured in foreign countries:
You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn’t imagine.
A Seattle-based group, TAP America, is pushing a similar movement. And people across Georgia are focusing on the meaning of supporting small and local businesses.
In Athens, residents are voicing concerns about the impact of major retail chains. In Virginia-Highland, small businesses are banding together to offer buy-local specials. Woodstock-Towne Lake Patch has run a series of articles focusing on local shopping options to support Small Business Saturday, and Northeast Cobb is another community with bountiful buy-local opportunities.
We want to know how people in Patch communities throughout northern Georgia are thinking about their holiday shopping this year.
What are your Christmas shopping plans?
Should Christmas shoppers consider where the gifts they purchase come from and where their money goes?
Is there a “buy local” or similar movement in your community? Should there be one?
Tell us in the comments.
Sharon Swanepoel
8:57 am on Friday, November 25, 2011
Watching all the television coverage of Black Friday shopping today, it's hard to believe this movement has caught on yet. Hopefully that will change. I guess we'll have to see how Small Business Saturday stacks up against it tomorrow.
L. Davis
9:17 am on Friday, November 25, 2011
Why do we buy Christmas gifts for people who don't need anything? I've never understood that. And since both of my parents died in the past few years I've actually inherited gifts I gave them. The holidays should be a time of celebrating not spending. (Buy gifts for children though. Buy locally and not extravagantly.) So many families that I know engage in competitive gift giving.
Nonie Ravenberg
10:06 am on Monday, November 28, 2011
I agree. If asked, I discourage anyone from buying gifts for me, suggesting a charitable donation instead. I just don't need anything. I have heard though, that proactively asking people not to give gifts is poor manners. Anyone else know anything about that? I could look it up in my never-opened Emily Post, I guess.
Also, I stop giving gifts to anyone who doesn't bother with the courtesy of a thank you note. I'm giving them a gift because I think they'll like it, not because I think it is so fun to wrack my brain for something to give them. If they don't consider it worth 30 seconds of their time to write me a thank you note, then it certainly isn't worth my time and money to continue to send gifts that aren't appreciated.
Kim Roberto
11:38 am on Friday, November 25, 2011
I hate seeing all these commercials for "stuff." I agree with Lucy that Christmas has become too commercialized. I buy very little for Christmas. I prefer to give handmade candies or cookies for neighbors and work friends. My husband and I take a long weekend trip somewhere we haven't been before to celebrate the holiday and our anniversary. We don't need "things" and prefer to spend our money on the trip for each other. I usually send my dgt. (who is grown) a student loan monthly payment or a car payment as her gift (which is greatly appreciated!) I also try to send her and my parents something from Georgia since they don't live here. (Local treats like pecans, jams, or a book from a local author.) I DO NOT participate in Black Friday! I hope if people do buy, that the "buy local" trend does takes root.
Katherine M
1:52 pm on Friday, November 25, 2011
Other than groceries, I do almost 100% of my shopping online. Lower prices, better selection, free shipping, no sales tax from most sites.
Adrienne Duncan
5:12 pm on Saturday, November 26, 2011
Depending on the store/business, you may be able to shop online and shop local at the same time. More and more local outlets are providing online storefronts for added convenience.
Wayne Hanson
9:38 pm on Friday, November 25, 2011
I work with people who talk about buying their kids all these expensive electronic gifts. Parents spend more on one child now than my parents did on all three of us brothers when we were growing up. It seems like parents don't understand that their children don't won't their money they want their time.
Regina Gulick
9:51 am on Saturday, November 26, 2011
Yes! I will shop locally for Christmas!
Frank Jones
2:03 pm on Saturday, November 26, 2011
If you don't pay sales tax on your online purchases, you're supposed to file use tec returns. If you don't, you're breaking the law AND not supporting the local economy, schools and government services.
Pepper
2:02 am on Monday, November 28, 2011
I give gifts at Christmas. It doesn't matter what something cost. It's the thought! I have also given homemade fudge, cookies or things that I crochet or shirt I've painted. I taught my children to be appreciative of any give no matter how small, they are gifts from the heart!
Bill Thrasher
8:02 am on Monday, November 28, 2011
Best gift I ever received was from a very poor family that made me a fresh apple pie. that was 30 yrs ago and I remember it like it was yesterday
Sharon Swanepoel
8:27 am on Monday, November 28, 2011
The fact that you remember it so clearly shows that it really is gifts like that one demonstrate the true spirit of Christmas. Most gifts we can't remember from one year to the next.
T Maurer
9:17 am on Monday, November 28, 2011
Home-made gifts (and food!) are my favorite. For other gifts, I prefer to shop in locally-owned stores, but I don't always know what's out there, and I'm not one of those people who enjoys rambling around all weekend looking for stores. I would love to find a list of local stores in Marietta. Does anyone know where I could find some kind of directory?
Steve Burns
9:21 am on Monday, November 28, 2011
To Kiddos Cool Clothing,
Your recent post is a solicitation, and therefore is deemed advertising. It has been deleted. Our Terms Of Service: http://suwanee.patch.com/terms
J in EAV
12:24 pm on Tuesday, November 29, 2011
I don't buy gifts for friends. We go out to a casual dinner and enjoy the quality time together. The check is split or everyone pays for their own and we walk away feeling good about it. No need to shop locally or online, no standing in lines, no returns, and no worries about who spent more on the other. Happy Holidays.
Anita
8:12 pm on Sunday, December 4, 2011
We exchange gifts with a lot of family members. I enjoy giving these gifts, but I have to be realistic about the time req'd to shop for and wrap the packages. I ask my family for wish lists...I get what is on the list whenever I can. With the exception of quality considerations, I don't have time to worry about where it was made. I do enjoy giving handcrafted items, and those are usually made locally or regionally.