If you “Love” Clarksdale, then buy your Valentine a gift from a Clarksdale store this week.
January and February are two of the toughest months in the retail and restaurant business. Cold weather and short days tend to make people scurry home after work, and besides you gave your beau something at Christmas!
That kind of thinking will not gain you anything at home. It won’t gain hardworking Clarksdale businesses anything either.
We all know the reason for shopping at home – when you spend money locally it strengthens the local economy.
But do you really know the numbers?
For every $100 spent in locally-owned, independent businesses, $68 returns to the community through, taxes, payroll and other expenditures. Spending that same $100 in Memphis or online gains us nothing.
And we want to urge our local businesses to shop locally for services and materials for your business. That same 68-percent return on every dollar spent applies to you, too.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has said, if every household in Coahoma County would spend 50 extra dollars in local businesses this month we would see our local economy turn around this winter.
We also want to point out with gasoline at $2 a gallon it costs a minimum of $40 to get to Memphis and back. That can eat into any kind of alleged savings from shopping out of town.
Now can everything you need and want be purchased in this town? Of course not.
But we do encourage you to give local businesses that first shot at your extra dollars. Spend your stimulus check with us!
We also ask you to think about it another way. What three locally owned businesses or companies would you miss if they closed?
Last year was tough on hometown businesses. They truly are the bread-and-butter of the local economy. They want your business – they need your business!
Your Clarksdale Press Register encourage you to stop in. Say hello. Pick up something that brings a smile. Your purchases are what keeps those businesses around
