Memorial Day has passed and marked the beginning of the summer shopping season and the time of year when people shop for their home, summer fashions and maybe purchase that car, appliance or furniture with summer long-hour payrolls.
Your Clarksdale Press Register wants to remind you this is also the time of year when community-oriented newspapers urge you to shop at home.
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 shopper in Coahoma County would spend $50 extra dollars in local businesses this month we would see our local economy boom this summer.
We also want to point out the gasoline you burn to get to Memphis and back, 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 summertime dollar.
We ask you to think about it another way.
What three locally owned businesses or companies would you miss if they closed?
The last couple of years have been tough on hometown businesses. They truly are the bread-and-butter of the local economy. They want your business – they need your business!
We encourage you to stop in. Say hello. Pick up something that brings a smile. Your purchases are what keep those businesses around.
