Holiday Shopping Gift Guide
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Many reasons to shop local this Christmas
Old fashioned Christmas
Neila Booth, at Northwoods Gallery and Gifts, finished up arranging a beautiful Christmas display of old-fashioned Santas, churches, trees, and snowflakes. The Scott Street store has a wide selection of decor for the holidays, as well as all their regular merchandise for the special someone on your list. By Duane Hicks Staff writer dhicks@fortfrances.com There’s plenty of reasons to look to local businesses first when shopping for gifts this Christmas. Jennifer Greenhalgh, president of the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce, said it is very important for consumers to support local businesses year-round, but even moreso at Christmas, when various local businesses make a larger portion of their annual sales. “More local shopping would provide incentive for shops to offer more variety, thus providing local shoppers with greater choice and, in turn, improving the incentive to keep more of their purchasing decisions at home,” she told the Times. “Supporting local business is a win-win scenario because your spending will boost the local economy and that has a positive effect on the well-being of the community at large, through protecting the tax base, and both keeping and creating local jobs,” Greenhalgh noted. “This translates “Supporting local into stronger support business is a win-win for infrastructures, enhance a scenario because your which better quality of life,” spending will boost the she added. When a consumer local economy” buys goods from area merchants, Greenhalgh said that money stays in the community. “Small local businesses add character and uniqueness to a community, and together with the larger retailers, are often great supporters of community organizations and events,” she noted. “Include the health benefits of purchasing area produce and meats, as well as the environmental benefits of even small reductions in shipping and travel by making purchases at home, there is significant value to supporting our local business community.” “Put old-fashion joy back into your holidays by shopping local,” echoed “Go Local” and RRFDC intern Tara Allaire. “Take the stress out of the season by avoiding crowded parking lots, big-city traffic, or the stress and bother of the mall,” she reasoned. “Christmas in Fort Frances is a time for community; it’s fun, there are no line-ups, and returns are easy.”
“You want your child, your grandchild, your niece, your nephew to have a job, and there’s no better place to start than a local store,” he reasoned. “You don’t want their first job to have to be in Winnipeg when they go away to school because their chances of getting a job there are pretty slim,” added Boileau, the spokesperson for “Shops on Scott” (formerly the BIA). He noted he’s also given “glowing recommendations” to young people who have worked at McTaggarts, then went off to university and looked for part-time employment while at school. “If people don’t shop local, the kids don’t get that chance,” Boileau stressed. He also noted consumers will find that many times, stores in Fort Frances have the same prices—or even lower ones—than in the cities. The stores also have a different selection of goods than one finds at the chain stores in the city shopping centres. “When we have people from the cities come into our store—and I hear it from the other stores downtown—they say, ‘Oh, you’ve got a lot of stuff I’ve never seen before. Where do you find this stuff? How do we buy it?’” recounted Boileau. “That’s because they’re used to shopping in the malls and it’s all the same,” he noted. “You go into one store after another after another and it’s all the same. “You come to downtown Fort Frances and you go to Betty’s, you to go Northwoods, you come here and you’re not going to find the same old
cookie-cutter stuff you find in the mall. “We aren’t those cookie-cutter stores,” Boileau stressed. “We’re not The Gap and those kind of stores where everything looks the same whether you are in Vancouver, Toronto, Thunder Bay, or Winnipeg. “They’re identical—you buy the same thing. It’s kind of a uniform—do you want to wear a uniform?” On a similar note, because local stores don’t have as much of the same product in stock, the odds of someone else getting the same thing is far less than at a major chain store in a city. “When we sell something, we don’t bring in 50 of them,” Boileau explained. “If you’re going to a wedding or something, and you’re looking for a special dress or suit or shirt and tie, the chance of you seeing someone else with the same thing I’ve sold you is pretty slim.” Last but not least is customer service. “You buy something in Fort Frances and you’re unhappy with it, we can help you,” said Boileau. “Is a guy in the city going to help you? Not a hope. “He doesn’t really care about you,” Boileau added. “But you’re my neighbour—I care about you.” And this level of customer service extends to staff at local chain stores, like Canadian Tire, Mark’s Work Wearhouse, and Warehouse One. “Just because they’re bigger stores doesn’t mean they’re going to care less about their neighbours,” said Boileau. “I know when I go to Canadian Tire and I talk to one of the guy’s that works there, he’s my neighbour. “He’s going to help me the best he can. “While you’re giving to “He’s not going to shove me out the door with others, ‘Go Local’ allows something that he knows you to collect rewards isn’t going to work because he’s going to hear from me,” for yourself ” Boileau added. “I’ll be back tomorrow.” Meanwhile, one option when buying for the person who has everything is Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce gift certificates, which the Chamber will offer through the end of this year but stop issuing next year. However, gift certificates will be honoured by participating merchants until the last day of December, 2016. Greenhalgh said the Chamber decided the program was outdated and it was time for a change. “Started before the days of electronic point collection, the gift certificate program has more contemporary counterparts, and discontinuing it will give room for a program like ‘Go Local’ to grow,” she explained. “This decision was made with the thought that two local programs will struggle but one program will do well,” Greenhalgh added.
Allaire reiterated local businesses provide jobs, and support the community through sponsoring teams, charities, and other organizations. “The exciting thing about shopping locally at Christmas is finding unique gifts close to home,” she said. “Spoil your pet with treats from 4 Your Pets, find the perfect toy at Betty’s, and please that jock in your life with a gift from Taggs,” she suggested. Shopping local not only benefits the community, it also benefits consumers— especially when they use a “Go Local” card. “While you’re giving to others, ‘Go Local’ allows you to collect rewards for Janet Kuiack, one of the designers at Fort Floral touched up yourself,” said some of the Christmas trees there with beautiful ornaments. Allaire. All of the ornaments adorning the trees are for sale, so stop in “Using your to check out the assortment they offer. ‘Go Local’ card lets you earn points toward gift cards at retailers around town. “Earning rewards for Christmas shopping makes the holiday season even more exciting and fun,” she enthused. Remember: you become eligible for a $25 “Go Local” gift card once you have reached 300 points. You can find “Go Local” member businesses by looking for the “Go Local” signs on their windows, or you can check out a full list of participating businesses at golocalfortfrances.com “It’s never too late to get a ‘Go Local’ card,” Allaire stressed. “Visit our Facebook page or stop by a participating ‘Go Local’ business to sign up. “Happy holidays—and have fun shopping!” Richard Boileau of McTaggarts The Christmas Store at Clover Valley Farmers’ Market is open seven days a week said supporting local businesses until Christmas and one of many participants this year is Nichole Lowey. means supporting local jobs. Nicole offers a wide variety of stained glass choices for Christmas, including the outdoors-themed pieces pictured above.
Festive trees
FORT FRANCES TIMES B1
Stained Glass by Nichole Lowey!