Each Christmas season from my earliest memory, this newspaper has carried a message encouraging readers to shop at home. While that’s not unique — probably every newspaper in the country does the same — it’s more important now than ever.

With a sluggish economy and growing trend to online shopping, many local business are struggling. For some, this year’s Christmas sales may make the difference in surviving.

Interestingly, at the same time shopping local has become trendy. As people began to discover the importance of buying locally produced foodstuffs from local farmers and bakers, they have became aware that sustainability extends to local merchants as well.

Here’s the logic: For every $100 spent with locally-owned, independent businesses, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. Even if the local business is part of an international chain, $43 still stays in the local economy. Spend that same $100 online and nothing comes home.

A woman in Minneapolis started something she calls the 3-50 project. It’s simple. A shopper picks three local businesses he or she cares most about and voluntarily pledges to spend $50 a month at those stores.
So how can we help our local merchants? We are only limited by our imaginations.

Fortunately, Batesville has a large base of retail businesses offering tremendous variety from jewelry to furniture to sporting goods to tools to clothing to fancy foods to good-smelling candles to accessories for home and wardrobe to … we are only limited by our imagination.

Think about the number of auto repair, detail and cleanup shops we’ve got. A gift certificate for an oil change? Maybe it’s not warm and fuzzy, but it’s money that the recipient would otherwise spend from his or her own pocket.

Speaking of gift certificates, why not give them for pedicures, manicures, miracle cures, hair cuts, tanning time or styling?

Gift certificates for dining out are always welcome.

Why not for gym and exercise time or a massage?

Say for instance, you give the guy that has everything a gift certificate to his local barber. That way the guy who has everything at least has something he will use, the barber’s got payment in advance for his time and you don’t have to diddle with what to give Mister Haseverything. Win, win, win.

Now if the local barber takes that money and does something similar, we have a real movement. We may all get a pre-paid month or so.

And if you’ve got someone on your list whose gift you still haven’t been able to figure out, we’re sure they would appreciate a gift subscription to The Panolian.

Ho-ho-ho!