It’s November now, and the holidays are fast approaching. Where are you planning on shopping for gifts? It is likely going to be somewhere like Amazon, Walmart, stores at the mall or another big name corporation. But this year, more than any other year is when you should consider turning completely to small businesses and local shopping. After the hard-hitting chaos that was 2020, all of our communities could use the support. There are multiple ways you could do that like donating to fundraisers, doing community service, shopping small, handing out food to the homeless, or giving blood. But in the season of giving, what better way to help out small businesses than by shopping at them? And there are lots of good options for doing this.
Shopping small does not mean the loss of convenience. Etsy is the most popular website for shopping small right now. It is full of thousands of small and independent businesses with many different products and creations made to cater to every type of person. You want a hand engraved leather apron? It is there. Custom Disney merchandise? There is so much of it in every size and color. Gameplay dice? They have got them in every style. You can even find people selling custom headstones. Any beautiful creation you can find on Etsy. And almost every person on there is a hardworking person just trying to make a living, so you know buying from there is going to help someone.
There are always going to be events in your area that will allow you a lot of access to local small businesses. Here in Las Vegas one of my favorite events for shopping small is First Friday, an event that takes place on the first Friday of every month in the Arts District. It is absolutely full of local and small creators, local food vendors and entertainment. Aside from First Friday Vegas also has many events you can go to that will have local vendors. We recently had a Japanese Culture Festival and a Day of the Dead celebration at Springs Preserve. All of these events occur right here in Vegas and always invite local small businesses to sell their products.
Amazon, while being a big corporation, does have options for shopping small. It is a lesser- known feature, as they do not really advertise it, but it does exist. On the left-hand side of the main page, there is a sidebar you can click. Once it opens there are going to be many options. Scroll all the way down to Programs and Features, then select See All. You are gonna have to scroll down for a bit and then finally you will see Small and Medium Businesses. That will bring you to another menu with a lot of options like shopping small, shopping women-owned, and exploring family-focused businesses.
There are so many options to supporting your community and buying one-of-a-kind items from real people that could really use your money. So consider shopping small this season.
