Shop Pagosa first

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Did you shop locally for Black Friday or Small Business Saturday?

If you did, thank you for investing in our community.

Spending locally instead of shopping out of town or online ensures that your sales taxes are reinvested in your community. Those sales taxes help fund projects in our community and essential services including law enforcement, parks and recreation and more.

Investing in our local businesses also creates growth in the community through additional employment opportunities.

Statistics indicate that for every $100 you spend at a local business, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. That investment has a big impact.

We all make choices about where we invest our shopping dollars. What we choose to do, where we choose to spend our money, has a local impact, whatever choice we make. We can choose to support local businesses so a share of our money stays local and spreads benefits to our friends and neighbors. Or, we can shop online and send our money to benefit someone we don’t know in some distant place where we will never benefit from a return on our investment.

Can everything you need and want be purchased in Pagosa Springs? Of course not. But we do encourage you to give local businesses that first shot at filling your holiday shopping list by shopping Pagosa first — before you look elsewhere.

As multiple Pagosa Springs businesses announced recently that they are closing their doors, it is more important than ever to support our local merchants.

You will benefit directly from the personalized experience that you receive when you shop in a business owned by a friend or a neighbor.

I shopped for a new wallet in a downtown store last week. The one I wanted to purchase was out of stock, but the store owner offered to show me a new design that she had stocked and explained the wallet’s popular features. I found the wallet was better suited for my needs.

That was true, hometown service. The best advice and the best value most often comes from someone you know.

That same business owner is decorating a tree for tonight’s Festival of Trees as a donation to a local nonprofit group.

There is a true ripple effect when you shop locally. Our business owners live here, play here, eat here and give back to the community through their time, talent and money. They purchase local services — such as electricians, plumbers, pizza delivery and so on. Pagosa’s charitable organizations and youth sports depend on donations from local businesses.

Saying you found a unique gift locally has a special ring to it. You are sharing the quaintness and charm of Pagosa Country with signature gifts.

A community with strong local businesses is a more appealing place to live. The unique products that local businesses offer add one more piece to the allure that draws tourists to our community.

If you didn’t get the chance to shop locally last weekend, please note that Pagosa’s Parade of Stores kicks off today. Many of Pagosa’s retail stores are offering “no tax” shopping. Some businesses are taking 10 percent off your total ticket, which is even more than the tax discount of 6.9 percent.

Locals have also donated generous prizes to sweeten your holiday shopping experience. Many stores throughout the community will be open until 7 p.m. throughout the weekend for your shopping convenience.

We encourage you to shop Pagosa first — not just this holiday season, but throughout the year.

Terri Lynn Oldham House