It’s somehow mid-October, which means large retail outfits are packing up Halloween (still two weeks away), completely overlooking Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday), and plunging headlong into Christmas. It doesn’t matter if you agree with this phenomenon or not–it’s happening.
As we inevitably get dazzled by the sparkle and shine of large stores’ displays and promises of Christmas magic, I would like for us all to pause and remember one thing: the mega-chains and massive online marketplaces will survive if you don’t shop with them this holiday season. The small, local businesses in your hometown might not.
It’s a scary time for small businesses. As far as cost and selection go, we generally can’t compete with the big dogs. We’re smaller in every way. Our budgets, our buildings, and our staff–in other words, all the retail fire power we can muster–amounts to maybe one section (if we’re lucky) of one big box store. We are consistently outgunned, if what someone wants is quantity of product at the lowest price.
There’s such joy in finding the perfect gift for someone you care about, or getting a present that’s just so completely you that you feel seen and understood. And joy is rarely, if ever, mass-produced.
Our only hope is that someone, you, for example, will decide to give quality, uniqueness, experiences, and actual, real, thoughtful holiday magic. That, we can do. In fact, that’s ALL we do. And it’s what we LIVE to do.
I don’t know about you, but I get much more excited about giving, and receiving, one of a kind items that show care and thought about what someone would like–not just giving them a gift out of obligation because it’s that time of year again. Dollars to donuts that stuff goes directly to the back of the closet, gets donated, or is rewrapped and regifted. Instead, what if you gave a vintage item that sparks a treasured memory. Or small-batch and one of a kind items made by artists, crafters, and artisans that take time, care, and love to produce.
These gifts show we know someone and put thought into what they’d like to receive, not just what’s the easiest for us to give. If we all decided to shop like that instead of buying some random item that a million other people are buying because it’s on sale, think of how magical gift giving would be! There’s such joy in finding the perfect gift for someone you care about, or getting a present that’s just so completely you that you feel seen and understood. And joy is rarely, if ever, mass-produced.
As an artist who owns a shared gallery space that sells the work of nearly fifteen artists and makers, of course I’m going to tell you to shop small, local, homemade, collectible, and small-batch. Myself and those like me believe so much in quality and uniqueness that we risk everything we have to bring things we love to you.
As you head out for holiday shopping, do your friends and neighbors a favor. Look in local places. Gift with intention and care. Bring back true holiday magic. You’ll give better presents and while you’re at it, you’ll most likely help save a small business or two.
Sara Middleton is a correspondent and columnist for Mid-America Publishing and resident artist/owner of Studio Sol Gallery & Creative Space in Eagle Grove, Iowa. Email her at sara.studiosol@gmail.com or find her at http://studiosolllc.com
