Welcome back everyone!

I’ve been posting a lot about gift guides, Christmas, and shopping lately, mainly mentioning things you can buy online or in well-known chain stores. This is mainly for your convenience, since mentioning a local shop in my town doesn’t offer much help for you guys looking for gifts; however, don’t mistake this for me ignoring my local shopping options. Today, I’m going to be giving you five reasons why you should shop locally, and why I try to as much as possible.

1. You’ll find more unique items – Shopping at the same five stores in the mall as everyone else results in always having the same stuff as everyone else. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes you want to get something special that no one else will have, especially for a gift. Going into little boutiques where the inventory changes often and there’s a wide variety of things for sale increases your chances of finding something unique.
2. It can be a better deal – Chain stores can completely overcharge for their products because they know people will buy it. At local shops, the prices are often cheaper, but you’re not sacrificing quality for a deal.
3. You can establish personal relationships with the employees – There’s a boutique in my town that I go to fairly often and the employees are always so kind and try to make shopping a personal experience. They’ll pick out things for you to try on that they think would look good on you, and they’ll let you know what the best deals are.
4. It’s often more sustainable – Ordering lots of items online results in a lot of plastic wrap and other waste related to packaging being shipped to your door, only to be thrown away right afterwards. If you shop in local stores with possibly handmade products, there’s usually a lot less waste involved.
5. Chain stores and online marketplaces are killing brick-and-mortar businesses – My mall used to have tons of cute and unique stores- now it’s fairly empty and only has a few huge chains like Victoria’s Secret, Macy’s, PacSun, etc. This goes for restaurants too! It’s important to

I hope this inspired you to do some of your holiday shopping at your local boutiques or even craft/artisan fairs. There’s always some new brand or artist waiting to be discovered, and you could be the one to discover it! Happy shopping 🙂

-Brooke