Importance of shopping local this holiday season

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) - We’re fast approaching the holiday shopping season and whether you start shopping before Halloween, or wait until Christmas Eve, there is a big emphasis on supporting local businesses this year.

“Eau Claire really does come out for the small businesses,” says Matt Pabich, Owner of Raggedy Man Goods and Gifts on Barstow Street.

It has been a challenging year for small businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Normally October is one of our slowest months, kind of right after back to school and before holidays,” says Erin Klaus, Owner of Tangled up in Hue on Barstow Street.

Store owners in downtown Eau Claire are seeing more people get a jumpstart on holiday shopping and hope the trend continues.

“We’ve noticed a lot of good foot traffic and a lot of people spending money mentioning that they are doing their holiday shopping early,” Klaus says.

Just down the street, Pabich is seeing much of the same.

“My Saturdays have been getting better and better especially as we get closer to the holidays hearing from people that they want to get as much done now as they can,” he says.

When it comes to new inventory, he is hitting a bit of a snag.

“One of our biggest challenges is getting our stuff this year, because of COVID obviously a lot of things have been held up in production or shipping has been difficult,” Pabich says.

With major retailers having special deals that may entice shoppers looking to save a little money, local business owners are having to switch gears compared to years past to lure potential customers away from the big box stores.

“Rather than try and focus all of our attention on Small Business Saturday, we’re looking to do some weekly deals basically from November 1, through the holidays,” Klaus says.

When it comes to buying local, Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Dave Minor says more money ends up back in the community.

“Every dollar you can spend in our community now, is just going to have a bigger impact as we continue to have those businesses in the long term.”

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