Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories about how shopping locally this holiday season benefits the area’s economy.
For the past 15 years, Addictions by Rhonda has sold its merchandise in downtown Marshall. Though the business – which offers clothing and other items – is open year-round, owners Rhonda and Steve Phelps say the holidays are by far their busiest time.
“Sometimes we would get out of here after midnight,” Rhonda said of holiday traffic.
“Yeah, we don’t even have hours during the Christmas season,” Steve added. “As long as we have customers, we stay open.”
The influx of holiday customers to the Phelps’ store is at least partly thanks to the Wonderland of Lights festival, which brings tourists to Marshall’s downtown every year.
The festival, hosted by the Greater Marshall Chamber of Commerce, is one of the ways the chamber helps bring shoppers to small businesses.
In a world of online shopping and chain retail, supporting local businesses can become an afterthought, but business experts say shopping locally has a far greater impact within a person’s community.
“We don’t often think of the months that follow the holidays where revenue is a challenge, including some summer months,” said Stacia Runnels, executive director of the Marshall chamber. “Local holiday shopping sustains many of our small businesses and carries them through the leaner periods.”
That’s why the chamber and other groups in the city try to hold events that will support the business owners they serve.
“Marshall Main Street partners with local merchants to create special events and promotions that encourage shopping downtown during the holidays,” said Lacy Burson, the organization’s tourism and main street administrator. “Through initiatives like Wassail Walk on Shop Small Business Saturday and the other activities happening at Wonderland of Lights, we work to bring people into our shops and highlight what makes each business special.”
The impact, however, isn’t only for business owners, who often invest in their communities.
Day Shelmire, director of the UT Tyler-Longview Small Business Development Center, said when customers shop at businesses run by corporations, that money goes back to corporations.
“We don’t see (the money) again, so it’s not adding to the pool of local money,” Shelmire said.
However, when customers shop locally, the money stays in the community.
“Less of the money is going out of our ecosystem here, and you’re supporting, you know, local jobs, local owners, and that sort of thing,” he said.
Burson said these local owners continue the local economics cycle.
“When residents spend money at local shops, more of that money stays here, helping fund jobs, public services, and community projects,” she said. “Local businesses are also the ones that donate to school fundraisers, sponsor local events, and help keep our downtown vibrant.”
Shopping locally also often means supporting a neighbor or friend.
“Residents like to shop with trusted vendors and proprietors they know – their friends and neighbors,” Runnels said. “Beyond a familiar face, locals offer customer service that goes far beyond an online experience. It’s difficult to replicate that proficiency and familiarity with customers online. Our local vendors are known to go the extra mile, some even making that ‘emergency’ delivery or meeting their customer after hours in a pinch.”
To compete with online shopping, local owners are tasked with tailoring to customers in unique ways.
“So online, yes, it’s hurt retail, but it has also strengthened local retail because it’s made these retailers pivot, it’s made them innovate, it’s made them become community-focused where they’re building community rather than just marketing and selling,” Shelmire said.
For the Phelps, it means taking advantage of the traffic coming from Wonderland of Lights and working those extra hours during the holidays.
“The holidays are the perfect time to remind customers that shopping locally isn’t just convenient – it’s a way to support the people and places that make Marshall feel like home,” Burson said.