THUNDER BAY — With the holiday season fast approaching, local businesses hope to see some of that Christmas spending stay in the local economy.
Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce is encouraging the community to support local businesses this holiday season through its Choose TBay First campaign.
“Our theme this year is when you choose TBay first, you choose TBay people because really all those local businesses are supported by local people,” said Charla Robinson, president of the Chamber of Commerce.
“(We’re) trying to remind folks that when ordering online, you're not really helping your neighbours, you're not really helping your friends, you're not creating jobs in our community.
“We really need to be supporting each other this holiday season and encouraging folks to get out and check all the amazing stores and restaurants that we have throughout the next number of weeks as we lead up to the big holiday season.”
Robinson said there’s a real holiday spirit starting to come up in the stores.
“Putting up their Christmas decorations and their Christmas displays and really showcasing special things that they've brought in to serve their customers and offer to their customers this holiday season.
“We have so many amazing businesses here in Thunder Bay, and it's important to support them in order that they can continue to support back our community.”
There's more to gain when shopping local, Robinson said.
“When you buy at a local business, you're really supporting a business person's dreams.
“You're supporting them being able to hire potentially your friends and family, you're supporting the community because they're paying taxes that help to make sure we have the roads and infrastructure and programming that we need here in our city,” she said.
Robinson said the local businesses are often the ones that give to local charities or local sports teams.
“It's those businesses that are helping those community activities happen. If you're not helping that business to do that, there's a potential that they might not be able to do that in the future.
“It's really all about building a vibrant community, and as we choose TBay first, we can support the continuation of that vibrancy here in Thunder Bay,” Robinson said.
