By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Shop St. Joseph is in full swing as Chamber of Commerce officials remind area consumers to shop local.
Chamber President Natalie Hawn says a program that began modestly has seen great growth over the years.
“We started that program about 20 years ago really to kind of keep people mindful of shopping in St. Joseph versus Kansas City or Omaha,” Hawn tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. “Now, it’s really changed where it’s to remind people to not do all their purchases online.”
Twenty years ago, when Shop St. Joseph started, stores distributed 40,000 tickets.
Last year, St. Joseph businesses distributed 2.3 million.
“So, the program has grown significantly both in merchants and in the number of tickets that are given out,” Hawn says.
Hawn says while bigger cities might have been the alure for St. Joseph area residents a few years ago, that has changed. Online now is the competitor.
“I know it’s so convenient to purchase online, but you’re not helping those local merchants who are really bringing that unique gift experience to our community which makes it great for tourism, which makes it great for amenities here in St. Joseph,” according to Hawn. “So, make sure that you’re supporting local. I know you can’t always purchase everything local, but we would love you to get creative and think about ways to purchase local.”
Hawn points out small businesses had to survive COVID and cope with inflation, counting on December sales to boost the bottom line. Hawn says consumers went out of their way to support local businesses during COVID, but have pulled back a bit this year.
“With inflation and not knowing what the economy’s going to do and not knowing what the elections were going to do, we think people have just been more conservative with their spending,” Hawn says. “But they need to remember that those local businesses need you to survive. So, I think that’s probably a part of it. I think people were more mindful during COVID to support local. Four or five years later, they’re kind of forgetting to do that.”
Shop St. Joseph ends on Monday, December 16th. The drawing for the winning ticket will take place on Wednesday, the 18th.
The Grand Prize is $10,000. There is always a $2,500 small business bonus prize.
Click HERE for more on Shop St. Joseph.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.