Editorial: Support local merchants this holiday season

ALBANY, GA (WALB) - The Christmas holiday season is here and that means many of you will be heading to the stores or your computer to buy presents for your family and friends.

We want to encourage everyone to support your local merchants.

Research shows that $68 out of every $100 spent in local businesses stays here in our community. That is a big number when you consider the Albany marketing area has a $5.5 billion dollar retail economy.

The more of that money we can keep here will help current businesses grow, new businesses start and will create badly needed jobs.

That won’t happen when you buy online from national websites who have no local interest and no local investment.

Is what some call convenience online, worth the cost of watching your friends and neighbors having to close their shops or lose their jobs?

Of course not.

So, take pride in knowing that every dollar you spend with a local business is an investment that will bring dividends to all of us.

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