Despite the rain, sleet, and snow on Dec. 9, forty-two local Milwaukee neighbor businesses and organizations got together as well as 940 attendees, for the 4th Annual “Buy Local Gift Fair” held at Lakefront Brewery. This 4th annual, amazing holiday shopping event was sponsored by Local First Milwaukee, Lakefront Brewery, and Outpost Natural Foods.

Stephanie, Katie, Sarah, Carrie and Karen were there, among many others with their locally sourced  goodies. In addition, local non-profit/charitable organizations were there to share in their missions for our community. They are your neighbors. They are my neighbors. They live down the block or around the corner. This is what local is all about, supporting great Milwaukee businesses and organizations.

There was a buzz in the air and a feeling of community. The aisles were almost impassable at times and friends and neighbors were sharing, talking, sampling and of course supporting these businesses and organizations with their holiday purchases and donations.  You can’t get that feeling in a big box store because it only comes when people gather sharing a common goal - to be a community that supports one another.

When you shop local, 68¢ of every dollar stays in the community. Compare that to shopping at a chain or big box store where only 43¢ stays local. Simply switching up 10% of your purchases for goods, services and entertainment not only keeps our community unique and authentic, it puts more dollars back into our local economy, creates new jobs, attracts other businesses, adds to real estate value and increases the tax base. In Milwaukee alone it’s estimated that an additional $300 million dollars would stay local if everyone switched only 10% of their purchases to local businesses.

I purchased some Christmas surprises and only at the Buy Local Gift Fair could I get the unique gifts to give to a friend. But there is something else I got with my purchase, a personal connection to Stephanie and Sarah who made their products.  They are proud of their products and I am even more proud to give them to a loved one. Shopping local is personal.

So before you dash off to a chain store, think about your neighbor and the greatest gift you could give them and yourself.  The gift of shopping Local!

Happy Holidays!

 - Suzanne Garr, director