Shopping local made simple
Buyhalifax, Evergreen Festival, vlife make it easier to support small businesses this holiday season
When thinking of how to shop locally, images of main-street storefronts might come to mind.
You park your car, pay the parking fee and hit the streets, walking from store to store and browsing around for unique items. But supporting local is no longer limited to shopping at bricks-and-mortar stores.
In fact, you can show your support right from the comfort of your own couch. The Halifax Chamber of Commerce’s Buyhalifax campaign, along with the now-pivoted Evergreen Festival and the vlife buy local website, all offer direct links to local businesses, so shoppers can stay home, stay safe and still support local.
These online options are making it easy to buy in Halifax. Wendy Luther, Halifax Partnership’s President and CEO, says it’s the right choice for so many reasons.
“It’s good for local business, good for our environment because it avoids international shipping … and incredibly powerful for connection to community,” says Luther. “You’re bringing yourself joy as you shop for yourself and others and also bringing joy to small business owners in your community.”
Connecting with local
The Halifax Chamber of Commerce launched Buyhalifax in partnership with Halifax Partnership, Discover Halifax, CUA and NSAR earlier this year to encourage shoppers to support local, whether online or in person, after the first round of COVID-19 restrictions saw many businesses temporarily shuttered.
The campaign is now connecting shoppers with virtual storefronts of local businesses as options to consider supporting this holiday season.
Along with Buyhalifax encouraging shoppers to think local is the inaugural Evergreen Festival, which changed its outdoor promenade of vendor chalets on the Halifax waterfront to virtual once new public health restrictions were announced in November.
Gordon Stevens, Develop Nova Scotia’s Chief Operating Officer and Vice-president of Finance, says the festival’s virtual offerings link shoppers directly to vendors online and will also livestream its Halifax Jazz Festival-produced entertainment on the Evergreen Screen page for people to enjoy at home.
“Our website is showcasing participating vendors and we’re inviting other merchants to the site as well,” says Stevens. “Our message to people is to get fresh air, come enjoy the lights we’ve installed on the waterfront, get food or a beverage to go and head home to shop and watch the shows.”
Luther says online resources like Buyhalifax, the Evergreen Festival and vlife are making it simple for Halifax area consumers to access the city’s products and services. She says the resources are also showing shoppers that local is not only important to support, but a viable shopping option as well.
“We’re showing Halifax residents how easy it is to support small business, whether through online or even curbside pickup or delivery,” says Luther. “The price is often the same, if not lower, than shopping with online retailers from elsewhere.”
Supporting local supports community
Stevens says supporting local should remain top of mind with shoppers this year as they browse online for gifts. He says instead of sourcing every gift through a single, monolithic e-commerce website, shoppers might consider spreading their dollars across different local shops and services.
“We need to continue to be conscious of how and where we’re spending our money,” he says. “Small businesses, non-profits, arts and culture — these are the things that, when we come out of COVID, we’ll certainly miss if they’re not there.”
Keeping dollars local helps to support the infrastructural makeup of Halifax itself, according to Luther, who says the vibrancy of a city’s main streets contributes to its magnetism, which in turn attracts business and people to the city.
“It’s about intentionality — how we as citizens spend our dollars,” says Luther. “If we buy local, it makes a difference on the material strength, wellbeing and prosperity of our community.”
To check out local HRM vendors to buy from this holiday season, visit buyhalifax.ca, evergreenfestns.com and vlifeapp.ca/vstores.