LOVE LOCAL MENDO
Put your money where your home is this season
Small Business Saturday, an annual holiday initiated by American Express in 2010 in partnership with the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation, is a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday—that feature big box retail and e-commerce stores—and encourages holiday shoppers nationwide to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and local; it has become an important part of how many small businesses launch their busiest shopping season.
“We are excited, once again, this season, to take the lead and help bring this tradition to our community by declaring our Love Local Mendo campaign for all of November and December in support of our businesses,” says Katrina Kessen, executive director of the Greater Ukiah Business and Tourism Alliance working with the Mendocino
Coast Chamber and the Willits Chamber to ensure the success of the campaign.
This year’s SBS, falling on Nov. 27, is a one-day initiative that focuses a nationwide light
on small businesses and inspires customers to shop within their own communities during the holiday season. The Love Local Mendo campaign broadens that focus, encouraging and reminding folks to shop locally throughout Mendocino County for the entire holiday season.
The campaign is in full swing and participating businesses will have forms available for three lucky entrants to win gift cards of $100 for local shopping.
Additionally, gift cards are available for purchase online at lovelocalmendo.com and will be accepted at local restaurants, retailers, services and entertainment countywide that have sold over $15,000 since last December, ensuring the money stays in the community.
For every $100 spent at a local business, about $68 stays here to support local jobs, reinvests in our services through taxes and enhances the distinctive character of the area in which we live.
Kerry Randall, president of the Greater Ukiah Business and Tourism Alliance, sees Love Local Mendo as more than a warm phrase.
“Spend the dollar in town; keep it in town. It puts money in merchants’ pockets and food on their tables. Let that dollar work in town; let it turn over and stay in our community in the form of salary, employment and businesses being able to stay open. That’s why shopping locally is vital to any community,” he says.
It’s not just about buying gifts; it’s also about purchasing experiences for friends and family—dance lessons, a spin at the iceskating rink, dining, gym memberships, Pilates, a massage, a facial, a haircut.
Slam Dunk Pizza owners Stephanie and Matt Dunken, with locations in Ukiah, Willits and a permanent food truck in Redwood Valley, are wholeheartedly participating in the Lovelocalmendo campaign.
Long-time residents, the couple have been committed to serving their community for many years. Stephanie sits on GUBTA’S executive board of directors and is an officer in the Chamber of Commerce Advisory Committee.
In 2017, they set up their parking lot area for donations for the fires in Lake County. They have raised a great deal of money for the community over the years and starting in January, they will be donating 10 percent of all their proceeds to local nonprofits, primarily for community-based school projects, sports, seniors, cancer and the Humane Society.
“We all need to be working toward a coming together of community, and our business is definitely a vessel we can use to help with that; as business owners we have a way to help our community to bring tourism here, keep our kids safe and help those who are down and out,” says Stephanie.
“If I can inspire someone to help others, then that is my job, and I do it in the hopes of inspiring the next person.”
Mendocino Bounty will
be coming up on its 28th Christmas season.
“I love it; it’s a great feeling, showcasing and promoting local businesses. I have customers who come in with their children and they say ‘my mother brought me here when I was a baby’; I remember their mothers being pregnant with them and here they are with their own children,” says owner Karen Record.
Fully prepared for the season, the store’s abundant shelves are bursting with products including a huge collection of candies, chocolates and Christmas and Hanukah goodies.
Her themed-boxes of
all-local items are ready for purchase and shipping—mendocino Mornings with granola, jam, coffee and honey; Hot off the Grill with marinades, barbecue sauce and herbs; Mendo Mix with wild rice, jam, marinade, and toffee.
Customers can also grab a gift basket and choose their combinations.
Just outside the downtown area, on Mill and State, the new owners of DFM Auto Repair, Ben Chadwick, recently retired automotive teacher at Mendocino College and employee at DFM for 20 years, and his wife, Mary, are putting up new signs.
First established in 1962,
they recently purchased the Mom-and Pop business in January of this year.
“Our cornerstone is local business. We have local people spending their dollars locally and that’s what keeps us going,” says Mary. “We’re part of the community of auto repair businesses, both giving and receiving referrals from other shops.”
It is about their longterm, ongoing relationships with their clients, not just a one-and-done.
“There are people who brought their cars here when their kids were little and now those kids are bringing their family cars here.”
They believe in giving back to the community. She serves as an officer on the Main Street Merchant Advisory Committee and most recently, they donated gift bags and prizes to the Capitol Christmas Tree event.
“We give back to the community because we live in this community,” she says. “I’ve lived here my whole life; my kids are here and my grandkids are here. In order for this community that I love to thrive I have got to be involved; I have to support it; I have to give back because it gives to me.”*