Local Love

You'll have to excuse us for saying so, but the Flyer has always been a bargain. Now we're bringing readers — and retailers — even more of a deal.

The Flyer is asking readers to pledge to spend $100 at locally owned shops this holiday season. In exchange, readers will receive weekly emails with "deals and steals" from area retailers.

"Right now, when the economy is what it is, it makes sense for people to try to spend locally as frequently as they can," says Penelope Huston Baer, Flyer advertising director. "We know it might be convenient to shop online or to shop the 'Big Boxes,' but if you do so, fewer of your dollars stay in the community."

According to Civic Economics, 68 cents of every dollar spent at a locally owned business stays in the community versus 43 cents if that same dollars is spent at a national chain.

If 1,000 people pledge to spend $100 at locally owned stores, the economic impact is $25,000 greater than if they had spent that same $100 at a national chain.

"We're not trying to encourage people to spend money they don't have," Huston Baer says. "Part of what we're telling everyone is to spend responsibly. But if you're going to spend, spend locally. It means so much to the community."

Shopping locally can also encompass area artists markets, consignment shops, and antique stores.

"I was talking with a local retailer and she said that she felt like so many people in Memphis wear the 'I shop in New York' as a badge of honor: 'I got this in Miami,' 'I got this in New York.' She wanted people to be proud so say they got something in Memphis," Huston Baer says.

"We're just trying to help our readers and our retailers find each other."

To make the pledge and get signed up to receive great deals, email "I pledge" to shoplocal@memphisflyer.com.

Here's a list off the top of my head of local retailers (this is by no means all encompassing; it's what we call a start. And, yes, I alphabetized it.):

Baer's Den
Burke's Books
Celery
Divine Rags
Ella, Eve, and Isabella
Eye-Con
Gestures
Goulds
Graham's Lighting Fixtures
Indigo
James Davis
Joseph
Lansky Bros. and Lansky 126 (which, btw, is actually having an expansion party and sale TODAY!)
Lux
Kittie Kyle
Mango Street Baby
Mednikow
Mode du Jour
Mona Spa
Muse
Oak Hall
Peria
Reverie
Runway Boutique
Satchi
Wink
Zoe