We’ve all heard the saying “A little bit goes a long way.” In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, no truer words could be spoken. Between hanging Christmas lights, prepping all those holiday decorations, cooking a full holiday feast, and wrapping what seems like an endless number of gifts, we often overlook how we shop for the holidays while focused on the speed and efficiency of getting our holiday shopping completed. Here’s the thing: the small businesses that make up the heart of small-town America, including your local community, depend greatly on your reconsidering of how and where you purchase your holiday gifts. Here’s something to remember: You can give back in a big way by shopping small over the holidays. After all, a little bit goes a long way.

Your dollar is more than twice as valuable when spent at a local independent merchant rather than a large corporation. Beyond that, your money will recirculate through your community seven times over. Buying from local chain stores re-circulates your money three times over in your area. Each time that money recirculates, it is providing jobs and an economic base that supports your family, friends, and neighbors in the long run.

Think of this as a small-scale grassroots economy. By shopping locally, you’ll be helping a single mother pay for food to feed her family. You’ll be keeping money in your community that is then placed into local government, volunteering objectives and community philanthropy. You’ll be contributing to funds that support your local school district, clean up your city parks and keep the lights on at your favorite local stores. It perpetuates the cycle of local enterprises that feed off each other and grow by supporting one another. The beauty of it all is that we have the power to change how our cities and towns look this time next year by making thoughtful decisions about where we spend our money today.

At Cline Jewelers, we wholeheartedly advocate shopping small. As a local business, we focus much of our energy into giving back to our community through contributions to focus groups, fundraising committees, nonprofits and philanthropic community efforts. It’s why we put on events here at Cline Jewelers that are 100% donation-driven and funnel all proceeds to local programs. Shopping locally pushes your resources into our economy, and we’ve witnessed its positive effects here in Edmonds.

We’re thankful to have experienced growth by being beneficiaries of this grassroots economic model. We are so thankful to power on our lights every day because of your support. Additionally, we’re honored to have such hard-working, committed and locally-minded employees here to assist you at Cline Jewelers. Shopping small not only supports our businesses through monetary recirculation, but it sustains and helps foster our community workforce. It provides jobs that support our families, which in turn grows our businesses and strengthens our community.

So, in conclusion, our family here at Cline Jewelers would like to remind and encourage you to think about how and where you shop this holiday season, because in the end, a little bit goes a long way! Feel free to share this message and our most recent “Shop Local” commercial spot on your social media channels to pass this positive message along to your community members, local businesses and philanthropic organizations.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

— By Andy Cline, Cline Jewelers