Online shopping makes it so simple to order a gift with a few clicks of a button. But something special happens when you include local items on your holiday gift list.
Fountain Hills may be a small community, but we have a wide variety of retailers and artists who offer unique items to surprise your friends and family with a locally sourced gift.
The benefits of shopping local are significant.
- Meet business owners. Hunting down the perfect gift gets you into local shops where you can get to know the business owners and form great relationships with someone who cares. Sometimes they turn out to be your own neighbors.
- Invest in entrepreneurship. The American economy was founded on the creativity and courage of entrepreneurs. Nurturing local businesses strengthens the economy of our community.
- More money for the community. When you shop at a locally owned business, $68 of every $100 spent stays in Fountain Hills. But when you shop at a national chain in town, only $48 of every $100 spent stays in Fountain Hills.* When you shop elsewhere or online, well, you can do the math on that one.
- Create local jobs. Local jobs mean a healthier local economy and fewer people driving to other communities to find work.
- Conserve tax dollars. Sales tax is an important segment of our town’s income and every bit matters for a community this size. Instead of our sales tax supporting the roads and infrastructure of another community or region, shopping local puts it straight toward the community where we live.
- Unique and special finds. Step into the Fountain Hills Artist’s Gallery and find a one-of-a-kind piece of art for the art collector on your list. Check out the gift store at the River of Time Museum where you can buy books for adults and children about the Sonoran Desert and the Lower Verde Valley. Pamper someone you love with a gift certificate from Russo Salon. And don’t overlook Fountain Hills Bikes and McDowell Mountain Cycles, where you can find great gifts for the cyclist on your list no matter their level of experience.
- Support a family. When you shop local, you’re not adding more dollars to the accounts of multi-billion-dollar businesses. You’re helping to support local families who love the community and want to raise their kids here. You make it possible for them to provide valuable goods and services while putting food on their own tables.
Enjoy your holiday shopping season. Hopefully this year you’ll meet some new people from the community and find something exciting along the way.
*Source: Civic Economics – Andersonville Study of Retail Economics.
