To promote shopping locally this holiday season, Ann Arbor-based entrepreneurial research nonprofit EntryPoint will release a gift guide Nov. 1 highlighting products and small businesses across the Midwest.
According to recent research from EntryPoint, six times more capital stays in the community when money is spent at locally-owned businesses instead of on an online marketplace like Amazon. With the holiday shopping season coming up in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s more important than ever for shoppers to buy local.
Emily Heintz, EntryPoint founder and managing director, says people should consider purchasing the majority of their gifts from local businesses this year.
“Q4 is always super important for small businesses,” Heintz says. “We’ve wanted to turn [that awareness] up a bit because if people are shopping how they normally shop, half on Amazon and half with small business, that will have a huge detriment to the small business community.”
Small businesses across the Midwest have submitted their information and products to be featured in the guide, and EntryPoint will also feature 20 Midwest businesses on its Facebook Live interview series, "The Cackle," from Nov. 30-Dec. 4.
Heintz says she hopes the guide can replace Amazon as shoppers' go-to spot to shop online. All products and businesses will be linked in the guide to make them easy for customers to purchase.
“We’re a local business and we’re doing this because we want to help our fellow small business owners,” Heintz says.
For more Concentrate coverage of our community's response to the COVID-19 crisis, click here.
Emily Benda is a freelance writer based in Ann Arbor. You can contact her at emily@emilybenda.com.
Photo courtesy of EntryPoint.
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