Midland Business Alliances encourages spending locally this holiday season

Shopping and supporting local is a way of life for many residents and business owners alike, year-round. This holiday season, the Midland Business Alliance aims to increase those efforts by offering special discounts and deals available at local businesses. 

The Shop Local Midland Holiday Promotion runs from now until Dec. 23 (with varying lengths when deals are valid), showcasing 16 different locally-owned businesses. 

The Shop Local Midland Holiday Promotion runs through Dec. 23.
Jenny Bruzewski, vice president of marketing and communications for the Midland Business Alliance says the promotion is an expansion on what the Alliance provides on a daily basis: supporting the small business community.  “Every holiday season, we want to brainstorm as many ideas as we can to encourage everyone in the community to shop local,” Bruzewski says, “Our idea is that you can pretty much find everything you need for your holiday parties, gifts, and all of those things at local businesses.”

The Holiday Promotion is found on the Midland Business Alliance Facebook page. 
“We’re highlighting each of those 16 different businesses everyday throughout the month,” Bruzewski says. “Most of the promotions started on Black Friday and will run through the end of December.”

Local participating retailers include Applied Training Solutions, Brinstar Arcade Bar and Grill, Chippewa Nature Center, Compass Marketing Results, FILL, GNC Live Well, Little Forks Outfitters, Maru Sushi Midland, Muffler Man of Midland, Nature Niche, Pizza Sam’s, Pop-Pop’s Gourmet Popcorn, Radiant U, Traction Powersports, Wellington Ltd., and Wellness Within You.

Promotions include discounted classes, gift shop discounts, gift card discounts and bonus cards, free gifts with purchases, storewide discounts, and more.

Bruzewski says the promotion is exciting because there are a lot of unique businesses and some people don’t typically think of when gifting. “Pretty much every business offers gift cards. It offers a different perspective for gift-giving or holiday parties.” 


Patrons at small businesses often experience a more personalized shopping experience too, with small touches that online retailers simply can’t provide like gift-wrapping, gift-basket assembling, and packaging details. “You can get so many more unique things when you’re shopping locally. It’s hard to find something unique, handmade or personal when you're shopping online. I hope people think about that too,” Bruzewski says. 

This is the first year the Alliance has hosted the promotion, and Bruzewski hopes future years include even more participating local businesses. 

For every $100 you spend locally, $68 of that stays within the local community. Bruzewski says the idea of shopping locally remains relevant for two reasons. “With the money staying local, you’re really helping your local economy and keeping that money right here in your community. A lot of the local businesses tend to be the ones that support all of the fundraisers, the kids baseball teams, etc., so it’s really important to try the best you can to keep your money local,” she says. “But it’s also the fact that when you’re supporting a local business, you’re supporting your neighbors, your friends, people that you see all the time. That’s really powerful.”