Shopping Local Helps Frederick Economy

Downtown Frederick was abuzz last Saturday with local shoppers shopping local. Many residents and visitors alike took to the streets to help celebrate Small Business Saturday, the marketing brainchild of American Express. The event was designed to drive shoppers to small, non-big box stores across the country.

Two downtown merchants, The Muse (located at 19 N, Market St. Frederick Maryland) and Simply Beautiful Boutique, promoted their participation in Small Business Saturday on their Facebook pages.

http://www.facebook.com/shopthemuse

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Simply-Beautiful-Boutique/93625562687

"I believe that it is important to shop local because it helps our community in so many ways! I would so much rather spend my money locally and support my community and the businesses in it," said Whitney Bingham, owner of The Muse.

Elizabeth Pumphrey, owner of Simply Beautiful Boutique, is also passionate about helping local businesses. "Small businesses are the life blood of downtown areas. Small businesses help to support and encourage downtown living, shopping [and] vacationing."

Pumphrey added that sometimes smaller merchants are overlooked because their prices may be a few dollars more expensive than larger chain retailers, but there are benefits to shopping local. "I try to buy unique and hard to find specialty items in my boutique [to create] a destination shopping experience. Small businesses are able to provide higher quality products and superior customer service than our big box competitors."

Bingham reported that her business has been doing well this season. She attributes this success to the unique nature of the items in her store. "Everything I sell is handmade and the majority of the store is locally made. By purchasing a gift at The Muse, not only are you supporting a locally owned business, you are also supporting a local artist, many of which live in your own neighborhood," said Bingham.

"I am hoping for a stronger December than last year. It seems people are waiting a little longer to shop this year than they did last year. I had very few people looking for Christmas presents in October as compared to last year," said Pumphrey.

Pumphrey also extended a challenge to local shoppers by saying, "I encourage everyone to spend $25 at four small businesses a month. If everyone were to do this each and every month, the chain effect would be fantastic. It would help small businesses survive in this stressful economy."
Do you plan to shop local for the holidays? What are your favorite locally owned merchants?


By Amanda Haddaway. Article Source: Frederick.Want2Dish.com

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The Wienermobile is Pulling into Frederick

January 5, 2011 (I missed this, I was helping my youngest daughter move from her apartment, my grandchildren would have loved to see this)

The wiener people sent me an email today that I just had to pass along:

The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile is pulling into Frederick with some good news on January 8, 2011. Our 27-foot-long hot dog on wheels is looking forward to a great 2011 by celebrating food, family, and fun!
We’d like to invite families for:
• A sneak peak at the inside of WNR MBLE, the 2009 model in town
• An opportunity to send a Wienermobile postcard, free of postage
• Lucky dogs have a chance to win “franktastic” prizes
Here are all the toppings:
Saturday, January 8, 2011
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Weis Market
6093 Spring Ridge Parkway
Frederick, MD 21701
2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Weis Market
1999 Thomas Johnson Drive
Frederick, MD 21702

What’s the Wienermobile you say? This is …

More on the Hotdogger Blog.

Originally Published on FMO

Issue #75

Life in Frederick Maryland

David Bruce Jr publisher