Stay Home, Stay Safe...and Shop Local Over the Holidays

“Together we can save Christmas,” Governor Jared Polis announced on November 9, explaining why he was urging Colorado residents to “buckle down” and avoid social gatherings right now, in order to prevent cases of COVID-19 from increasing so fast that he might have to issue a stay-at-home order over the holidays. But at least while you’re avoiding those social gatherings, you can do some shopping from home, using the new Shop Local Colorado website to consult a list of shop-local campaigns across the state.

“Colorado’s small businesses, entrepreneurs and restaurants are an economic engine for so many communities across Colorado, and while the pandemic has created unique challenges, we are resilient and will build back stronger,” Polis said in announcing the new program set up by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. “I encourage every Coloradan to shop local this holiday season and purchase superior grown-in-Colorado and made-in-Colorado products so we can support our small businesses that create local jobs, strengthen our communities, and fuel our economic momentum.”

According to the OEDT, there are more than 611,000 small businesses in Colorado, which account for about 99 percent of the state’s businesses. The Small Business Administration estimates that when you shop locally, 70 percent of your spending stays in the local economy, whereas only 40 percent remains when you’re shopping non-locally.

Polis is encouraging Colorado shoppers to push the campaign by posting on social media and using the hashtag #ShopLocalColorado; small businesses can also take advantage of the #ShopLocalColorado Social Media Toolkit. But don’t look for it at shoplocalcolorado.co — that website actually belongs to the Horseshoe Market, which has been encouraging people to shop very local since 2010. To reach the state’s shop-local site, go to coloradosbdc.org/shop-local — and yes, you’ll find the Horseshoe Market as one of the options listed there.

Small businesses along Fairfax Street in the Park Hill neighborhood are already getting vocal about local shopping. They’ve banded together to release the first-ever Park Hill Pass, a booklet of discount cards and exclusive deals at outfits in the area. “We are hoping to foster a deep sense of community between Denver’s small businesses and Park Hill residents,” says Nina Khosravi, director of community for Park Hill Commons. Booklets were distributed to 20,000 households in the area.

Know of another good local shopping deal? A holiday event? Send information to [email protected].