Shopping Our Way Into a Better Syracuse Economy

By: Sara Sultanik / NCC News

December 1, 2009

Syracuse N.Y. –  The holiday season is just beginning.  And it’s time for the hustle and bustle of gift shopping.

But have you ever thought that shopping could help boost Syracuse’s economy?

Well it can.

“When you spend money at a locally owned business, almost twice as much money is recirculated in the community,” said Chris Fowler, organizer of Shop Syracuse First Week.

But what is Shop Syracuse First Week?

Shop Syracuse First Week is a weeklong event promoting locally owned businesses to try and pull shoppers away from the larger retail chains back into their own backyards.

“You have nothing to lose and everything to gain and you get that personalized intimate service that you may not get at a bigger store,” said Linda “Sparky” Mortimer, owner of Sparky Town restaurant , a participant in Shop Syracuse First Week.

Shopping Local = Shopping Expensive?

But some Central New Yorkers, like Mattydale’s Christina Stasko, claimed they would want to shop at the local boutiques, but they believed the products in the stores were just too expensive.

So when planning ahead for the holidays, Stasko thought the best deals were at the big retailers, not at the local independent businesses.

“Maybe if they were a little more competitive to the other discounting places...I have four kids so it’s a lot of money to spend for Christmas.

But Eva Higgins, owner of another Shop Syracuse First Week participating store, Eva’s Boutique said she sells items of all price points and she stated, “...stop and think where this money is going...if it comes back into the local economy, it helps everybody.”

There are over seventy local businesses participating in the event that runs through December 6, 2009.  And many of these businesses have special deals and events planned throughout the week.