The magic of the holiday season is undeniable. Gathering with family and friends, exchanging gifts, decorating the house, and joyfully celebrating with loved ones always makes the holiday period memorable. It’s so special that it even has its own soundtrack of roughly 50 Christmas carols that most of us play over and over throughout December.

There truly is no place like home to enjoy the holidays. And from the Biddeford & Saco Chamber of Commerce & Industry perspective, there is also nothing that compares to shopping on the home front too to help our community.

The economic implications of Christmas are huge. Holiday shopping can account for 30 percent or more of a retailer’s annual sales. On average, American households spend roughly $1,000 on holiday shopping. Holiday sales indices are a critical economic barometer. Imagine if the Biddeford & Saco area kept more or most of that economic activity right here locally this year?

There is sound financial theory behind all of this, called the “Local Multiplier Effect. The gist of it is that shopping locally is more beneficial because locally owned businesses recirculate a high percentage of their revenue back into the community. In other words, spending locally creates more local wealth and jobs. In contrast, buying remotely on the web from non-local retailers creates almost no local benefit. For fans of “It’s a Wonderful Life” (another holiday favorite), it’s somewhat reminiscent of the Bailey Savings and Loan analogy of money coming into the bank that goes back out to work in the community as mortgages and loans.

Every year there is a concerted effort to reinforce the message and importance of “Buying Local.” For example, American Express promotes “Small Business Saturday”, which follows Black Friday after Thanksgiving and precedes Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday (whew, sounds exhausting!). In Biddeford & Saco, the Saco Main St. organization offers “Saco Bucks” to encourage residents to shop at downtown small businesses, and Heart of Biddeford promotes downtown shopping efforts as well. Another Maine-based program is Bangor Saving’s Bank’s “Buoy Local” card, where you can save money and earn points shopping locally with participating stores and restaurants. These efforts and many others like them are great, but you don’t have to limit your “Buy Local” focus to just one day or one event.

Here’s a radical idea: what if you committed to doing ALL of your holiday shopping this year locally? It might take a little bit more time and planning to do so instead of just clicking on links and buying online from out-of-state e-commerce companies but think of the many benefits that would ensue: recirculating funds in our area; maximizing local employment and business viability; meeting neighbors and making friends out shopping in person instead of virtually, and more. There would also be indirect environmental benefits from minimizing packaging waste and shipping costs.

Beyond “holiday goods” (economist-speak for “presents”), you can also give other local unique gifts. A fantastic alternative is to purchase an experience for others, such as a gift certificate to one of our many cool restaurants, City Theater tickets, a night at the Lincoln Hotel, museum passes, Funtown/Splashtown USA or Aquaboggan season tickets, Sea Love candle-making events, sailing lessons, or other unique services offered by local businesses. There are so many great things happening locally these days, so if you like what you are seeing, please support our new and existing businesses to keep them going strong and keep investing in the ongoing progress of our cities.

The Chamber crew is going to try to exclusively use local providers for our holiday shopping needs, and we encourage you to do the same. If you decide to get on board, please share your experiences with us, we’d love to hear how it goes!