You may have spotted some new local items in the local foods display at your Ingles Market.  (you can find these displays either in the front of the store or the end of an aisle in the middle of the store).

I was standing at my desk this morning looking forward to the coming Thanksgiving weekend with our grown children and fixating on the importance of shopping local. 

Apple was once a small business that was started in a garage by two college dropouts. It was the pipe dream of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak to make computers small enough to fit in people’s homes or offices. We all know how the story ended, but it’s important to remember how it began. 

I’m semi-quarantining in the week leading up to Thanksgiving due to a potential exposure to COVID. At this very moment I’m working at my stand-up desk enjoying a homemade hot mocha made with freshly roasted Colombian coffee beans from Steamline Coffee Company. It’s damn good coffee.

By Boyd Allsbrook • Contributing writer | This year’s post-Thanksgiving weekend of shopping holidays will be unlike any other. This should come as no surprise when one considers a market made unpredictable in the wake of a global pandemic, large swaths of the consuming public now reticent to venture outside and their consequent move to the safety of purely online vendors. 

As small businesses across Western North Carolina work toward reopening while meeting new guidelines during the COVID-19 Pandemic, residents are encouraged to support them as a way to strengthen the local economy. 

The proud communities that make up Western North Carolina were once mountain towns that played host to several successful blue-collar industries. These companies found a crucial, much-needed balance alongside the serene beauty and endless natural resources of our forests, rivers and wildlife.

I don’t like following crowds and have a naturally occurring cynicism of trends. That said, there’s one holiday promotional movement that strikes a real chord with me.

I’m talking about the “Small Business Saturday” or “Shop Small Saturday,” whatever name one chooses as a label. It’s this Saturday (Nov. 27), and the concept is to shop at the privately owned businesses in large and small towns across the nation as a way of supporting all they do to help their local communities.

There are a few time-honored traditions on Thanksgiving. Like turkey and stuffing, or football and napping. 

Or, increasingly more over the years, shopping. With retailers rabidly encouraging shoppers to get an early jump on the Christmas season gift-buying frenzy, the day after Thanksgiving has emerged as America’s celebration of shopping.

The day even has a rather ominous sounding name: Black Friday. 

When store owners pack up their holiday decorations next month, there’s one thing Karen Wilmot hopes they will leave up — a sign that reminds residents to shop local.

As director of Swain County’s Chamber of Commerce, Wilmot handed out 100 free signs to local businesses a week before Thanksgiving. In large red print, the signs say “Shop Local,” with “Make a difference in your community” underneath. Wilmot said it was the perfect time to encourage local shopping.

“With the holiday time upon us, everyone always thinks, ‘Let’s shop out of town, let’s go to the mall, let’s go somewhere and wait for that early bird 5 a.m. special,’” said Wilmot. “I thought ‘Why not roll it out when people are in the mood to shop?’”

But that doesn’t mean the local shops stop needing local customers after the holiday season ends.

“This isn’t just something that we want to stress during the holidays, but every day,” said Wilmot.

According to Wilmot, many business owners were pleased with the initiative, and some have reported that it has helped sales increase incrementally.

Wilmot said though there hasn’t been explosive growth in sales, the shop local campaign, like many other grassroots efforts, will slowly catch on.

The chamber has also launched the 3/50 project, which encourages all citizens to spend a total of $50 a month at three local businesses they couldn’t live without.

In Wilmot’s view, anyone who values the community should support its businesses. The difference between supporting a chain or a local business could come down to a mother or father losing a job, Wilmot added.

“One person shopping at one store could make that difference,” said Wilmot.