‘Buy local’ movement aims at holiday shoppers

Published by The Boston Globe

Karen Masterson has been knitting for most of her life, but there are times when she needs help with a project like crafting an afghan for a family friend.

So she is glad that there is a nearby place like the Iron Horse, a yarn store in Natick Center where she can talk to its owner, fellow Sherborn resident Deborah Smith, whenever her knitting projects need untangling.

“Nothing compares,’’ said Masterson. “You don’t get this kind of knowledge anywhere else. You’re in a relationship, you’re not just shopping.’’


This holiday season, Natick is among a number of area communities joining a nation-wide “buy local’’ movement, encouraging consumers to get their holiday gifts in their local downtowns instead of at the mall or online.

Masterson, however, said she has been a longtime supporter of local businesses because as the owner of an independent restaurant in Lexington, she understands the importance of cultivating relationships within a community.

She turned to the Five Crows gallery in downtown Natick for the stained-glass windows decorating her Massachusetts Avenue restaurant, Nourish. “The competitive business model is so destructive,’’ she said. “We’re supporting each other with a cooperative business model.’’

Smith said she has been running her yarn store for 12 years, first from her Sherborn farm and within the last year from the Pond Street store in Natick, where she moved to get more space. Her shop offers yarn spun from animal wool at Smith’s farm, along with knitting lessons and handmade gifts.

Smith said her customers are loyal because even though the high-quality yarn is slightly more expensive, patrons receive attention they won’t get from a chain.

“A lot of people do want to buy and support local,’’ said Smith. “After 9/11, a lot of people wanted to get back to creating basic things for their families and loved ones.’’

Though small businesses have struggled during the economic recession, Natick Center hasn’t lost any storefronts and has welcomed a couple of new businesses to its community, said Margaret Sleeper, administrative assistant at the Natick Center Associates.

The nonprofit community organization is helping promote local holiday shopping by providing free, two-hour parking downtown during December, encouraging shops to stay open later, and helping businesses decorate for the holidays, said Sleeper.

“We want to help our own,’’ she said. “There’s no reason to go to China or somewhere else to get these beautiful gifts.’’

The Natick Merchants Council voted last week to launch a new campaign, “Discover Natick Center,’’ as part of an effort to attract customers, Sleeper said.

Some stores have been successful in the center for years, however, like Five Crows on Court Street. The shop started eight years ago with works from five local artists, and now features 145 from across the area, said Ginger McEachern, one of its owners.

“We could send you out of here with a beautiful holiday gift for $25,’’ said McEachern. “In this day and age, that appeals to people.’’

Natick Center is also hosting a Holiday on the Common event Dec. 5 to bring shoppers downtown, with a tree-lighting ceremony at 5 p.m. Many other communities are hosting similar events, including Holliston, Hudson, Lexington, and Needham.

Mary Jo Bohart, executive director of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce, said her group has arranged for the Lexington Symphony to perform two holiday concerts on Dec. 3, at 4 and 8 p.m., to draw people to shops in the center of town.

Buying local “is certainly something everyone’s focusing on more,’’ said Bohart. “What better time to put it into action other than holiday season?’’

Bohart said the chamber is also promoting “Small Business Saturday,’’ an American Express-organized campaign for this weekend.

American Express Open, which provides credit cards to small-business owners, has designated the day on the biggest shopping weekend of the year, between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as a way to boost its member stores, said senior vice president Rosa Sabater.

American Express Open is offering $100 worth of free advertising on Facebook to the first 10,000 small-business owners who sign up. The company is also giving a $25 statement credit to the first 100,000 cardholders who register their card and use it at a local business on Saturday.

“Our customers say, ‘We need more people walking in the door,’ ’’ said Sabater. “The only way to have the confidence to hire that new employee and invest in infrastructure is to see a demand turnaround.’’

Sabater said she thinks people are increasingly shopping local as a way to support job creation. Small businesses account for 60 to 80 percent of new jobs, and for every dollar spent in local stores, 68 cents goes back into the local economy, she said.

The Hudson Business Association is trying to get people to do more shopping downtown with a Buy Local campaign, said D.J. Collins, an administrator with the association. The town has gained 10 new businesses in the past year, but a misconception that small businesses have higher prices than chains has been a challenge to overcome in attracting customers, she said.

Still, many people have responded positively to the campaign, said Collins. Hudson’s annual Holiday Stroll to showcase its downtown will be held from 2 to 8 p.m. Dec. 4, instead of the Friday night schedule of previous years, to accommodate the festival’s growing size, she said.

Holliston is hosting its annual Holiday Stroll this weekend, from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday. Last year, about 1,400 people took part in the event, said John Drohan, president of the Holliston Business Association. Residents are trying to support the local stores to mitigate effects of the recession, he said, and keep businesses in the downtown area.

“Everyone is aware that everything’s not just perpetually going to stick around forever,’’ said Drohan.

A few stores in Wellesley, however, have had to close recently, said Demian Wendrow, director and cofounder of the Wellesley Center Merchants Association. He said local stores have had to intensify promotions and work together to keep up with growing competition.

Still, many customers appreciate local stores and prefer to shop in town centers.

“The mall doesn’t offer me anything,’’ said Marie Caradonna, who lives in Ashland and works in Natick. “I don’t like cookie cutter stuff . . . there’s a moral component to this, too.’’

Caradonna said she is planning to do her holiday shopping at Iron Horse and Five Crows because she thinks the handmade crafts offered there make better gifts than anything she could find at a mall.

“It all looks the same,’’ said Erica Dinerman, a Belmont resident who also works in Natick. “I pride myself on being able to get through the holidays without going to the mall.’’