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EDITORIAL: This holiday season, spend your money with locals
By Editorial Board
Wausau Daily Herald
November 13, 2007, "Our View" Page
You didn't need to read last week's headline ("Gifts vs. gas: Costs could trim spending") to know that high pump prices might put the brakes on holiday gift-giving this year.
Something has to give, after all. And gasoline, along with food and shelter, is one of those commodities most of us can't do without.
So with the price of gasoline parked above $3 a gallon, it seems logical that a lot of us will look to tighten our belts this holiday season. One recent forecast found about four in 10 people said they expect to reduce their overall spending this holiday season.
And Randy Cray, director of the Central Wisconsin Economic Research Bureau at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, notes that consumer spending tends to dip as gasoline prices rise.
So what's a big-hearted mom or dad, grandma or grandpa, or brother or sister to do? Spend on gifts or gas?
How's this for an answer:
Shop local.
Skip the trip to the Mall of America in the Twin Cities or the big regional malls in the Fox Valley or Madison.
Instead, save gas by parking in downtown Wausau -- and give hometown merchants a boost by doing all your holiday shopping here.
Check out the new-look Wausau Center mall. Grab a cup of joe at La Prima. Browse the stacks at Janke's.
Check out the selection at Jeannie Swenson's new clothing store (if you're shopping for a woman) or St. Clair's Menswear (for the guys in your life).
Grab lunch at Downtown Grocery.
You get the idea: Save on gas. Spend on the people you care about. And support local businesses.
Copyright (c) Wausau Daily Herald. All rights reserved.
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