Avoid Saturday’s ‘panic,’ shop locally for last-minute gifts

Today is “Panic Saturday,” the day retail experts predict will be the busiest day of the holiday shopping season.

Black Friday has historically been the busiest shopping day. Black Friday shoppers spent $9.1 billion this year, according to ShopperTrak, a Chicago-based company that compiles and studies a variety of market data.

Saturday sales should top $10 billion, estimates ShopperTrak. Retailmenot.com predicts 56 percent of holiday shoppers will seek gifts today. Of those, 18 percent will be just starting their Christmas shopping, says Retailmenot.com

With so many shoppers experts warn Panic Saturday will likely be a days of “overs” – people who are overstressed, have overpaid for gifts and likely have overbought in the frenzy to complete their Christmas list.

Locally owned businesses are promising a different shopping experience.

“We will be here for the panicked,” says Cathie Smith, owner of the Crossings on Main in downtown Fort Mill. “We will be the place of calm.”

Stores such as the Crossings on Main offer another benefit, dollars spent with local merchants remain in the local economy. Retail experts say for every $1 spent with a local business, 45 cents is reinvested in the community. For large, big-box retailers the figure is 15 cents.

Shop local campaigns are a traditional holiday effort with the intent that people shop locally year round.

The York County Regional Chamber of Commerce has its “Buy Local” gift cards that can be used at selected chamber members. Cards can be bought at the chamber’s office on East Main Street in downtown Rock Hill.

Family Trust Credit Union launched its “Buy Local, Bank Local” campaign this year. Members who used their debit or platinum credit cards received double reward points for every purchase made in York County. While the effort targets members, Family Trust’s audience was shoppers at large.

Family Trust, and others, hope to change consumer habits, getting people to think locally first.

Local businesses stress that shopping locally is about friendships. Shoppers are no longer consumers but neighbors. The biggest benefit business owners say, is finding gifts you can’t buy elsewhere – gifts that often come with a story.

Smith, owner of the Crossings at Main, buys “items that are related to causes.” Often those who made the items are “workers coming out of desperate situations,” Smith says. They get a percentage of each sale “and that makes a difference for them, too.”

Shopping locally also means going places that may not be on the retail radar screen for the masses.

Gift shops operated by museums, visitors’ bureaus, arts councils and the Catawba Indians are good places to find handcrafted, one-of-a-kind items.

The Museum of York County on Mount Gallant Road has locally made cotton wreaths and Christmas ornaments made of natural materials, as well as those inspired by Vernon Grant. The museum, as well as the Main Street Children’s Museum, has toys geared for ages up to 6.

“Grandparents love to shop here because it’s quiet and we have lots of items for grandchildren,” said museum retail manager Mark Cockerill.

The Olde English District Tourism office at the Gateway Center in Richburg has items from artists representing all seven counties in the district.

Children, grandchildren and friends aren’t the only gift recipients on people’s shopping list. For “pet parents,” the Animal Supply House on North Anderson Road in Rock Hill has a new wardrobe of pet collars that jingle, plus special holiday treats and toys.

The benefit, says owner Jeff Culp, is that all eight of his employees live and work in York County. “The payroll stays here,” he says.

For the still-to-be convinced, there are two other factors to shopping locally.

Many local businesses count on holiday sales to remain solvent.

Betsy Rock, who is celebrating her 38th Christmas in business, says December, May and November are the key months for her downtown store, the Overhead Station. “You use the money you made in December to fill up your store for the new year – hopefully your store needs to be filled up.”

This year Rock has been using her profits to restock her East Main Street store just for December. Some of her items – such as soy candles from a Matthews, N.C., supplier – are big sellers. She named the candles for Fountain Park and ChristmasVille.

The most compelling reason – and often least discussed – to shop locally is more than 50 percent of the state sales tax collected goes to fund education. Two pennies of the 6-cent tax are dedicated to education funding. One cent helps reimburse school districts for tax income lost when Act 388 was passed, removing home property taxes as a source of education revenue. The remaining 3 cents fund state government and some of that money is spent on local education.

With that in mind Winthrop University economics professor Laura Ullrich urged all shoppers to think South Carolina when they shop. If you have a choice between shopping in Charlotte or Columbia, Ullrich says, “go south.”

She adds that’s especially important when shopping at the big-box retailers. While they return less to the local economy than home-grown businesses, South Carolina big-box retailers collect sales tax which funds schools.

This story was originally published December 19, 2014 at 10:59 PM with the headline "Avoid Saturday’s ‘panic,’ shop locally for last-minute gifts."