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By Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone

It’s that time of year again. It’s the season for gathering with your friends and family, for enjoying whichever holiday(s) your family celebrates, and for giving. Here in Somerville, it’s also a season for construction and road work. With that in mind, I’m updating one of my op-eds from my archives to remind us all of the importance of shopping local this holiday season. And this year, let’s take it one step further—for the holidays and year-round—join in our #Loyal2Local campaign to especially support businesses impacted by construction.

Black Friday may have more ads and press, but another important day is coming up: Small Business Saturday. As we Somervillians hit the stores, I want to encourage everyone to spend locally, right here in Somerville. Perhaps I don’t need to remind you though. Somerville is already all about shopping local. It’s part of our DNA.

We all like living near city squares with open storefronts, great restaurants, and a diversity of businesses. Yet successful business districts don’t happen by accident. That adorable or interesting or unique shop you like to walk past doesn’t stay open if you never go into it and spend some money. The holidays are a make or break season for a lot of retail establishments. Local stores don’t bombard us with offers like national chains, but this time of year is every bit as important to their bottom lines.

Shopping locally helps more than the businesses. If you shop at a locally owned business, an estimated $68 of every $100 stays in our community because those shops tend to use other local business services (printing, marketing) and buy more of their supplies locally. All those local profits benefit the businesses—and through taxes and jobs then benefit the community. Retailers accounted for 3,597 or 13% of Somerville’s jobs in 2017, and taxes paid by local retailers help pay for better schools, public safety and public works.

However, by our estimates, more than 200 businesses are located in areas directly abutting major construction sites, including the Union Square sewer separation project along Somerville Ave. or one of the five coming Green Line Extension-related bridge closures including the coming Ball Square bridge closure. More than thirty of these businesses are retailers, representing about 15% of all retailers in the City. And when construction is underway, businesses tend to see a drop in foot traffic. I’ll bet Somervillians though can change that.

When you see detour signs, when you see those bridges shut down, when you get those detour calls from Jackie Rossetti, or when you see #Loyal2Local or “Open During Construction” signs, please head toward those areas and spend some time patronizing the businesses nearby. For the holidays, the retailers and restaurants may be your first stop. But while you’re there, take note of the salons, the grocers, the print shops, the florists, and more and be sure to return. You’ll be surprised what you notice when you walk a square more alert and more deliberately than you do when just rushing through.

Meanwhile, when you hear about fun events designed to attract business such as the upcoming Union Square Holiday Stroll on Saturday, December 8 (noon-6), head on over and let your dollars strengthen your town. Or grab some friends and stroll on your own in Ball Square or Magoun or elsewhere in town. Then tell your friends. Use the hashtag #loyal2local to share that you are specifically supporting businesses affected by construction, or go retro and just tell a friend or a neighbor in person if you like.

To be clear, I’m not advocating anyone rush out to spend extra money. By all means, stay within your budgets. Yet shop local first and shop local last. You’re more likely to find a one-of-a-kind gift that stands out, that makes a deeper connection. You’ll find handmade local jewelry and items you’ll never see at a chain store. The shop owners and workers also know their products better. They can help you pick out the exact right thing for that special someone.

Ideally we want unique stores you can’t find anywhere else as well as stores selling the basics we need. We want to build on that only-in-Somerville character that makes our city squares uniquely ours, and we want livable, real squares selling the stuff of daily life. Yet this is a classic case of City Hall’s influence only extending so far. We can run storefront improvement programs to help small businesses, help new businesses learn about available locations and obtain loans, and we can create the walking and biking amenities that help put customers on our streets, but then it’s a matter of whether those potential customers put their dollars where their home is. That’s you. That’s me. That’s our neighbors.

There’s a world of choices out there and that’s a good thing, but I’m just saying remember to choose Somerville too. What we spend now and where we spend it will shape our community. Somerville’s a great place to shop on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and every other day. The more we live here, the more livable Somerville will be.