Shop Small Hopkinsville

We call Hopkinsville, Kentucky home. There are a handful of employees that make up Williams Advertising, and one in particular that has been making Williams Advertising what it is for over 30 years, after a long family history of entrepreneurship. All of the Williams employees live and work in Hopkinsville. So it’s safe to say that everything about the Shop Small/Go Local movement excites us.

Over the last several years, the movement to encourage people to make the conscious decision to shop small and to shop locally has seen a growth in popularity and participation. With statistics that make shoppers aware of how their dollar decisions impact the local economy, it’s easy to see why.

• Spending $100 with a local business means roughly $68 stays in your economy. If spent with a non-local business, only $43 stays – a.k.a. $57 for every $100 spent LEAVES the city. (According to Grasshopper). Imagine if for each $100, we could keep that $25 difference in Hopkinsville just by making the conscious decision to spend here? Fair warning here – we’re marketers, not economists, but let’s keep on this train of thought for a moment…if each person in Hopkinsville (using a population of 32,500), made that decision for just 100 of their dollars, that would mean an economic impact of just under $1 million ($812,500). Imagine if that decision was made for every $1,000 (an over $8.1 million impact!).
• Over 50% of the working population is employed by a small business (Stat from Yahoo). That means that for literally every other person you meet, chances are they are impacted by your decision on where to spend your dollars.

Don’t get us wrong, there are things you just won’t be able to buy locally, and sometimes you just want to get out of town and get a little something different. Online shopping is also increasingly popular, and discount vouchers can be found on sites like Raise.com, but it’s all about making that conscious decision to think first about how you could do it locally, then shop. Why take the time to do that?

• That local business you’re considering shopping is the same small business you just asked to donate to your cause, and they did. Local businesses are more likely to support non-profits and local causes than big-box retailers. See our previous post on the Junior Auxiliary Charity Ball if you need proof.
• We all want more choices – more things to buy, more things to do. If we convince local business owners and entrepreneurs with our dollars that we’re willing to support local initiatives, maybe they’ll carry more things we want or open up a business that fills a void.
• Thriving small businesses get to create new jobs. So we’ll get more choices of where to spend our dollars AND we’ll get additional job opportunities to support our spending habits? Excellent!

We took a poll recently on Facebook on shopping locally, and most people said they don’t shop locally because of selection or it’s just more convenient to shop online. Totally with you on that, we love shopping in our pjs too. But do you know for sure your favorite store or business doesn’t have an online shop? Take Williams Advertising, for example. That’s news for some of our promotional products customers as we’re growing. It took us a *few* years, but here we are now with an online store with promotional products, just like some of the big guys. And typically, our prices can usually be very competitive to the big guys (and if we do happen to be a few cents more please let us know so that we can make sure our pricing displayed is accurate). Plus all of the things above – you’re keeping those dollars here in town. We’re employing individuals here that shop at your business, we donate as a business and as individuals to local causes, and we’re trying to reinvest the dollars we make in to the business to make it grow and make it just what Hopkinsville needs it to be.

We can only imagine how Hopkinsville’s economy would grow if the Shop Small campaign really took off with shoppers. And for our own reasons, we’re hoping it continues to spread throughout the businesses in Hopkinsville. We appreciate all of our customers that make shopping local a priority and do business with us! What are some of your favorite local businesses to shop? Tweet us @WilliamsAdco or find us on Facebook and join the Shop Small Hopkinsville conversation.