It’s Black Friday. Sure, you could wake up at five in the morning to try and beat the already growing traffic.  You could spend hours looking for a parking spot at the mall, running to the wide variety of stores, fighting with people to get that toy that Jr. just had to have. Or you could wake up at a pleasant ten in the morning, have a nice home-cooked breakfast and then head out to your own little town to do some homespun Christmas shopping. Which scenario would you prefer? Which scenario would benefit you? And which one would benefit the community?

Shopping close to home is something that takes little effort and provides a bounty of options and items usually passed over for the larger Springfield stores. The items that you find in say… Maurice’s of West Plains are just as good as the items in American Eagle or Hollister in Battlefield, and purchasing them close to home helps add a boost to the local economy that could always be used, especially now. In Willow, many people are seeing the benefits of shopping close to home, such as junior Kayla Roberts. “I shop locally for the holidays because I know it helps the community, and also because it’s much quicker than going all the way to Springfield.” Junior Whitney Atwell agreed saying, “I shop locally because it’s easier and quicker”.

With students and community members getting into the act, maybe you could give the local shopping centers a boost and a chance this holiday season. On Black Friday this year, don’t go far, shop close to home and make your money go far.