The Love Williams Lake program encourages all lakecity residents to wear plaid this Black Friday and shop locally.
The fourth Thursday of every November has become known as Black Friday in the states, a time where Americans storm their local department stores in search of good deals. While it has not inspired nearly the same fervour in Canada, Black Friday sales will still occur on Nov. 23, 2018.
Read More: Black Friday fervour wanes as some consumers, retailers shun the practice
Which is why, for the second year in a row, the City of Williams Lake and the Love Williams Lake Project are promoting Plaid Friday to promote a different type of consumerism. Rather than solely shop in large retail stores and shopping centres, the movement, started by the Northern Development Initiative Trust, encourages people to shop locally at independent retailers and keep their money within their own communities.
Economic Development Officer, Beth Veenkamp, is helping to champion this movement in Williams Lake. She said that Love Williams Lake covers small business in and around Williams Lake including out in Horsefly and Likely.
“It’s an initiative that supports independent locally owned businesses, to leverage market dollars so they can get a bigger piece of the marketing share,” Veenkamp explained.
For a one-time registration fee of a $100, a business will gain a professional writeup on the program’s website, a professional photo shoot and an automatic connection with local marketing initiatives that take place throughout the year, such as Plaid Shirt Day.
“Plaid was selected because, what’s more Canadian than plaid? Its meant to represent Canada, local and North (B.C.),” Veenkamp said. “Because of our proximity to Prince George and Kamloops, Williams Lake experiences a lot of what’s called leakage, so even though we have good paying jobs in Williams Lake we don’t necessarily see the benefits in our local economy because it leaks out from people shopping in larger centres.”
Spending your money locally makes a big impact Veenkamp said as without people making an effort to shop at independent locally owned businesses, the closure and disappearance of these unique stores and services is inevitable.
“If we want a vibrant community if we want choices and places to shop and dine we need to support those businesses as a whole.”
While the shop local movement is by no means unique to the lakecity, Veenkamp said that it is especially important here with all the dozens of small businesses and artisans scattered across the area. Despite this, however, Veenkamp stressed that Plaid Friday is a fun way to raise awareness about the importance of shopping local while finding ideal Christmas presents.
For more information on Plaid Friday or the Love Williams Lake Program, contact Veenkamp at bveenkamp@williamslake.ca or 250-392-8480/250-302-1585 (cell) or www.lovewilliamslake.com.
patrick.davies@wltribune.com
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