With the holiday season upon us, it is important to keep small businesses in mind when putting together your holiday list or when you are out shopping for your loved ones.
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Whether it be local, small shops in the town you live in, Etsy shops or small shops you find on Instagram, supporting small businesses is the way to go this year.
When supporting small businesses, you can personalize the gift to make it more special for the person you are shopping for. The gifts can be more meaningful than just a plain old sweater or pair of pants. The small businesses also provide more unique gifts than you would find in a normal retail shop.
If you don’t have time to order things online or would rather see the item in person first, a great place to go to support small businesses is a flea market, Christmas market
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or festival. There are a lot of local vendors who go to those events in hopes of attracting customers out on the hunt for gifts.
When buying gifts from a small business, it doesn’t have to be a physical thing, it could be an experience. For my birthday this year I got money to go get a facial from a local aesthetician.
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If you are located in Bucks County, I highly recommend giving the gift of wellness and treating your loved one to a facial at Beauty Face in Richboro — Natalie is the best! Other experiences could be a gift card to a local spa, salt cave, hair salon or nail salon.
Some other small businesses I like to support are Shop Tonari and The Newtown Art Studio. Shop Tonari was started by two college students, Bailey and Sophia, and used to be a small pop-up shop for students at Bloomsburg University. Now they have grown to an online presence. If you need a gift for your teenagers or 20- to 30-year-olds, Shop Tonari offers unique, reworked clothing.
Photo 111671112 © Syda Productions | Dreamstime.com
They make everything from T-shirts to bucket hats.
The Newtown Art Studio is perfect for pottery lovers. Blair, the woman behind the masterpieces, hand-makes all the products herself. You can find things like mugs, artist cups to hold your paint brushes or other art supplies, bowls with motivational words on them and much more.
Photo 124501982 © Randall Pease | Dreamstime.com
Happy shopping and Happy Holidays!
— Mary Melnick, social media and editorial coordinator
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