At Malaga Comercio, we would always encourage you to shop locally, especially when the sales are on. These mark the start of a two-month period when you can support small local businesses and business owners who are working to promote development and life in your city and province.
Our vision is to forge a united commercial sector, reinforcing the value of private initiative and the free-market economy to make the social situation fairer.
By shopping locally, we are contributing to the economic development of Malaga, always protecting the interests of both professionals and consumers.
Shopping in your local neighbourhood stores brings great value to local retailers and your area. Here are the main advantages of supporting local businesses during the sales as well:
They help forge a strong identity in your neighbourhood
They liven up your day-to-day life, create a friendly atmosphere and a sense of community, and they give character to streets as they become bustling areas. It may not seem like it, but they also provide greater security, ensuring pedestrian areas are clean and well-lit, helping to revive urban centres and, most importantly, to combat rural depopulation.
Closeness
And we are not just referring here to physical distance, but also to personalised customer care. In the first case, because you don’t need to take the car or a bus, you can save money. And if you need to exchange something, you can just drop in whenever you have a free moment, making the most of the opportunity to get out of the house and take a walk. In the second case, local businesses offer you expert face to face advice, so you can ask any questions you have and find out all kinds of information without having to wait too long.
They create wealth and local employment
By investing your money in local businesses, you protect the people who have always been there. When you shop at independent businesses, you reduce local unemployment, attracting small investors, promoting entrepreneurial activity, revitalising the local economy, and creating thousands of jobs. It also protects family businesses, since today there are a lot of small businesses that are passed down from parents to children, with the knowledge gained through years of experience.
Diversity
Local commerce means that each neighbourhood becomes a miscellany of diverse establishments, each one specialising in a type of product or service, so that locals can find what they are looking for within the radius of few blocks. Often, what they offer is hard to find in large shopping malls, which are usually very similar in terms of shops (franchises) and offers since department stores do not usually carry items by local artisans, brands, or small-scale producers.
Help the planet
When we visit a large department store or mall, we often buy more than you actually need, neglecting our commitment to environmental sustainability. Local shops tend to offer local products, which are fresh or organic, avoiding large production chains and the use of other highly polluting means of transport, such as planes and ships. This significantly reduces CO2 emissions and the use of plastics.
Remember, when the sales hit, there’s no need to go further afield. Shop locally.
