Shop locally this holiday season

Believe it or not, it’s that time of year again: the holiday shopping season. Time to whip out the wallets and start spending those anticipated holiday bonuses — if you’re lucky enough to get one.

Thanksgiving’s rapid approach also means that Black Friday — the busiest shopping day of the year — is also coming up. If long lines, a Roller Derby mentality and hours tailored to insomniacs are your idea of a good time, it’s the best day to find big-time sales at the major stores. If you can battle through the throngs of overcaffeinated shoppers, there are countless unbeatable deals to be found.

But what fun is that? We encourage you to shop locally on Black Friday — and in the days before and afterward. After stopping by the big-box stores at 5 a.m. next Friday, go to Main Street and take a look around. You’ll happily discover that a leisurely stroll suffi-ces; there’s no need for power walking and elbowing others aside. And there are deals to be had here, too — and in most cases friendlier, more caring employees to help you find them. They’ll actually be smiling.

Most of the people who own or work in local businesses live in the community, and pay taxes that help keep that community functioning. They’re your friends and neighbors. They give more back to the neighborhood than big stores do, donating to local charities, working with local service clubs, funding local sports teams and, through their memberships in business organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, helping sponsor a variety of community events and initiatives.

Simply put, by doing your holiday shopping locally, you are helping to financially support your community.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg understands the need to shop locally, and so he teamed with American Express and created Small Business Saturday. Falling this year on Nov. 27, between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the two busiest shopping days of the year, Small Business Saturday, Bloomberg explains, is when people should get out and shop in their local stores.

We know a great idea when we hear it, and we implore Long Islanders to follow the Big Apple’s lead on Small Business Saturday — or, as we might call it, Another Shop Locally Day — and crowd their local merchants with Christmas or Hanukkah lists in hand and money to spend. In these difficult economic times, holiday spirit can have a deeper resonance when we broaden its focus beyond our families to include our local business people.

Nassau County’s South Shore is dotted not just with malls, but with wonderful small-town shopping districts. You can find jewelry stores, bookstores, clothing boutiques, fitness stores, restaurants of every imaginable ethnicity and specialty businesses that you just can’t find anywhere else.

So do your part by shopping locally this holiday season, and help support the businesses that keep your community humming.