Autumn is a busy time of year for many as we shift away from the warm summer months, while preparing for the chilly winter months to come.
Autumn is a time for raking leaves and putting outdoor furniture away; it is a time for swapping summer tires for snow tires, and for hauling the warm winter gear out of storage to be made ready for the cold. And the snow that will be here before we know it.
The list of autumn chores can be lengthy, from clearing fallen leaves from eavestroughs to winterizing chilly rooms, to preparing the yard to be covered in snow until spring arrives – it is a busy time of year.
For some, autumn is hunting and fishing season, as outdoors enthusiasts fill their freezers with protein to help feed their families over the winter, while for others autumn is a time for weekend hikes followed by something pumpkin spice.
This is also a busy time of year for local businesses, preparing for what they hope will be a busy holiday season.
It often feels too early to talk about the holiday season, but Halloween will be here in just one week, and after that the focus for many shifts to making preparations for the coming holiday season. Wish lists will be made, meals will be planned, and in the coming weeks many Christmas cookies and other holiday treats will be baked and stored for the holidays.
As the holiday season approaches, among the top priorities for many is purchasing gifts for loved ones and friends. For those of us old enough to recall the days before the internet and online shopping, the approach of the holiday season meant visiting a number of local retailers, or even a large shopping mall, to find and purchase all of those gifts. But in 2025, a huge percentage of holiday purchases will be made online.
With the trade and tariff war that has been thrust upon us by our neighbours to the south many Canadians have been shifting to a buy Canadian strategy, with many U.S. products being boycotted all together. That is certain to continue into the holiday season, and will hopefully mean increased sales for small independent local retailers.
Speaking to friends, some are fully on board with a boycott of anything American made, while others are prioritizing made in Canada products but aren’t as militant about avoiding products made in the USA. For others it is business as usual as they purchase the items they need or want without considering or caring about the country of origin.
While I don’t love shopping online, living in a small rural community in 2025 there are certainly times when I have no choice lest I want to drive to a larger community with more brick and mortar shopping options to find what I am looking for.
There might be times when there simply aren’t any local options, but when local options do exist, I think it is important to make our purchases locally, even if you would save a buck or two by ordering online from a large faceless corporation.
If you must make purchases online, finding retailers that are as local as possible is a good plan, but also a plan destined to frustrate, as online retailer websites often give no indication of where the company is based.
I was recently talking to a friend about the potential for small, independent retailers to experience increased sales this holiday season given the new push to buy Canadian, and I asked what they do when they can’t find the gift they are looking for from local retailers, and they told me that they ‘re-think’ their gifts. Instead of the gadget that can only be found on Amazon, she instead buys a gift certificate from a local auto repair shop – a handy thing to have in your pocket when an unexpected winter repair comes along. Or she contacts local farmers to gather items for gift baskets that she prepares herself. “Just because your relative has something on their wish list, doesn’t mean you have to buy it for them, especially if it means having to make the purchase online from a foreign company,” she told me.
Shop local campaigns are always well intentioned, but they haven’t always been successful. This year however, with the trade and tariff battle along with the Canadian public embracing buy Canadian campaigns, local independent retailers just might have a banner year.
For some, particularly those new to the community, committing to making holiday purchases locally can be daunting. This is a large municipality by area, and the three-block section of our downtown is not the only area where you will find local businesses, as there are many businesses that operate, and thrive, in our rural areas as well.
A friend and local downtown business owner regularly posts photos of Meaford business owners on social media, along with a short blurb about what they do, and how long they have been doing it. She posts photos of folks who own businesses in the downtown area, as well as in our rural areas, and her posts are a great reminder of just how many small businesses are operating in our community. They are a great introduction to businesses that you might not ever have known exist. I have lived in this municipality for 20 years, and I have found myself surprised at some of the businesses that I had no idea existed until seeing them included in one of those social media posts.
So as you begin to prepare for the coming holiday season, consider taking a break from Amazon and other major online retailers, and instead, get out and explore the many businesses that operate in our own backyard, and support those businesses, even if it means getting creative with your gift lists, and gifting something unexpected.
