Absolute Michigan would like to help you find great gifts that are made in Michigan - and also to ask you to help us find them and share them with others!
The Detroit News has a guide to Black Friday shopping in the metro Detroit area - "Black Friday" being about time of year when store owners began to turn a profit and operate in the black. They also have a shopping blog ... or at least renamed their usual blog. The Lansing State Journal reminds you not to forget about Cyber Monday.
After reading the above articles - which are heavy on the Wal-Marts and the Crate and Barrels - I'd like to further remind you not to forget about your neighbors. Online and off, check out your downtowns and those of neighboring cities and towns. You'll probably find some nice deals and also gifts that look like you worked a little harder to find something special. Beyond that, studies demonstrate that dollars spent at locally owned businesses generate substantially more economic impact in communities:
Economic Impact Analysis: A Case Study, Local Merchants vs. Chain Retailers (pdf) The study indicated that for every $100 in consumer spending at Borders, the total local economic impact (LEI) is only $13. Conversely, the same amount spent at BookPeople, for example, yields $45 in LEI, more than three times as much.
To connect with the local and statewide shopping scene in Michigan, parking the car downtown and walking around is a great start. You might want to check out Absolute Michigan's shopping section or our list of Michigan Chambers of Commerce. You can also try a search for whatever you're looking for in the box at the top right (antiques, jewelry, toys). So many Michigan-owned stores have online outlets as well, so checking out sites all over the state may yield good results! You can also keep an eye out for cool holiday art/craft fairs like the Ypsi Shadow Art Fair.
In fact, there are so darn many communities, stores and gifts that there's no way we could list them all here. We can (and will) ask you all to post a comment with a gift or shopping experience that YOU recommend. If you own a store or sell something over the internet, we invite you to post it here. Also, if you have any more articles on the benefits of local shopping, post those too! We do ask, however, that your links be to Michigan-made products - we have this "All Michigan, All the Time" policy...
6 Comments
I'll start the shameless promotion of Michigan-made gifts with my wife Annie's Aurora Borealis Designs beautiful beach glass & silver jewelry. I'd also like to point you at the Leelanau Holiday Gift Guide we put together on Leelanau.com.
Gifts that I'll be giving include William G. Milliken: Michigan's Passionate Moderate by Dave Dempsey (read an excerpt!) and something from The Heifer Project.
I really hope all of will feel welcome to add to the list - even just a Michigan gift you'd like to get!!
OK, My cards are are photographed in Michigan, assembled in Michigan and ssold by me in Michigan! MY PHOTO CARDS HERE
Detroit Synergy help an event called "Shop Detroit" last weekend. They still have a nice shoppers map of downtown Detroit (pdf format) that you may find useful.
Via this blog comes news of a cool event that this blog helped to dream up and make a reality, pretty much overnight. It's called "Stuff Your Stocking Night" and...
Read the Freep article.
It's a little late but photo prints of Detroit are available at http://www.buildingsofdetroit.com
Professional prints of the unique city.
Here's a link to a cool Michigan gift I received over the holidays - maybe it can help some one who is stuck coming up with a belated gift / a difficult to by for friend or loved one.
http://www.yournameringsabell.com/
Post a Comment