Downtown St. Charles Touts ‘Spend Local’

If you haven’t thought about what you are giving to family and frends this holiday season, now is the time to start planning, and local merchants hope you will consider them as a source to shop.

Spend Local Awareness Week is Nov. 11 to 17 in Downtown St. Charles, and it precedes Small Business Saturday, Nov. 24, which is a national day encouraging people to shop in local, brick-and-mortal small businesses.

The Downtown St. Charles Partnership is asking residents to make downtown St. Charles a first priority to explore more than 40 independently owned stores from Century Corners to First Street, according to a release from the agency on Wednesday.

Spend Local Awareness Week encourages the community to become aware of the great shops and stores in charming downtown St. Charles, according to the Downtown St. Charles Partnership release.

Century Corners is home to over a dozen unique shops and comfortable dining one block east of the Fox River and one block north of Route 64. From Dallas Décor, Directions in Clothing, and the What-Not Shoppe, you can find unique clothing, vintage jewelry, and refurbished home decor.

Then from Fox Island Square, to First Street, and Main Street, you can find a host of other gemstone to diamond jewelers, trendy clothing, and knitting and crochet products.

The Downtown St. Charles Partnership is helping promote the Spend Local Awareness Week to the community at large to draw greater awareness and interest for the more than three dozen unique, independent businesses in the downtown district. The organization is marketing this week to drum up interest in these independent boutiques before the holiday season kicks off so that people will remember to spend local first.

People might discover new stores that they never knew existed and fall in love with a business that has just what you needed.

The Downtown St. Charles Partnership believes there is a strong case for shopping at independently owned businesses, and in its release, it cites The 3/50 Project in support of that belief: “For every $100 spent in independently owned stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays here. Spend it online and nothing comes home.”

To support downtown St. Charles and the local economy, the Downtown St. Charles Partnership asks that you make a point to visit three new stores this week of Nov. 11-17. Check out some local specials at www.downtownstcharles.org/shoplocal and visit the online downtown St. Charles business directory for a full list of shopping, dining, and entertainment. Those in support of this initiative include the city of St. Charles, the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater St. Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau.

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