On Saturday, nearly 70 local businesses took part in the Owensboro-Daviess County Chamber of Commerce’s Shop Owensboro campaign.
And a number of other local businesses, who aren’t chamber members, participated in the national Shop Small campaign, encouraging people to spend their money locally.
Candance Castlen Brake, chamber president, said Thursday that the chamber is asking shoppers to continue making purchases in Owensboro through Christmas.
“Shop Owensboro is not a moment, it’s a movement,” she told the chamber’s Rooster Booster Breakfast at the Owensboro Convention Center on Thursday. “When you order online, that doesn’t give back to the community. Each dollar spent here turns over three to five times in the community.
In 2008, the chamber said that a survey commissioned by a local developer a couple of years before had found that the local retail market leaked an estimated $150 million a year to other cities and the internet.
That was about 14% of the county’s $1 billion-plus retail market at the time.
Brake said she hasn’t seen any more recent numbers on money leaving the community, “but my assumption would be that it’s more today. And not just leakage to other cities.”
Online sales are continuing to increase.
Nationally, they’re expected to grow 13.2% over last year during the Christmas season.
There are probably more than 100 local retailers, Brake said, and people can find almost anything on their Christmas list here.
More than 3 inches of rain fell Saturday in Owensboro, putting a damper on the big shopping day.
But shoppers still came out.
“Those who weren’t in a flooded area did very well,” Brake said. “Our hearts went out to those in the flooded areas because it was such a big day.”
Many of the stores are continuing to promote shopping locally, she said.
Brake said several are still offering discounts.
People should check the social media pages of the places they plan to shop to see what discounts are offered, she said.
— At the Rooster Booster Breakfast, Kyle Aud, Independence Bank’s senior vice president in Owensboro, and Santa Claus drew names of nonprofit organizations from a Santa hat.
The bank gave cash donations to those whose names were drawn.
Dream Riders of Kentucky and Matthew 25 Aids Service won $250 each.
Mentor Kids Kentucky and Crossroads Inc. got $500.
And the Daniel Pitino Shelter received $1,000.