Editor:

On behalf of the Fairhope Downtown Business Association, I want to thank everyone in this community who shopped with local businesses this past year. In spite of the instability in the economy, many of our members had exceptional holidays, and we attribute that to more people shopping closer to home. While we love our visitors and the boon they are to the local economy, we all stay open because Baldwin County residents continue to give us their support.

We don’t have to tell you what it means to shop local. Money spent locally stays in the local community, and we all have a better quality of life because of salaries, sales taxes and advertising dollars generated by local businesses. We also don’t have to tell you that local business owners provide a level of personal service that doesn’t come with a national chain. Where else can you call the toy store and have a present wrapped and waiting to be picked up on the way to a birthday party, or have one store owner recommend another shop in town if you can’t find what you’re looking for in their store? Where else can you go to gether donations for charity auctions and school events, knowing that the business owner cares about the community enough to give generously and with a smile?

Fairhope is famous for its downtown, for the sidewalk restaurants and specialty shops, its art galleries and book stores, and of course, its flowers that give this town its unique character. As more businesses continue to open downtown, we’ll keep doing our part to keep Fairhope special, and we hope we’ll continue to have the support of our year-round residents who are the backbone of all our businesses.

Fairhope Downtown Business Association