'Shop Oxford' for Christmas

Chamber web site gift guide links shoppers with range of gifts for under $50 
By Michael Harrelson, editor, HottyToddy.com
michael.harrelson@hottytoddy.com
The best gifts for those on your Christmas list may not be waiting online or at the nearest super mall. According to the Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce, most if not all of what shoppers are looking for can be found in their own back yard.
As part of its 12^th annual “Shop Oxford” campaign, the Chamber has compiled a list of reasons why buying locally is best.
“One of the things that people find inviting about the Oxford shopping experience is that the atmosphere is more relaxed than what they will find in big towns and city and big shopping malls,” says Pam Swain, vice president of the Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce.
Whether it’s the crowds in the malls themselves or the traffic and the hassle of finding a parking space, Swain says traveling to large retail malls can be stressful when you’re trying to complete your holiday shopping.
“I think people have a tend to shop outside our community out of convenience as they are passing through other towns, so we really want to remind them to stop and think and come home for their shopping.”
And there are other reasons, too, Swain says, why shoppers should spend their money at home.
“One thing that our locals need to remember is that when they spend their tax dollars in our community, those tax dollars are in turn benefitting our local community, helping to fund our schools, our infrastructure, and other city services within the Oxford area,” she says. “When they spend money out side the Oxford area, they are supporting those communities.”
Along with the friendly and familiar faces and personalized service that you get locally, Swain says higher gas prices, which in turn drive up the cost of shipping, are another tangible reason to spend your money at home.
Hunters’ Hollow owner Donnie Guest says that for all of the supposed convenience of ordering online, there is no substitute for coming into a store and actually trying on an article of clothing such as the Carhartt jeans or Columbia outerwear carried in the store.
“You can pick a color online, but you don’t really know if what you see in a picture is the way it is in reality,” Guest says. A blue or a teal color goes on diff fabric differently.”
Guest adds that buying from a local retailer offers major advantages when returns are necessary.
Swain says shoppers can go to the Chamber Web Site home page and click on the gift guide link and find a range of gift ideas for under $50.
“That includes gifts ranging from spa packages and gift cards to gifts for your pets, gifts for children and anyone else on your holiday gift list.”