SHARE THE LOCAL LOVE

Along with the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce, we are excited to share with you, Share the Local Love! This initiative encourages locals to support businesses in the Township of Langley with promotions, special incentives and fabulous shop-local content. Running now through mid-February, this campaign is being made possible by project funding received as part of Shop Local BC, a government initiative that supports campaigns that encourage the support of local businesses through the holiday season and into 2022. After many months of travel restrictions that have impacted so many businesses in the Township of Langley, we feel this is an incredible opportunity to help support our local businesses, while reminding Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley residents of the importance of shopping locally and that Langley is one of the largest “buy local” destinations in the Fraser Valley.

WHY LOCAL?

Although shopping local is a movement that has been around for awhile, the pandemic has brought more awareness to the important role that small and local businesses play in their communities and the B.C. economy. And even though it is reason enough to shop local when you consider that we are full of locally owned unique boutiques and eateries, that offer gorgeous artisan goods and handmade clothing, notable wines and craft beer, and much more. There are actually many other perks to consider before you head out on your next shopping trip.

Did you know all it takes is a 10% shift to local, to create a big impact? This much of a shift away from chains towards local business creates 14,150 jobs and $4.3 billion for our province’s economy. Locally owned businesses have a proven benefit of recirculating 4.6x more of their revenue within our province in the forms of profits, payroll, purchasing and philanthropy. Research shows that BC local businesses create more than double the economic impact of their chain competitors. For every $100 spent with a BC local business, $63 is re-circulated back into our BC economy versus $14 for multi-national corporations.

When you support small business and shop local, you are supporting your neighbours and they are more likely, in turn, to keep the money you spent with them local as well. How does this work? Well, owners often live and provide jobs in your community and therefore they provide more support for local events, sports teams and charities. They are also more likely to buy local services and stock local products. Spending with a local business has ripple effects that contribute to the growth and health of the communities in which they are located. Local businesses enhance our community, connect and support us socially, and enhance wealth and employment by circulating dollars many times between businesses.

*Civic Economics Indie Impact Series: A Comparative Survey for LOCO BC, 2019
*LOCOBC.ca Resources

JOIN IN ON ALL THE ACTION:

Now here is the fun part – giveaways and special promotions! For the next several weeks we are inviting you to play along with us as we celebrate why it is so important to shop local! Exciting opportunities are available to both shoppers and business owners alike.

First up is an Instagram Giveaway that is designed to support the many hardworking businesses in the Township of Langley. Five recipients will be drawn and will be awarded a marketing package valued at $1000 each. Consumers can nominate a business of their choice by telling us why they’d like them to receive the support. Business owners can self-nominate by telling us how local support makes a difference to them. Visit here to enter and learn more.

Langley is so full of shopping and dining opportunities that we highly recommend you make a full weekend of your experience with a hotel stay. We have partnered with several Langley hoteliers and are offering a $50 Visa Gift Card per night (to a maximum $150) when you book a stay. Follow along with our social pages for more details coming soon. And that’s not all – later this month be sure to look for visits from media and a special promotion being offered through Vancouver is Awesome.

Our Photo Contest invites you to submit pictures of you while out shopping and dining at your favourite businesses. Until February 12^th, 2022, you can submit your snaps to our image collector for a chance to win up to $250 in Tourism Langley Visa Gift Cards. Camera shy? Don’t worry, you can send a picture of the store front if you prefer! You can easily submit your images below via our image collector. We can’t wait to see them!

This is just an overview of what Share the Local Love is all about, please stay tuned over the coming weeks as we highlight ways to shop and support local and provide more details about giveaways and promotional offers. As we start into 2022 we hope to inspire you to think of ways to shift to shopping local, let’s give small businesses something to be thankful for. You can also visit us at Tourism Langley for more inspiration at any time and more information on Shop Local can be found on the BC Chamber Commerce website.