DOWNTOWN HELENA — As many shoppers turn to the ease of online shopping this holiday season, business owners in downtown Helena are asking people to keep it local.
Lasso the Moon Wonderful Toys co-owner Amy Barrett runs her toy store on the walking mall with her daughter and says a lot of work goes into curating the inventory for customers.
"All of us little business people down here really depend on customers coming in doing their shopping downtown so we can survive through the year. And we just really appreciate when people do that and don’t give Jeff Bezos the money," says Barrett.
Barrett is not alone. Holiday shopping props up many brick and mortar locations in the downtown area, like Sole Sisters, a clothing shop for women owned by Gerry Hanson.
Like Barrett, Hanson wants to community to know how grateful small, retail business owners are for shoppers within the community. She assures shoppers that money spent in Helena helps folks in need nearby.
"Small businesses is really the backbone of the community," says Hanson. "We’re the ones that often give to fundraisers that come up, and they can usually rely on us to give some sort of donation."
Hanson adds that many downtown vendors offer free gift wrapping for gifts to help save shoppers time and make sure gift presentation is top-notch.
