​A Holiday Message from Your Small Businesses

This holiday season, our small businesses are asking for your support like never before.

Behind every storefront in New Jersey, there’s a family, a neighbor, and a dream. But right now, those dreams are under real pressure. Rising costs of goods, increasing credit card fees, and the constant pull of online shopping giants are making it harder and harder for small businesses to survive.

And yet, even as they struggle, they are still the ones you turn to when your child’s team needs a sponsor, when the school needs raffle baskets, or when a local fundraiser needs support. They give because this is their home too.

But the truth is, most are hurting. Many small businesses are drowning financially, and the gap between what it costs to run their shops and what they take in has never been wider.

This holiday season, you have the power to change that. Every time you choose local, you keep more dollars in your community. You help your neighbors pay their staff, cover their rent, and continue giving back.

You have likely heard this before, Amazon doesn’t sponsor your soccer team. Walmart doesn’t donate to your local school fundraiser....your local businesses do, all year long.

This year, let’s rally together. Shop local. Support the businesses that support you. With your help, we can keep our communities strong, thriving, and filled with the local character that makes New Jersey so special.

Antonietta LaVecchia has been a small business advocate for over two decades and has made it a mission to get communities to shop small and support local.