Support your local business this weekend on Small Business Saturday

The Christmas shopping season is now in full force. Be sure to save some shopping love for Small Business Saturday locally this weekend.

There are many reasons to support Small Business Saturday, not the least of which is the fact that these are your friends and neighbors providing goods and services to your own community.

As reported by the Walton County Chamber of Commerce in the Buy Local program, many people don’t realize the importance of keeping their hard-earned dollars in their own community. Besides the convenience of staying close to home, the tax dollars generated are also supporting their police and fire department, parks and recreation facilities and other government services.

As always, be alert during the Christmas Shopping season since it also brings out some of the less desirable shopping practices. Here are some tips on how to shop security smart from the Gwinnett County Police Department in previous years.

• Observe your surroundings; report any suspicious or loitering persons.
• Store packages in the trunk of your vehicle and not in the passenger compartment.  Covering items with a blanket or coat is NOT a deterrent to thieves!
• Avoid putting packages into your vehicle, then continuing to shop. Most stores will hold packages until you are ready to leave.
• Park your vehicle in a well-lit area.
• Shop with others and allow retail employees to assist you in transporting packages to your vehicle.
• Don’t carry large amounts of cash.  Use secure payment such as a credit card and check your account statements frequently.
• Have purchases delivered to your home.
• Use a cell phone camera to immediately record the serial numbers of purchases.  Most electronics have a sticker on the side of the box containing the serial number and other numbers unique to that particular item.  To be extra diligent, you can send the photos to your own email account so they can be accessed from any computer. Should the worst happen, this information can be provided to police.

For an idea on what you may find in your local stores, click or tap here for our local gift guide or page through it in the latest issue of Walton Living Magazine at this link.