ISME calls for shoppers in Longford to shop local and help maintain a vibrant buzz along main streets

ISME is asking consumers in Longford to consider shopping local this year to support their own communities and help maintain a vibrant buzz along main streets.

With only a few weekends of shopping to go, ISME is reminding consumers that every €1 spent locally on their Christmas shop could generate up to €4 in their community.

Shopping locally for goods and services returns multiples of the customers spend back to the community and helps local businesses maintain jobs in Irish towns and villages.

Also read: Longford offers huge array of retail choices for Christmas shoppers

ISME is urging customers to ensure that they devote a proportion of their Christmas shopping to local bricks-and-mortar or ‘Irish’ online stores, leaving only those hard-to-find gifts that can't be sourced elsewhere to be purchased from larger multinational companies.

Also read: Harney’s Jewellers, A traditional jewellers serving the people of Longford since 1942

Neil McDonnell, Chief Executive at ISME, said, “We are hoping that consumers in Longford will bring some Christmas cheer to Irish retailers this year and decide to shop locally. By consciously choosing to buy locally, even a portion of our purchases can have a meaningful impact, as each euro spent locally can generate two, three, or even four times its value in community wealth. This Christmas, we must take the opportunity to support local retailers and hospitality providers. Making these choices can even lead to time, money, and effort being saved and can even reduce our environmental footprint by keeping some of our festive spending close to home.”

Also read: You can get all your Christmas shopping at Longford Centre

To help people make local choices this Christmas, ISME has created two online portals – one for consumers and one for businesses.