As of this writing (Friday), there are 10 shopping days left before Christmas morning. It’s the same date every year, yet it still comes upon many unexpectedly. By then, shoppers are usually running out of steam and are frustrated with gift options or shipping deadlines and delays.

But when you shop on Main Street, everything changes. There is a meme on a Facebook post recently that says, “All I’m saying is, I’ve never had to do self-check-out at a small business.” Wow. That one hits home. In fact, according to American Express, the founder of Small Business Saturday, 54 percent of holiday shoppers say that small businesses provide better customer service than large retail stores.

You know what else they have to say about shopping in your main street neighborhood? By spending money at a small business, shoppers can help keep the business open for the rest of the year. Fourth quarter earnings sometimes account for up to 50 percent of a small retailer’s income. By spending money at a small business, shoppers can help keep the business open. According to the National Retail Federation, in 2022, shoppers spent $4.9 trillion on retail purchases, a 7 percent year-on-year growth. Consider these two stories:

Hobby Lobby was once the idea of a husband and wife with only $600 making miniature picture frames in their garage. It took two years to move into a 300-square-foot location. Today they have 900 stores, and 43,000 employees in 48 states.

In 1971, Starbucks was a single coffee house in the Pike Place Market area of Seattle. It would take another 17 years before they expanded into Chicago, California, Washington, DC and New York. And now they have storefronts in Japan, China, and Russia. There’s no reason to believe that any downtown merchant doesn’t have the capacity to grow beyond their wildest dreams if they choose.

Fort Dodge’s Main Street District has 34 retail shops plus 17 food/beverage/entertainment locations. That makes 51 destinations for shopping and dining downtown; several of which are within walking distance of one another. You can find trading cards for the kids, a warm sweater or blanket to cuddle up with on a cold night or enjoy a dining experience downtown. You can find a children’s book, the perfect cupcake, or ornaments for the tree as well. You can find ways to be artistic with glass, pottery or fabric. Santa can also get you ready for a long winter’s nap in a lovely recliner.

And if all these options don’t already make you want to shop downtown, think of all the times these small businesses contribute to causes that are meaningful in the nonprofit community. Nearly every Main Street merchant has donated a raffle prize, sponsored a team, or given cash or product to a worthy cause. Their generosity helps make the fabric of this community so much stronger. You don’t often find that from big box stores. It’s the personal relationships at local venues that build recurring patrons and forge profitable partnerships.

And finally, to really wrap this with a bow, as public confidence in the Main Street District grows and participants’ understanding of the revitalization process becomes more sophisticated, Main Street can tackle increasingly complex problems and more ambitious projects — like the Merrill’s Alley improvement project. This incremental change leads to more enduring and dramatic positive changes in the Main Street area.

The Main Street merchants would like to thank you in advance for selecting their shops for your holiday shopping, and hope that you’ll join them in 2024 for another prosperous retail year downtown.

Sharon Stroh is the executive director of Main Street Fort Dodge.