Kristen Lavelett, the Executive Director of Local First Utah, says locally owned and independent businesses keep more money in the Utah economy than national chains or shopping online with places like Amazon.
Lavelett also says for every $100 spent in a locally owned business, $55 stays in Utah's economy. Comparatively, only $13 stays in our economy if that money is spent with a national retailer, and only pennies on the dollar stay if you shop with Amazon.
Enter Shift Your Spending Month: Local First Utah's annual holiday campaign, which encourages Utahns to shift at least 10% of their holiday shopping towards locally owned, independent businesses.
"If every household in Utah shifted just 10% of their spending on annual basis, more than $1.3 billion would stay in Utah's economy," says Lavelett.
One place you can buy local is Cosset Bath and Body.
Back in 2007, Cosset started as a hobby for CEO David Danzig, crafting homemade bath products out of curiosity.
Then in 2013, Danzig's first son George was born. George had chronic eczema and it seemed there was no lotion, butter, or even medication that would help.
Danzig decided to have a go at creating his own solution by mixing all of the natural butters and oils he had used in his past experience and created what is known today as our "George" Butter.
Within a week George's eczema had healed significantly and the rest was history.
Cosset started selling products at local farmers' markets and had such a great reception they knew they had to do something about it.
Danzig grew up in the Avenues in Salt Lake City and often spent his days at Trolley Square.
When it came time to give Cosset its first home, Danzig says he knew that Trolley Square would be the perfect location for them to begin our journey into the company that they are today.
Cosset Bath and Body are now in more than 100 locations and are bringing therapy to the masses by means of their bathtubs.
To learn more, go to cossetbathandbody.com.
