On Friday, October 30, visit downtown Sparta to participate in the Moonlight Madness Sales from 5 – 7 pm.  Check out the discounts at participating stores: Moonlight Madness 2009!

Costume Contests, sales from 15% to 25% off, prizes, cookies, coffee, and more!  At these sale prices, you can pick up some early Christmas gifts, pick out something fun for you, and have a night of entertainment for your kids!

With the increase in gas prices today, driving from downtown Sparta to the Alpine shopping district, let alone to “The Mall”, may be more expensive than you imagined… big time. The distance from Downtown Sparta to Interstate 96 is 15 miles (Thank you Mapquest).

This means that after driving 15 miles to your destination and then 15 miles back to Sparta, you’ve just added 30 miles to your gauge. With a vehicle that gets 20 miles per gallon, that is 1.5 gallons of gasoline round trip, and it makes you feel the crunch at the pump. You can do the mental math on this one: although this month gas is down to 3.00 per gallon, a “quick” round trip jaunt to Alpine will cost you $4.50 in fuel expenses. Remember when gas was nearly $4.50 a gallon?

AAA Breaks it down
When you break it down even further, according to the 2007 AAA annual study “Your Driving Costs”, experts found that motorists pay an average of 62.1 cents per mile after taking into account gas, oil, maintenance and tires, as well as insurance, depreciation, financing charges, license, title and registration. (The make and model of the vehicle would have a direct impact on the cents paid per mile as well.)

Here are the estimated numbers for a 2003 vehicle:
62.1 cents per mile x 30 miles from Sparta to Alpine and back = 1,863 cents ($18.63)

$18.63! Nearly $20 for a round trip “just” down to Alpine and back.

Time is Money
And what about your time spent? For going 30 miles at an average of 55 mph you spend almost 33 minutes on the road. That is, if there isn’t construction, an accident, or rush hour delays, either.

Now let’s say a big box store on Alpine is having a sale. You see an ad for a great item that is on sale for $10.00 after a mail-in rebate. Maybe you could find it in Sparta for $20 regular price. After all is said and done, if you run down to Alpine to pick up your one item, you would have paid $28.63 because of travel expenses (not to mention postage for that rebate and your precious time you would have spent on the road, polluting the air)! You could have saved $8.63 by just shopping locally, purchasing the same item yet spending in Sparta.

Ask yourself if you are really saving enough to venture down to Alpine or Grand Rapids after a “deal” next time, if you could find the same items here in Sparta.

Thinking Local
Need an even bigger reward for shopping locally than merely saving money and lots of time? Simply put, that much MORE of the money you spend locally stays local. It is a great way to support the local businesses that sponsor community events, whose name you see on your kids’ Little League Team tee’s, and who buy the raffle tickets for your school fundraiser.

Here is a list of top reasons to “Spend in Sparta”:

• Significantly more money re-circulates. When you purchase at local businesses, more money is kept in the community because local businesses often purchase from other local businesses, service providers, and local growers.
• Non-profits organizations receive greater support from local businesses
• Environmental impact is reduced
• Local businesses make more local purchases requiring less transportation and usually set up shop in town centers rather than on the fringe. This generally means contributing less to sprawl, congestion, habitat loss and pollution.
• Most new jobs are provided by local businesses.
• Small local businesses are the largest employers nationally. The workplace, pay, and benefits tend to be better as the owners live in the same community as their employees.
• Local business owners invest in community.
• Local businesses owned by people who live in this community are less likely to leave and are more invested in the community’s future.
• Competition and diversity leads to more consumer choices.
• A marketplace of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term. Research shows that entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character.

While considering Holiday Shopping this season, give a second thought to our local businesses here in Sparta to see if there isn’t something you can find on everyone’s gift list that will support our community and our local businesses. And be sure to take another look in Downtown Sparta for your everyday needs– this may be something you can’t afford to ignore! (Sources: www.localfirst.com, www.mapquest.com, and www.aaaexchange.com )

- posted by Elizabeth Gorski, DDA Director and Gabi Amaya-Baron