TAMPA, Fla. — There’s an extra push to shop local this holiday season.
“This is our time to really shine,” said Allision Bernardi, owner ofHazel + Dot.
The greatest time of year is also one of the busiest for Bernardi.
“The end of the year is like our final big hurrah kind of,” said Bernardi.
Hazel + Dot is a gift shop in South Tampa.
“Hazel and Dot were my grandmother and great aunt, so the store’s named after them,” said Bernardi.
You can find a little bit of everything there.
“We like to say whatever the occasion is, we have something for you. Everything from home decor to accessories to kids items,” said Bernardi.
They carry a lot of products from local makers and brands, highlighting some of the best parts of Tampa Bay.
“We try to support women-owned and locally-owned businesses as we can,” said Bernardi.
She knows just how important community support is, especially this year.
“This has definitely been one of our tougher years as a small business,” said Bernardi.
She, like many business owners, has felt the squeeze from a changing economy.
“Inflation affects all of us. It affects our prices, it affects our costs of goods, our cost of even bags and things like that,” said Bernardi.
This means a slower year in sales this time around.
“We’ve done our best to push through. That’s another reason that this end of the year is so important for us because it’s kind of our last chance to make it count,” said Bernardi.
That rings true for many other local shops too, which is why the South Tampa Chamber of Commerce is encouraging people to shop small this season.
“There’s a statistic from AMEX that says for every dollar spent at a local business, about 68 cents of it stays within the local community. That’s just so wonderful because you’re giving it to them, and they’re in return almost giving half of it back to the same local community,” said Tanya Cielo, 2024 Chair-Elect, South Tampa Chamber of Commerce.
Business owners like Bernardi are counting on that support.
“If you’ve never considered shopping local, please think about it. A lot of the times you’re going to find a lot of the same things that you can find in big box stores, but that money is going right back into the community that you live in,” said Bernardi.
“We are so lucky in this area to have such a variety of small businesses. So I think that this area just knows that those are the people in their community,” she added.
For more small businesses in Tampa, click here.
