Consumers Urged to Shop at Home More this Holiday Season

The Christmas shopping season has arrived and local businesses hope you’ll give them a chance to serve you more this year.
Phillip (Fluty) Cantrell of Cantrell’s the home of Fluty says before you go out of town, try home first. “We know you can’t buy everything at home but we would like to encourage people to at least try home first. Merchants have been here for years. We’ve made our living here and we appreciate everything everybody has done for us to keep us here.”
Cantrell says some stores around town will be opening early on Friday morning for early bird shoppers, including downtown. “We started this thing (opening early on the morning after Thanksgiving Day) several years ago. People were shopping out of town and all the big sales were going on. We said let’s try it and see what happens here. We tried it and it went over really good. Some downtown merchants will be open at 7:00 a.m. Friday with door buster specials. We encourage people to shop early.”
Meanwhile, Jerry Lee Cantrell of Cantrell’s Furniture and Appliances says when you buy at home, you’re helping support the local tax base which means you’re helping fund schools and other local government services. “We really appreciate all the people who trade with us. I think it’s a very important thing that we keep our tax dollars in our community. We get the tax dollars back from the state. Of course, we have to send them in. It goes to the state and then comes back to us. This helps our community immensely.”
The Chamber of Commerce is urging businesses in Smithville and DeKalb County to display messages on their marquees or changeable signs to encourage shoppers to spend their tax dollars at home this holiday season.