The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath have been devastating to San Antonio's mom-and-pop retailers, a pillar of the local economy.
About 250 of the city's small businesses, or 12.5% of all members of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, shut their doors between March 2020 and April 2021, according to a Texas Public Radio report.
Although the worst of the pandemic is over and people have returned to regular routines, small businesses still grapple with rising costs and stubborn inflation eating into their bottom lines.
Mallory Jochen, owner of local charcuterie-delivery business Honey & Pickle, said those price pressures affect everyone she knows.
"The price of dairy has gone up, so cheese has gone up," Jochen said. "My packaging has doubled from what it was two years ago. Just the trays, lids, boxes and things like that. A lot of fruit is so much more expensive, not just because of inflation but because of bad harvests because of global warming. It's a struggle right now for every business I know."
With the holiday season approaching, there's perhaps no better time to support San Antonio small businesses with your shopping dollars. The time between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day accounts for 19% of annual retail spending, according to the National Retail Federation.
Buy Local campaign
The slew of closures following COVID along with renewed interest in supporting small businesses led the City of San Antonio to reinvigorate its Buy Local campaign, Assistant Director of Economic Development Ana Bradshaw.
Buy Local was first launched in 2001 via mayoral proclamation. The campaign highlights SA-owned small businesses and gives them free press, encouraging residents and visitors to buy local, especially during the holiday season.
"Obviously, 'buy local' has always been around, but we really recognized after coming out of the pandemic the importance that our local independent businesses plays in our community," Bradshaw said.
Last November, Mayor Ron Nirenberg issued a proclamation launching San Antonio's Buy Local Holiday Campaign as part of the broader initiative. That holiday-themed campaign urges residents to consider the impact of their purchases around this time of year.
Indeed, the holiday season is traditionally the busiest time of the year for Jochen's Honey & Pickle. Just the same, both she and Bradshaw said San Antonio residents should try to shop local year-round.
"If there was a 10% shift in spending from big-box stores to local independent businesses, that would have a $267 million impact on local earnings and $720 million overall impact on the local economy," Bradshaw said, citing a consultant's recent analysis of the San Antonio economy.
What's more, for every $100 a San Antonian spends at a locally owned business, $68 gets cycled back into the local economy, Bradshaw added.
"Part of that is profits that go to the local small business owners. They may be reinvesting that into their business, buying equipment and those types of things," Bradshaw said. "It's also in terms of wages being paid to their employees. That's all cycling through the community and not going to large corporations."
Community support
To that point, Honey & Pickle tries to source its produce, meats and cheese locally, depending on what's in season, Jochen said. Those local expenditures help improve everyone's quality of life.
Locally owned businesses also are more likely to get involved in the community, advocates argue. One key example is San Antonio-based H-E-B. Although the giant grocery chain is far from a small business, it's well known for its local philanthropic work.
But the little guys also help the community when they can. Jochen's Honey & Pickle is a strong contributor to the Down Syndrome Association of South Texas, for example.
"Being part of community-driven events like that really is our best way to support and be a part of San Antonio outside of [taking] orders," Jochen said.
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