As Christmas shopping gets added to to-do lists, the Okotoks Chamber of Commerce is encouraging residents to keep their spending local.

Okotoks officially kicked off the Christmas shopping season at Light Up Okotoks on Nov. 15.

Jayme Hall, Executive Director of the Okotoks Chamber, says shoppers may be tempted to shop online or in the city due to convenience or better priced goods.

"I think it's wrong of me to say it's not tempting to go into the city for certain products and items that you might need and may be able to get a little cheaper, I think that's pretty real, but the reality of it is that local dollar, for the most part, comes back into the community which is so important."

Hall adds the extra bit of effort to shop local makes a big impact.

"When you're doing your shopping maybe if you see something that you really like you could think to yourself 'you know what, I bet I can just get this back in town.' It's easy to be there and be like 'I just want to get all this at once and just be done', but that extra 15 minutes and extra $20 in the local economy really goes a long way."

For a list of businesses in Okotoks click here.

 

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