From your Thanksgiving meal to your New Year's Eve celebration, Shop Indie Local by purchasing more of your holiday gifts and celebration needs from your friends and neighbors -- locally owned business owners.
This week is a super busy one for the Shop Indie Local movement as we celebrate Plaid Friday, Small Business Saturday, Artists Sunday, Cider Monday and Giving Tuesday. Due to COVID-19, our celebrations may be smaller in scale (or move online), but the spirit of Shop Indie Local remains strong -- thanks to all of you!
We recently launched TLC Monadnock Mercantile, a regional online marketplace featuring a diversity of products and services from locally owned businesses. Our virtual store compiles gift ideas, gift cards and restaurant take-out options all in one place. Best of all, it is free for locally owned businesses to participate. Fifty-four businesses have added products and services to our mercantile, representing some fabulous gift ideas for your loved ones. Many thanks to Monadnock Food Co-op and Savings Bank of Walpole for sponsoring TLC Monadnock Mercantile.
Shop Safe, Shop Online and Shop Indie Local
Wear plaid on Friday, November 27, to show your support for our local economy and commitment to buying local this holiday season. Plaid Friday celebrates the diversity and creativity of local and independent businesses. It’s a fun and enjoyable alternative to the big box store “Black Friday” consumer frenzy. So, plan to wear PLAID all day on November 27.
Twenty locally owned businesses will serve as Plaid Friday Hubs this year. They pledge to photograph you decked out in plaid and answer questions about Plaid Friday.
Find a Hub Near You!
Deep Roots Massage in Keene will host a video call with Santa Claus, live from his workshop! From 12 p.m. – 3 p.m. in Gallery Alley next to the Colonial Theatre on Main Street, kids of all ages can visit with the big man himself on the big screen.
If you can’t make it to a hub, be sure to take a selfie of yourself decked in plaid and share it with us on our Facebook Page and tag it with #plaidfriday. We will add photos from you and our hubs to our annual collage, celebrating all who wore plaid and showed their support for locally owned businesses and our local economy.
Some businesses will offer specials on Plaid Friday. Aloha Keene will offer 20% off gift certificates, General Store at Doodle Eats in Jaffrey will give you a free Doodle Pie with each order over $25, buy a Deep Roots Massage gift certificate for massage online and get 10% off, plus Deep Roots will donate 10% of all holiday sales to the Monadnock United Way and make a purchase at the Monadnock Food Co-op dressed in plaid and get a free $5 co-op gift card (one per customer; while supplies last).
View MORE Plaid Friday Specials
While Plaid Friday overshadows Small Business Saturday in our region, we encourage everyone to celebrate this event, too. One way to participate is to play Shop Small Bingo. No matter how you get involved, every little bit makes a big difference.
Download Your Bingo Card
New this year! November 29 is Artists Sunday, an art shopping movement of more than 2,500 artists and organizations coming together to encourage consumers to shop with their favorite local artists and makers during the holiday season. Think of it as Plaid Friday but for the arts!
Find Local Artists
Instead of Cyber Monday, a day when online merchants offer special deals, we invite you to Cider Monday. On November 30, stop in for free cider from participating Cider Monday businesses, including Monadnock Food Co-op in Keene. The co-op will offer free pints of Champlain Orchard Cider, one per person and while supplies last. Also, if you choose to shop online, choose local too!
Learn More About Cider Monday
A global generosity movement, Giving Tuesday encourages you to give any way you can. Organizers share, “Whether it’s making someone smile, helping a neighbor or stranger out, showing up for an issue or people we care about, or giving some of what we have to those who need our help, every act of generosity counts and everyone has something to give.”
Learn More About Giving Tuesday
Locally, Eyeworks in Keene will launch its 12 Days of Giving promotion on Giving Tuesday. From November 30 – December 15, 2020, EyeWorks will donate $25 to the Monadnock Food Co-op Farm Fund with every pair of glasses sold. “I can’t imagine more heroic work than raising good food for a community. It’s hard, and it’s uncertain, and all too often, it’s taken for granted. That’s why this year we’re so pleased to support the Monadnock Food Co-op Farm Fund,” said Dr. Barton Higley of Eyeworks. “We know high-quality, nutrient-rich foods are key to good health — something that’s important to all of us. We’re honored to take part in cultivating a healthy local farming economy.” The Monadnock Food Co-op Farm Fund, created in partnership with the Cheshire Country Conservation District, supports local farmers by increasing sustainable food production and wholesale sales to contribute to a thriving local farm economy.
Learn More About EyeWorks 12 Days of Giving
A big THANK YOU to this year's Plaid Friday, Cider Monday and Shop Indie Local sponsors: Aloha Keene, Cheshire Horse, Deep Roots Massage, Food Connects, MoCo Arts, Mon Amie Fine Jewelry, Monadnock Balloon Store, Monadnock Food Co-op, One Stop Country Pet Supply, Owl & Pen, Phoenix Farm, Steele’s Stationers, Ted's Shoe & Sport, Toadstool Bookshops in Keene and Peterborough, and The Works Café.
Together, we're generating ripple effects that create new jobs, charitable contributions and community prosperity. Thank you for supporting the Shop Indie Local movement.
The Local Crowd Monadnock - Keene, NH
