CORONADO, Calif. (KGTV) — Shopping local means face-to-face interactions and sometimes wholesome conversations with employees who usually live in town, like Marco Perez at Emerald City Surf Shop in Coronado.
“This was my surf shop when I moved here in 3rd grade," Perez said. "I grew up in this store, and we’ve been here since 1988.”
He says business has died down since then, with so many people going online for sales after Thanksgiving. But none of that replicates the experience of shopping small.
“I think you lose the intimacy of customer service, people helping you, showing you other things," Perez said. "You lose the human touch on stuff, and we try to strive for that.”
Emerald City Surf and around 50 other businesses in Coronado are taking part in Shop Small Saturday. Customers get stickers at every store they visit. Once they collect five or more stickers, they can drop them all off at Rotary Park to enter a raffle with various fun prizes.
"We’re going to have live music, Santa walking around," said Karla Robles-Puig, Executive Director of Coronado Main Street. "We’ll also have free gift wrapping.”
Coronado Main Street is putting on the event. Robles-Puig says it helps support the local economy.
“These shops you're looking at right now give back to our community," Robles-Puig said. "They're the ones that sponsor the youth clubs, the sports groups, the schools, foundations, and everything that makes this economy and this community thrive.”
