Shop local movement picks up steam in Merrimack Valley
North Andover — For years, the phrase “Think global, act local” has been associated with the environmental movement.
Activists proclaimed that if people helped the environment in their own backyards, they would in turn be helping the global environment.
But a growing number of small retailers here and across the country are adapting a version of that phrase, trying to encourage people to shop and buy locally to help Main Street shopping districts survive and even thrive in an era of big-box megastores and sprawling suburban shopping malls.
In North Andover, a group of Main Street businesses has formed a merchants association, the first such organization in decades, with the aim of helping each other prosper by encouraging local shoppers to give their stores a chance.
In Haverhill, some Wingate Street shop owners have taken it upon themselves to print marketing brochures that are being distributed in the lobbies of nearby apartment and condo complexes, alerting new residents to the shopping opportunities right outside their front doors.
And in Andover, several merchants have teamed up with a Route 114 gift shop owner to join a nationwide movement dubbed the “3/50 Project,” which educates consumers about the power of their purchases. For example, if they buy of $50 of merchandise at three different stores once a month, the ripple effect will make for healthier downtowns.
