A Staff Editorial

Nov. 21, 2000 10 PM

Friday, Americans and Pike Countians will head to the malls, shopping centers, and, not surprisingly, the Internet as they search for holiday items and gifts for their friends and family members.

For Pike Countians, those trips to the mall will expend roughly three or more gallons of gas and will require battling crowds, vying for parking and elbowing their way through the lines in Montgomery, Dothan and other places.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Considering the issues of travel, crowds and high gasoline prices, we see an excellent opportunity for Pike Countians to save themselves time, aggravation, expense and security risks by shopping at home.

In downtown Troy and Brundidge, merchants are stocking their shelves, parking spaces aren’t hard to come by and travel time is significantly less for most of us than it would be should we head out of town to buy gifts.

Besides these matters of convenience, there are other good reasons to shop at home, the best one being to support the local economy.

With sales tax returns staying in Pike County where the money can do things like give us added services, convenience and can beef up our infrastructure needs and school programs, we think it makes sense to shop locally whenever possible.

By doing so, most of us will save ourselves from fighting the traffic, worrying as much about theft and other safety issues and we will be doing our community a great service.

And while you may not be able to find everything you want right here in Pike County, chances are that if you take the time to look, you might be surprised at the selections and the prices you have within your reach.

Consider these things as you head to the gas pumps to pay $1.50 or so per gallon for gas and as you drive on streets and roads that you wish were in a little better shape.

With your money staying at home and working for local services, improvements and serving to boost the local retail economy, bring potential for added jobs, you can’t lose by doing your holiday shopping in Pike County.  

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