Shop, Savour, and Share during Buy Local Week

Buy it, eat it, love it, share it: if it’s local and you like it, let the community know.

BC Buy Local Week is just around the corner, and from Monday, November 27 to Sunday, December 3, the Township of Langley is encouraging residents to not only shop and dine locally, but to let others know about their favourite local experiences via social media.

“There is so much available in our own backyard,” said Val Gafka, the Township’s Senior Manager of Corporate Administration. “In addition to the Willowbrook Regional Town Centre, one of the largest retail areas in the Lower Mainland, each of our six communities has a number of unique services and specialty stores that are well worth visiting. Whether you are searching for the perfect gift, enhancing your home, or indulging in something for yourself, we are confident that you will find what you want and need right here in the Township of Langley. And when you do, we want to hear about it.”

Residents can support the BC Buy Local movement by simply choosing to spend their money within the community during the week. With the holidays just around the corner, now is the ideal time to check out and support local shops, restaurants, and entertainment. Visitors and residents are encouraged to share stories and pictures of their favorite Township destinations to help spread the word. Follow LangleyTownship on Facebook and Twitter to share your experiences, channel attention, and broaden awareness of the power of BC Buy Local.

“We are proud to be the home of some 7,000 businesses in the Township, most of which are small, local business that contribute to our community in a big way. So it is easy and rewarding for residents to support them in return during Buy Local Week,” Gafka said. Local businesses contribute to the Township’s tax base, provide good jobs, support charities and teams, and put dollars back into the community by using other local companies’ products and services.

“For every $100 consumers choose to spend locally, $46 goes right back into the local economy,” Gafka said. “That ripple effect has a positive impact on our municipality’s economic climate and keeps it healthy and strong. By thinking local, we also think of the environment. Shopping locally reduces the need to transport goods and people, minimizing our carbon footprint.”

The BC Buy Local movement was started by a Lower Mainland business owner as a grassroots initiative in 2008. The following year, the not-for-profit organization LOCO BC was formed to highlight locally owned, made, and grown products, and to enhance the local economy by advocating local purchasing.

Several municipalities, including the Township of Langley, take part in the annual BC Buy Local Week to showcase local businesses and how they keep communities strong and their economies thriving.

“When you buy local, there is also a real sense of pride that comes from knowing the products you are using or serving were made or grown in your own backyard,” Gafka added. “We encourage everyone to experience that pride, share their experiences through stories and photos about local gems in our the community, and continue supporting locally-owned businesses all year round. ”

For more information about BC’s Buy Local Week, visit LOCO BC .

For more information, contact Val Gafka, Senior Manager of Corporate Administration, at vgafka@tol.ca or 604-532-7305.