Sharing local economy can be a balancing act

Through two weekends of Home for the Holidays activities and shop local initiatives, the turnout for the events and family-friendly activities were steady throughout. However, Wallace Chamber president Valerie Finlay noted that the shopping events didn’t have as much of an impact on the local economy as she had hoped.

“I don’t think it was as strong a year as past years. That’s part of a trend happening here and in Kellogg and Coeur d’Alene and all over. The last-minute shopping was a better turnout than for the holiday event shopping. I think most everybody came out just for the events. We did OK and the importance is always in my mind of bringing people onto the doorsteps of businesses and the whole panic (shopping) before Christmas was actually pretty good,” Finlay said.

Anticipating when people will shop local has become increasingly hard for Brenda Johnson, as a shop owner, to gauge.

“I can’t work any more than I already do. I ran two stores seven days a week last summer,” Johnson said.

Johnson runs Johnson’s Gems in addition to being the incoming Wallace Chamber president and said sales have been down significantly over the last year, even with having those two locations open. 

“People are not spending money and when they are, they’re spending it on days that you would not expect. On Saturdays when mom’s got the whole family, she’s not breaking out the wallet,” Johnson said.

Shopping local discounts and customer loyalty rewards have become an incentive to try and encourage supporting local businesses with the promise of perks. But most of all, Finlay believes that rather than going to a big box retail store or across the state line to Spokane, keeping the money within the local economy can be a huge game changer in investing in the community as well as the area’s economy.

“Local businesses are the people who are giving back to the community and so the best way for that balance is to be there for them so they’re there for you if you need it. We support our local hometown businesses more because they’re the ones who give back every time there’s a fundraiser, every time someone has a medical situation and needs some kind of a benefit done, those are the kind of people who are coming out for us,” Finlay said.

In a recent North Idaho Business Journal article, Silver Valley Economic Development Corp. executive director Paige Olsen said that there is a degree of waxing and waning when it comes to small businesses in the area, but for the most part, there is a fairly consistent flow of businesses keeping their doors open.

One thing that has been promising from a big picture point of view has been the community of businesses coming together as part of the Wallace chamber.

“Memberships are up and we’re doing really well,” Johnson said. “We’re fortunate that people are moving to town and starting businesses and they’re joining in the chamber of commerce,” Johnson said.

Silver Valley Chamber of Commerce

Keeping in step with the collective community spirit is something Juli Zook considers to be a large-scale concept that she feels people can carry on in a very straightforward manner: support local mom and pop shops.

“Business owners here are extremely accommodating. If there’s something you’re looking for, shop owners can get it for you,” Zook said.

As the incoming president Silver Valley Chamber, she hopes that in 2024, we can look for solutions to build up the area’s sense of pride and cut through the negativity that often can permeate otherwise successful operations.

“We’ve been seeing great growth and progress and the real estate market has been pretty good. Bunker Hill is opening up again and that’s going to make our local economy much more stable. There's always something to do, you just have to reach out and take it,” Zook said.

Looking to the future

As she prepares to step down from her position as president of the Wallace Chamber of Commerce, Finlay has one major hope to keep driving towards the future for Silver Valley businesses and it all comes down to technology. Encouraging more people to embrace digital marketing to drive local sales has been a big part of the chamber’s push to modernize and add tools to the toolboxes of local business owners.

“The chamber is here to help them move forward that way.  It’s my hope that going into this next year that the education side of it can really be boosted,” Finlay said.

Johnson's look forward has a host of fun for the city of Wallace as a local milestone is on the horizon.

“Trying to keep people coming downtown and not only that, we need to focus on their needs. It’s going to be the 20th anniversary of the center of the universe and that’s going to be my big one for the year to plan,” Johnson said.

A major professional highlight on her radar for 2024 is yet another move for Johnson’s Gems to 605 Bank St. across from Idaho Silver and the Funky Monkey.