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Editorial: Third Thursdays

Chesapeake Bank kicked off Shop Local Day in 2012. A year later, it was expanded to twice a year—spring and fall. Now, that popular initiative is growing once again. And that should be welcome news to every mom and pop store, every independent restaurateur and every self-employed gardener, plumber, house painter, etc., around.

Beginning in May, the third Thursday in every month will be Shop Local Day—a day set aside for area residents to shop, dine, bank and hire service providers locally.

Why should we shop locally? There are many reasons. But here are a couple of compelling ones. First, when you spend money at a locally owned store, more of that money remains in the community. A 2012 study conducted in the Salt Lake City, Utah-area compared 15 retailers and seven restaurateurs with four major national chain stores.

What did they find? Collectively, the local retailers returned a total of 52 percent of all revenue to the local economy; the national chains, meanwhile, re...

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