TOP REASONS TO SHOP LOCALLY IN WHEELING AND PROSPECT HEIGHTS
1. Your sales tax dollars come back to the respective villages when residents shop locally. A resident’s 2.0 percent municipal and home rule sales tax dollars are returned to the Village and allow the Village to provide public services including police, fire, public works, snow removal, waste removal, and other valuable village services. The village generated over $600 million in retail sales in 2015 representing approximately $12 million dollars in sales tax revenues.
2. Your local sales tax dollars stay in the community and are not exported to neighboring communities. Supporting local Wheeling businesses also creates jobs in your community and keeps our shopping centers and service stores strong.
3. Most local businesses support local fundraising efforts and support schools, little league sports teams, charitable organizations, and churches. Most of these organizations are dependent upon local businesses for volunteers, charitable donations, goods, and services. By supporting your local businesses you are also supporting other community organizations and charities.
4. Local businesses tend to spend more money locally than national chain retailers. Recent studies indicate that local businesses spend approximately 45 percent of their revenue in the surrounding area versus 14 percent that comes back to the local economy from national chain retailers.
5. Local Businesses are typically owned by Wheeling and Prospect Heights residents and many employ local residents who are your neighbors. These merchants tend to have a more vested interest in our community and are more likely to support hometown activities. Small businesses know their customers and provide superior customer service.
6. Shopping local businesses saves energy as well as time and money. The cost of gasoline and the impact fossil fuels have on the environment are other reasons to shop locally and find the things you need in our home towns.
7. Shopping locally makes you feel good and demonstrates your sense of pride in being a resident. The consumer has so many choices as to where to shop today. Our shopping districts are strong and vibrant and shopping locally will only make them stronger.