Supporting Local Businesses and Each Other This Winter

By Jacob Robinson

Executive Director, West Roxbury Main Streets (WRMS)

As COVID-19 rages on across the country and all over the world, it’s important to remember that small businesses – the lifeblood of our economy - continue to face difficult challenges amid the ever-important holiday shopping season.

When it comes to our Boston neighborhood business districts, the pandemic’s impact on small businesses has ripple effects that can be felt throughout the community.

Here in West Roxbury along the corridors of Centre Street and Spring Street, which constitute the West Roxbury Main Street district, seeing the community come together in the last several months has been nothing short of remarkable and really speaks to the close fabric and character of our resilient and welcoming neighborhood.

An example of community working together to help those struggling to feed their families is exemplified through one of our local businesses, BONAPITA, which donated over 500 meals to the Centre Street Food Pantry. They were able to achieve this with the help of generous customers who willingly added monetary donations to their online orders, which not only supported a small business, but their overall community. A simple online order can go a long way!

Early in the pandemic, Johnny’s Takeaway was among the first to pivot their business model to enable customer-sourced meal donations to provide 5,400 meals to frontline workers (They recently launched a “Feed the Needy” program, which has fed 350 so far). These innovative approaches to generate small business revenue while also helping people in need have even led to cross-sector partnerships, such as the one between West on Centre and SuperFlash Tees which are collaborating to donate meals from West on Centre using the proceeds of West Roxbury-themed apparel purchases from SuperFlash. It’s a win-win for everyone, giving community members an opportunity to support local businesses and those in need with the same dollars.

This just goes to show that when you shop local, you are playing a critical role in helping keep our community strong and thriving.

To that end, we have compiled a list of ideas and recommendations to support neighborhood businesses and each other in the winter months ahead.

· Gift local. A thoughtful gift this year is one that supports a local small business. Gift cards are always a great idea, but also consider creative ideas such as purchasing things like beauty and hair products from local salons or a catered meal from one of our neighborhood restaurants.

· Support local safely. If you are concerned about in-person shopping, ask your local businesses if they have contactless services, such as curbside pickup or delivery. Call-in orders ahead of time to minimize lines.

· Spread the word. Word of mouth goes a long way to help small businesses. Give them shoutouts, write them online reviews or tag them on social media, sharing your positive experience with your community social groups.

· Follow WRMS and local businesses on social media. WRMS is highlighting local promotions on Instagram and Facebook. Follow WRMS and your favorite local businesses to stay in the loop on new services, specials, and products. Visit WRMS.org to view a live dashboard of current promotions.

While supporting our local businesses is important, it would be remiss to not emphasize the very real and urgent need of many individuals and families in the community. Food insecurity is especially pervasive right now. For those who can, consider donations to local groups such as Rose’s Bounty Food Pantry, Rosie’s Place, Bella’s Food Pantry, Ethos Care, and Mary Mulvey Jacobson’s Families in Need Fund. Additional groups and organizations servicing the West Roxbury area can be found on wrms.org/community-group-directory.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can help, the WRMS Board of Directors wrote an open letter to the West Roxbury/Parkway community with more ideas for supporting each other and our businesses this winter season.

Stay tuned for our next post – “Seasonal Attractions in West Roxbury.”