COLUMN: After a hard winter, buy local and let the good times roll!

It has been a long, hard, cold, miserable, slow winter.

I'm telling you, I can't wait for it to be over. We sit in our shop (as do most retailers around here) day in and day out with absolutely no activity.

However, that is what happens in the off-season. So, I should just get over it, right?

Lots of people come in asking for a job. We try to stay in the know with who's hiring and what's going on, but we turn away people day after day... and it breaks our hearts.

I personally meet people every week that say that they bought such-n-such online. They probably didn't even realize it, but they sent their money out of town. Did they try to find it here locally? It's easy to click, buy and then move over to the sofa.  But, there are these local merchants that are screaming out here, like my self, "Hey, what about me?"  

And, our only hope is tourist season. Hopefully, when the sun warms up and people come back into town, our local economy will get a breath of fresh air.

Mikkeline (my wife) and I have made a New Year’s resolution that we encourage others to take up. We have started supporting only our local businesses.  

We've eaten at local restaurants like Hartell's Village Diner in Baytowne, Helen Back on Okaloosa Island, and Fat Clemenza's in Holiday Plaza. We shop at For The Health Of It on 30A, and the local farmer's market in DeFuniak Springs.

When we can't find what we need at these places, we'll stop at a roadside vegetable vendor like Cotton's Produce in Freeport.  We've shopped with Modern Interior's behind Cox's Pools.  We watch movies at the Lively Cinema 10 in Destin.  And, we buy our prescription drugs from Week's Pharmacy in Freeport (where we live).

Because we've taken on such a feat, we've noticed that all of our groceries are either free range, organic, or otherwise without hormones and some corn byproduct.  So, without even realizing it, we benefit our locals and our own health.  

Mikkeline and I have started a membership at Freeport Family Fitness (F3), seeing as how we're being more healthy.  We talk to the owner, Ted, every morning and express how fulfilling it is to go to his gym.  We feel like "family" there.

We will continue to do this and encourage all locals to help each other rather than some out-of-town chain. Most of the local businesses have Web sites, too.  And, we'd be happy to hand deliver directly to you.  We believe that this is how we overcome the local economic distress.  

On a lighter side, Mardi Gras is weeks away (Feb. 13, 2010), and I hope to see everyone in HarborWalk Village celebrating in this huge party.

It was ginormous last year and this year should be no different... you feel me?

Keep your head up.

Eric Hicks is the owner of Luksus! Clothing in Destin. Their Web site is www.luksusclothing.com