This is *** editorial prime day happened this week, the annual Amazon promotional event that promises great deals on anything you could want. Many of you probably took advantage of it for those who did the convenience of point click and ship may be hard to resist. And that's why it feels like *** prime time to showcase our local retailers across central Iowa. For every dollar you spent online, we encourage you to spend as much or more with local businesses and that may be unrealistic but face it the dollars we're spending with online retailers like Amazon come at the expense of our local retail community, small and large businesses struggle whether it's inflation, supply chain issues or the flight to online convenience. The local stores that make up our economy have greater challenges than ever before. They need us. When we shop local, it pays the salaries of our friends and neighbors. Our spending pays the taxes which fund important local resources. We rely on committing to shop local first impacts both our large and small communities and face it. There are some great local businesses across the region. Plus you get the added benefit of face to face service places where you're known by your name. Not just *** number periodically, we use this forum to encourage shopping local, especially around the holidays. And while that's an important time to remember your local retailers, if we commit to shop local every month of the year, we can all do our part to raise the economic tides of all central Iowa. The next time you need something, consider the shop down the street or across town and when you're there, tell them. Thank you. We appreciate all our local businesses. Welcomes. Responsible replies to this editorial.