Supporting Local Business

How You Can Support Local Businesses from Home

It takes a lot of hard work, creativity and courage to be a small business owner. And right now, our local business owners need our help. Throughout our community, retailers are implementing new practices so that they can continue to serve their loyal customers while abiding by social distancing guidelines. There are several ways that we can support our neighbors' efforts right now and to make make it easy, we’ve compiled a list of things you can do today.

Curbside and Online Shopping

If you’re committed to shopping local and staying loyal to the retailers that you’ve always counted on, the good news is that many retailers and restaurants have made it really easy to do so while practicing social distancing. By now you have likely heard that many of our local retail shops are offering curbside pickup, limiting the number of shoppers in their stores or offering online ordering. As your shopping needs come up, consider shopping local first. It could make a huge difference for our community.

Many retailers are creatively assisting and serving customers. Some are offering personal shopping, daily features and sales on their social media pages, orders and requests on Facebook, online ordering and more. If you have a go-to purchase, you can simply call the store and ask if they can gather the items for you. A personal shopper will bag everything up and walk them out to your car so that you don’t have to take one step out of your car. If you’re using a card to pay (which is recommended), you can do so over the phone so you can have a touchless purchase.

Many of our local retailers are also offering online shopping and some are even offering discounts and free delivery on all online orders to encourage everyone to safely stay home.

Several gyms and yoga studios are even offering daily online videos or live streamed classes to keep members active and engaged with their business.

We recommend looking for your favorite local businesses on Facebook or Instagram to stay up to date with their current practices and offerings.

Oil City News has compiled an ongoing list of business updates and offerings throughout the community.

Order take out (and tip well if you can)

Most of Casper’s local restaurants, coffee shops and tasting rooms are still open and offering curbside, takeout and delivery. If you’re able, make it a point to dedicate a night or two a week to takeout from your favorites and tip generously. Partake in #TakeoutTuesday and share your meals and the great service you receive on social media.

Check out our Cowboy Curbside listings for a full list of restaurants offering takeout.

Buy Gift Cards for Future Use

If you don’t need anything from your favorite shop at the moment, you can still support them by purchasing gift cards to use in the future. Buying a gift card tells business owners that while we can’t be together right now, when this is all over you’ll be one of the first customers back in the store.

The Casper Star Tribune has compiled a comprehensive list of retailers, restaurants and other small businesses that are offering gift cards.

Free Ways to Support Local Businesses

We understand that not everyone is able to make extra purchases right now. But there are still many ways you can support our local retailers without spending a penny. Go online and give them a positive review, this only takes a few minutes and will not only provide the owners with some much-needed positivity, but it will also help spread the word about their awesome business.

If you’re on Facebook or Instagram, interact with your favorite businesses as much as possible. Comment words of encouragement and share positive experiences you have had. If you know of a business that has been trying new things or is offering discounts, help them spread the word by sharing their posts and tagging your friends. Engaging with your favorite places on social media helps them spread the word about their offerings.

Even with all of the uncertainty around the world right now, one thing is for sure: Casper always shows up for Casper. And it is more important than ever to support Casper-grown businesses.