Top Six Reasons to Shop Small This Holiday Season

The holidays are officially upon us! We love the hustle and bustle of tree decorating, gift wrapping, Santa breakfasts, and Friendsgivings. It’s a joyful time, but we’re feeling the squeeze this year, and we bet you are, too. Prices are rising on just about everything – from the cost of our favorite Fraser fir candle to a borderline-unattainable trip to see the lights in New Orleans’ City Park.

With that in mind, we have one humble request this holiday season: Please choose to shop small.

We know it’s less convenient. We know it can be more expensive. This year, more than ever, we need your support. Without it, many won’t be here when you have more time, more budget, or more room in your calendar.

Our products may be more expensive than what you can find on Amazon or Walmart, but we stand behind our fine, handmade quality, and we can tell you who made each piece. We’re proud to pay fair wages and support a global artisan community. Meanwhile, most mass-market goods are produced by workers in factories where they’re paid poverty wages and work in deplorable conditions.

Buy less, make it meaningful. No one needs piles of presents to make the season magical. Speaking as someone whose love language is gift-giving, this is not judgment! (See our previous gift guide blog post, for example.) This is a challenge for all of us to shop more intentionally this season. If you need more convincing, here are our top six reasons to shop small this holiday season.

1. Tariffs are hitting small businesses the hardest. 

This year, the U.S. introduced major new tariffs – up to 50% on goods imported from India, where Passion Lilie’s clothes are handmade by fair trade artisans. Big corporations can absorb these costs or shift their production methods. Small businesses and mission-driven brands like ours cannot (and do not want to) change how we do business. We have deep, important partnerships in India. Their livelihoods rely on the stable jobs and income we exchange for the goods they make so well.

For fair trade businesses like Passion Lilie, these tariffs significantly increase the cost of bringing our handmade goods into the U.S. We’re doing our best to absorb the costs because we value our partners and customers, but at some point, the numbers get tough for us. Your support helps us continue paying fair wages and maintaining our long-term artisan partnerships.

2. Your dollars support real people, not corporations.

Consider your holiday shopping an act of resistance. When you spend money at a small business, your purchase has a direct impact on real people, not massive corporations with questionable ethics and policies.

Your purchase supports:

• An artisan in India making ornaments to help pay for his brother’s medical care
• Ikat weavers preserving centuries-old hand-looming traditions
• Two New Orleans moms (hi, that’s us!) working to build a more sustainable fashion industry
• Countless members of our supply chain, from organic cotton farmers to hand-block printers, to the small businesses around the U.S. who sell Passion Lilie clothing.

When you shop small, your money helps real people build stable, meaningful lives instead of disappearing into a vast corporate system. These are the people who remember your name, donate to school fundraisers, host neighborhood events, and reinvest in your community. Your purchase helps keep our lights on, our artisans employed, and our dreams alive.

3. Small businesses give back to their communities.

We see it every day. Our local bookstore hosts the book fair at public schools and provides free books for kids who can’t afford them. Toups Meatery feeds local kids all summer. A nearby boutique donates 20% of their sales and hosts a fundraiser for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The examples are endless, and so inspiring.

A study from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found that 80% of small business owners believed their business’s mission included giving back to their local community, and 91% believed businesses should give back. We fall into this category, too. Every April, Passion Lilie selects a local nonprofit to support with a portion of our sales. We’re always happy to give back through time, goods, and support throughout the year, too.

Every small business purchase has a ripple effect: You support a small business > they employ local people  > those people support their community > your city thrives. Shopping small is a BIG way to support the community you live in.

4. You preserve craftsmanship and cultural traditions

Many small businesses like Passion Lilie (especially fair trade shops) offer goods made by artisans who use traditional techniques like hand-weaving, block printing, ikat dyeing, or embroidery. When you shop small and fair trade, you help:

• Keep centuries-old techniques alive
• Support artisan communities
• Protect cultural heritage from being erased by mass production
• Ensure safe, fairly paid work for makers around the world

Shopping handmade, unique goods like the ones we sell in our shop is a special experience. You’re truly making a difference both locally and for artisans around the world.

5. Your gifts have meaning (and better quality)

Small businesses care deeply about the goods we create. You may spend a little more, but you’ll reap the benefits of higher-quality materials, thoughtful design, ethical production, unique styles and small batches, and products made with intention.

Shopping small makes gift-giving more personal and joyful. Instead of just buying stuff; you’re choosing something special for someone you love in a way that supports entire communities.

6. You embrace sustainability and help businesses keep it going

One thing we champion at Passion Lilie is buying less and buying better. When you shop at small businesses, you’ll save money by purchasing just the right thing instead of filling your gift bags with knick-knacks. Life feels more in control without clutter, so invest in pieces that mean something to you.

Sustainable businesses like Passion Lilie only survive as long as customers choose us. With rising costs and higher import tariffs, this year is especially challenging for us and our peers who are committed to fair wages, organic fabrics, and environmental responsibility. 

When you shop small, you’re casting a vote for the world you want to live in. You’re helping to ensure there remains an option for fair labor, sustainable materials, transparent supply chains, and businesses that value people and the planet.

Your choices really do matter.

Your choices matter to us and to small businesses around the world. From all of us at Passion Lilie, thank you for choosing small, ethical, and sustainable this holiday season.