ANDERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — As Christmas quickly approaches, many people are looking for ways to check off their holiday checklists. For businesses in Anderson County, now is their busiest time of year.
"We get lots of locals, lots of visitors, I'd say it's probably 50-50 visitors and locals. Yeah, it's just a busy time of year. We love it, so fun," said Dawn Raider, owner of a small business in Historic Downtown Clinton.
"On Saturdays, the community really comes together and they go hit every single store in town. And they say, 'Hi' to everybody and everybody knows who we all are," said Samantha Dymond, a co-owner of a coffee shop in Rocky Top.
Anderson County has many local businesses across its five municipalities, and when people shop locally that money stays in the community.
"It's major. We're sales-tax driven, so anytime you shop local, it stays within that city. And for those smaller cities, the boutiques and the smaller business they have there, it's just impactful for their entire town", said Rick Meredith, the president and CEO of the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce.
While visitors and regular customers do support these local businesses, the shops also support each other. Many use products from other local businesses or sell products from other small shops in their stores.
"It's really important to me because I started my first small business over 10 years ago and somebody believed in me. And so now, I get to believe in other people and their small businesses and their dreams," said Raider.
Jesse Dymond, the other co-owner of the Rocky Top coffee shop, said he shares the sentiment.
"We're also really big advocates of supporting small business, so that's another reason that we like to use Knoxville coffee companies' services and products for our coffees," he said.