Fair Lawn Businesses: Stay Local on Black Friday and Beyond

The Fair Lawn Chamber of Commerce and both the Broadway and River Road Improvement Corporations are making a push to encourage Fair Lawn residents to shop locally on Black Friday and for the remainder of the holiday season.

“Local businesses have a stake in Fair Lawn,” Broadway Improvement Corporation president Bob Beshlian said. “They hire our children, friends and neighbors. They contribute to our community and support programs and services that benefit the people of Fair Lawn. The bottom line is shopping and dining locally, on Black Friday or any other day of the year makes sense; it’s the right thing to do.”

To encourage Fair Lawn shoppers to stay local, the River Road Improvement Corporation is holding a  that kicks off Nov. 29, and gives customers who patronize any of the promotion's  and restaurants a 15 percent discount and the chance to win an iPad 2, gift cards and other prizes.

“This new program provides an incentive that hopefully will remind people from Fair Lawn and surrounding towns to shop and dine locally during the holiday season and year-round,” RRIC president Bob Landzettel said.

For complete details about the promotion, visit RRIC's Facebook page.

In addition to supporting the Fair Lawn business community by shopping locally, there are numerous other benefits to staying local that sometimes fly under the rader, Beshlian said.

He cited factors like saving time, money, gasoline and the aggravation that comes with long lines, traffic tie-ups and hassles at the mall with often temporary and inexperienced sales people.

In contrast, Beshlian said, “Many of the businesses on Broadway in Fair Lawn are family owned and operated and provide expert knowledge and advice and warm, friendly customer service."

To get the word out this week, the Fair Lawn Chamber of Commerce, which at popular local restaurant on Monday, led their weekly email newsletter with a plea that residents "Skip the mall and shop small!" this weekend.

"Of course, as the Chamber of Commerce, we encourage everyone to shop local and support the businesses in our town," Debbie Berowitz, the chamber's executive director said.

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Do you plan to shop locally this Black Friday and ensuing holiday season? Can you find what you need in town? What are your favorite small businesses and restaurants in Fair Lawn?