Excellent Idea

Congressman-Elect Tom Perriello announces a "Shop the 5th" website, encouraging people to help his district by shopping from merchants there during the holidays.  Parts of this district are still having a very tough time economically, and this will go a long way to showing that Tom really cares about helping them come back. 

Excellent idea, and I will be doing a lot of my holiday shopping on the sites listed on Shop the 5th.

Comments

[martha]

http://www.emersoncreekpottery.com/

Check out this 5th District pottery shop!

[Not Wayne Rooney]

What if the stores in the 5th district sell crap that costs too much? Instead of playing this kind of economic localism, why doesn't he encourage his future constituents to buy the best products for the price (regardless of where they are made or sold) and actually use their resources in a way that is economically productive? If he really wants to help the economy that is the smart thing to do.

[This is a joke]

This is the best idea Perriello has for economic development ? Not well thought out and very sparse when you take out the listings of all the chambers of commerce. A high school kid could have done better in an afternoon.

Just another example of Ben's fawning.

protectionisim doesn't work. Its this type of attitude that got the 5th in trouble in the first place. They need to adapt to the modern international economy. Focus more on getting more kids in college instead of supporting dying cottage industries.

[terrydactyll]

i agree with NLS. i think it's a wonderful idea to encourage folks to buy locally. this clearly isn't perriello's plan for economic development. "this is a joke 5:06pm" - stop being such a drama queen...

He didn't expect to win....at least he came up with something.

Tom Perriello may end up doing more good for the 5th district before he's sworn into Congress than Virgil's done in 12 years.

Since when is choosing to buy from local producers practicing economic protectionism. All Tom is saying is that there are all these local businesses that you might not know about, so why not take a look and see if you want to buy some gifts from them. It isn't the biggest thing in the world, but I just don't see how anyone would see this as a bad thing.

[Sean Holihan]

This is a wonderful idea. Showcasing the local shops within his district is a great way of showing his appreciation and support of small businesses throughout the 5th Congressional.

I cannot understand how anyone could find fault with this idea. By the way--tossing out the Chambers and Visitor Centers I still managed to lose count near 100 individual antique shops, wineries and food stores among others.

[Doug]

"Focus more on getting more kids in college instead of supporting dying cottage industries."

Really? Please name the dying cottage industries in the 5th- what a complete bozo remark. I know some great local stores in the 5th and some great NEW breweries. This is the job of a local rep- push out the "hey, look at all these great folks and things we have down here" word.

Here is another link to a shop not on the list

www.buycollegeart.com in Rocky Mount, VA, Just a block from Virgil's house.

Some great prints here and some even better autographed sports prints as well!