As you decide where to shop for gifts for friends and family this holiday season, why should you consider purchasing gifts locally from small businesses, when the big box retailers have spent so much competing for your attention? Well, when taking the state of our economy into consideration, buying local could be the best decision U.S. shoppers make this season. For example, according to the Andersonville Study of Retail Economics, local business generates 70 percent more local economic activity per square foot than big box retail. Read more here. (Repost from Huffington Post)