The holidays are coming up—the year’s first snow, caroling, Silver Bells and all the things we look forward to all year long—these are all things that get us into the spirit of giving. While some gifts of the holidays are intangible, gifts for giving are typically found at our local retailers’ establishments.

One of the great recollections of my childhood was taking a bus from my grandmother’s home in Southfield, down to the J.L. Hudson building to shop for Christmas. To be perfectly frank, the shopping piece was not the important part of the trip—it was the tradition of time spent. We didn’t really have any money, so there wasn’t a lot of purchasing going on. Regardless of the hustle and bustle, we were a family in those times.

My grandmother will always have a special place in my heart and I believe a part of it is tied to those cherished holiday moments. I felt these same feelings with my own children, when we took them to places like Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, or to local retail stores here in mid-Michigan.

When you talk to manufacturers on how business is doing, they give you statistics by quarters. When you talk to retailers about how business is doing, they give you statistics anecdotally that are related to the hours of the day. Things like: “We were pretty busy from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., then we got a little rain. We got a normal noon rush so the afternoon has been a little slow…but overall a pretty good day.” Retailers area huge part of our community. Not only do they give us a service of interaction, they sell us goods we need and they better our community by paying taxes and creating jobs.

Jim Hallan, president and CEO of the Michigan Retailers Association, has been so instrumental in this issue. Jim has done so much for the Michigan Retailers since he took over for my old friend Larry Meyer, and we’d like to thank him, especially for putting us in touch with a broad spectrum of retailers—all are quality people with quality companies who run their businesses with the customer in mind all the time. 

All of us at The Greater Lansing Business Monthly thank you for reading this month’s issue. Every five years we conduct a readership survey and we’d like to thank those who participated most recently. Our readership numbers, local recognition and your involvement in our publication are once again incredibly high. We thank you for your support and hope you have a great holiday season.

Have a prosperous month,

		Chris Holman Publisher