Show Some Love to Local Businesses This Valentine’s Day

SALISBURY, Md. — This Valentine’s Day, love isn’t just in the air—it’s lining the shelves of local small businesses. With winter typically slowing down business on the Eastern Shore, small business owners say the boost from Valentine’s Day is especially appreciated.

Sonya Trader says her local flower shop offers something that big retailers can’t match. “They can’t promise you times; they can’t promise you what they have because we’re the ones doing it. You need a brick-and-mortar store because they’ll know what they have, they’ll have fresh products, and they won’t have stuff that’s off the wall that we’re promising, and they won’t deliver.”

Economists expect a 12-15% increase in expenditures related to Valentine’s Day across Maryland this weekend.

“So that would be retail, florists, hotels, restaurants—all those establishments you typically think about when you think about Valentine’s Day,” Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce President Bill Chambers said.

Shopping small isn’t just a boost for the local economy, but for the community’s character and connections, too.

“Personal service means so much to a diner, to someone staying in a hotel, to someone walking into a local shop in Salisbury or in Fruitland or in any of our communities. Getting to know that shop owner, that restaurant owner, or that server—nothing replaces that. No big store or online entity can ever replace personal service,” Chambers said.