Every dollar counts: How your spending shapes Los Alamos
Determining the cost of participating in an economic blackout on a local level
In a small town, every dollar has a job: it keeps retailers open, artists creating, nonprofits afloat, and neighbors employed. But what happens when those dollars stop circulating locally? When residents opt out of spending locally in favor of convenience, speed, or the illusion of savings? The answer will unfold quietly in Los Alamos over the course of this holiday season as consumers make a choice of how to spend their hard-earned money.
Economic “blackouts” are calls to avoid certain retailers or types of spending and are often framed as a form of protest or to support personal budgeting in challenging financial times. But when a blackout extends to local businesses, even unintentionally, the impact lands hardest on the shops already operating on razor-thin margins. These are the places that don’t have billionaire owners or global reach to absorb slow weeks. They’re run by neighbors, staffed by locals, and embedded in the cultural life of this community.
The October 2025 Economic Summary from the Economic Development Department reported that local businesses in Los Alamos experienced a 23% drop in sales during the fourth quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, earning $528 million — roughly $145 million less than the typical total over the past two years. Additionally, the EDD found that the total number of local establishments dropped about 3.6% year over year — meaning some shops closed or left town.
Skipping a local purchase — even occasionally — can have devastating effects for a small shop competing against corporate giants. A few slow weekends can be the difference between staying open or closing permanently. And once a building in Los Alamos becomes vacant, it tends to stay that way. There’s already a share of vacant spaces in the area; protecting the ones still filled with life, commerce, and creativity is a must.
Part of the solution lies in rethinking what a purchase actually is. It’s more than a monetary transaction: it’s a small and meaningful long-term investment in the town. A single transaction at a small business can trigger a chain reaction of benefits that no online cart ever will.
For instance, Shop on the Corner — a thrift shop that’s part of Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church — not only gives new life to donated items, but the proceeds from selling those items have a far-reaching impact.
Cathy Walters, a volunteer at the store said, “The Shop on the Corner has been an outreach ministry of Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church for over fifty years. It has grown tremendously in all that time, especially after the Cerro Grande fire, and with the growth of families in Los Alamos. We are only limited by our space and number of volunteers, who are a mixture of members and nonmembers of the church.”
Walters noted the shop supported thirty-six charities from its earnings in 2024, focusing on those in Northern New Mexico who provide food, health care, and shelter for people in need. “We also respond to disasters such as the fires in California this year, [and] flooding in Texas and Ruidoso,” she said.
The Shop on the Corner relies solely on donations of resalable goods from the community. In addition to helping worthy charities, new inventory makes a fun and new shopping experience for customers each week.
The money spent at the point of sale locally doesn’t stop there; it moves through the local economy. That money allows businesses to hire workers, pay rent, keep the doors open, and offer events that bring people together. However, when dollars are taken to places like Amazon, it isn’t just the unfortunate reality of the market at work, but it’s a reflection of the town’s collective choices, according to local business owner Jill Lang of Samizdat Bookstore and Teahouse.
“Either we provide value for the community, or we don’t. If we don’t, another business that does should take our place. If we can’t get a critical mass of people who believe we bring value or who want to buy books here, then we don’t belong in Los Alamos. That’s the question this season will answer,” Lang said. “If people don’t want to buy books, there’s no purpose in having a bookstore here.”
Beyond books, Samizdat also creates a safe space for folks to come together and enjoy company, like Monday Supper Club. Anyone can come and enjoy a warm, handmade meal and pay what they can. Jill and her business bring people together and fill bellies. Every book bought helps support this.
The Los Alamos Arts Council’s annual Affordable Arts event showcases thousands of handmade pieces from local creatives — often the very people you know from work, school pickups, or the grocery store. The model for Affordable Arts keeps the artist at its center, and for every piece sold, 65% of the price goes directly back to the artist, LAAC Executive Director Brandi Engeman explained. The remaining 35% supports LAAC’s labor expenses and allows the organization to invest in workshops, events, and cultural programming for the future.
“Shopping in the Fuller Lodge Art Center directly supports New Mexican artists,” Engeman said. “Based on sales in the month of November, we are sending New Mexican artists over $15,000, with nearly $7,000 of that coming through our doors from Black Friday to Sunday. When you buy locally made art, you’re not just bringing home something beautiful, you’re helping artists to pay their bills, continue to craft, and stay rooted in the places that inspire their work.”
At its heart, this isn’t really about the things we buy; it’s about the choices we make as a community. Every purchase — from the big box retailers to our local businesses — is a decision about the town we want to live in. Strong local businesses grow from countless small acts by residents choosing to invest in one another. If we want businesses to be here tomorrow, we have to decide to support them today.
Full disclosure: Boomtown’s Megan Hesselink is the marketing director for the Los Alamos Arts Council. This piece contains her opinions.