Consumers are already being bombarded with sales and promotions designed to entice us to Christmas shop now — before Thanksgiving Day.

We can’t blame retailers. It’s been a lean summer and fall for most. Some are desperate to improve their bottom line before the end of the year and there’s no guarantee the Christmas shopping season alone will be able to do that.

This brings home the fact that nearly all retailers are struggling — including our local retailers in our own communities.

The Marion County Record will embark on a Christmas promotion in the coming weeks. Those advertisers participating in the promotion are doing this to entice shoppers to visit their stores. They are also doing it as a way to support this business and other businesses in the community.

Support those businesses and sign up to win gift certificates to those stores.

We all recognize that we can’t buy everything we need for the holidays in Marion, but if we purchased everything we can, it would help support our local businesses.

Thank you to those businesses that support this business through this promotion and other promotions.

— susan berg