VIDALIA, La. &045; Chambers of commerce in Natchez, Vidalia and Ferriday are teaming up once again to promote hometown shopping with their &uot;Be Loyal; Buy Local&uot; program.

The program was enacted last year but according to Vidalia chamber of commerce Director Aissa Wiggins, &uot;it (fizzled) out before it got started.&uot;

Last year the chamber charged a fee for businesses to participate in the program, and Wiggins said that may have been its downfall.

&uot;We’re going to revamp the program this year and we’re not going to charge a fee,&uot; Wiggins stated.

The revamped program works like this:

Each participating business will receive a &uot;Be Loyal; Buy Local&uot; sticker to put in its window and cards to distribute among its patrons. Each card will contain 20 spaces, and each time a patron spends $20 or more at a participating business the card gets stamped.

After the card is filled completely, it can be dropped off at any participating business.

Completed cards automatically enter patrons in a quarterly drawing. Instead of charging a fee, the chamber is asking that each participating business donate a door prize for the drawing.

The donation of a door prize is &uot;to give the people something back for shopping in their store,&uot; Wiggins said.

Shirley Cliburn, owner of The Gift Box in Ferriday, said she thinks the program might make people more aware about shopping at home.

Cliburn has been in business for about seven years and said, &uot;We have some customers that I feel they do all of their shopping here.&uot; &uot;Some people it’s just their nature to go out of town to shop,&uot; she said.

Cliburn said that she has business from out of state and that equals out the local people that shop out of town.

Cliburn said she plans to participate in the chamber’s program.

The program might also help entrepreneurs such as Debbie McAlister also runs a business in Ferriday for about the past two years &045; Four Seasons Flowers and Gifts.

McAlister said that her business, like any other, has its good and bad periods. Some customers may go to Baton Rouge for really big things for their house, McAlister said.

&uot;Most people don’t stay in Ferriday, they want to go to a big mall,&uot; McAlister said.

For example, McAlister said that on the biggest shopping day of the year, the day after Thanksgiving, she might as well close if she doesn’t have a funeral or wedding scheduled.

McAlister also said she feels Wal-Mart and other large chain corporations are hindering small-town businesses.

Annie King, former owner of New Beginnings Furniture in Vidalia, said she’s losing business to Natchez.

King operated the furniture store in Natchez for 11 years before closing for a year and then having to reopen in Vidalia because of building availability.

New Beginnings has been in Vidalia since May 1 under the ownership of Carl Porter. King said that business is getting a little better.

&uot;I finally have customers who are finding out where we are at and coming in from everywhere,&uot; King said.

Virgil Hoggatt, owner of The Ranch House in Vidalia, said &uot;business has been usual.&uot;

Hoggatt said that he feels his biggest competitors are catalogs and the Internet.

Wiggins said that the chamber will try to kick off the program during the first or second week of March.

The chamber split into groups and visiting local businesses to supply each with a sticker to put in their window and packet with the information about the program.

&uot;The biggest thing is to get the word out there that we’re doing this and to convince people the shop at home,&uot; Wiggins said.