Your Habitat's Robert Parker hopes buyers will spend their money locally on Christmas gifts and goods.
TASMANIAN retailers have asked shoppers to get behind them or risk not seeing them in the city and other major centres next year.
As the Christmas season launches into full swing, Tasmanian shop owners are calling for local support during the most important time of the year for retailers.
Australian Retailers Association board member and Your Habitat owner Robert Parker said shoppers needed to support new and established businesses if they wanted a vibrant retail sector.
"Christmas is vital for most retailers," Mr Parker said.
"Some retailers make all their profits during December.
"If people don't support their local retailers, they won't be here in the future."
The call comes as the Mercury newspaper launches a shop local campaign.
It will highlight Tasmanian retail success stories to help energise one of our state's most important economic generators.
Retail directly employs 26,000 people in the state.
Mr Parker said the $12 million makeover of the Cat and Fiddle Arcade, in Hobart's CBD, had helped to revitalise the city.
But support was vital to ensure national businesses like Wittner Shoes, T2, Mimco and Lululemon Athletica remained in Hobart.
"We have a lot of national stores coming into Tasmania and employing Tasmanians and if we don't support them they will not stay," he said.
Tasmanian Small Business Council executive officer Robert Mallett said surveys had painted a "doom and gloom" picture for Tasmania's retail sector but anecdotal evidence suggested it was now already looking better.
Worth about $1.5 billion to the local economy each year, retail spending in Tasmania had dropped in each of the past 11 months, after a 25 per cent jump worth $109 million, in December last year.
"We encourage everyone to buy locally," Mr Mallett said.
"You need to stop and consider where you are purchasing."
Although online shopping has become an everyday challenge for retailers, Mr Parker believed the concerns about online domination were overstated, estimating it was taking about 5 per cent of business on average from local retailers.
"It will grow, it is here to stay, but I don't think it is growing as fast as some people think," he said.
Mr Parker said there were signs people were becoming wary of online purchases following recent Australian Federal Police arrests of international organised crime members who had been charged with stealing credit-card data of up to 500,000 Australians.
matthew.smith@news.com.au
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