As many shoppers turn to the ease of online shopping this holiday season, business owners in downtown Helena are asking people to keep it local.

Lasso the Moon Wonderful Toys co-owner Amy Barrett runs her toy store on the walking mall with her daughter and says a lot of work goes into curating the inventory for customers.

"All of us little business people down here really depend on customers coming in doing their shopping downtown so we can survive through the year. And we just really appreciate when people do that and dont give Jeff Bezos the money," says Barrett.

Barrett is not alone. Holiday shopping props up many brick and mortar locations in the downtown area, like Sole Sisters, a clothing shop for women owned by Gerry Hanson.

Like Barrett, Hanson wants to community to know how gr

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