COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Inflation has hit the holiday season causing many of shoppers to look even harder for a good sale. But this holiday season, experts are urging people to think local more than ever before.

"Big retailers as well as small retailers are recognizing people are worried about inflation,” said Stephan Weiller, a professor of economics at Colorado State University. "The holiday season is pretty important in terms of the economy. As a country, we are supposed to spend over a trillion dollars on holiday sales. That's 5% of the GDP, or 5% of what we produce is actually sold during the Christmas season, which is pretty unbelievable."

With inflation increasing the price of goods by sometimes 8%, many people are turning toward shopping online and in big chain stores.

"That’s what big box stores are doing; they’re discounting deep and often and that's what people are seeing,” Weiller said.

"The big box stores and Targets and Walmarts are really captivating the toy businesses,” said Richard Skorman, the owner of Little Richard’s Toy Store in Colorado Springs. “They used to have two or three aisles of toys, but now they have 15 or 20. So, it's hard for small business owner small toy store owner to compete sometimes. We have to innovate."

Economists are now trying to inform consumers to consider small privately owned toy shops for their holiday spending.

"If you're shopping for example at big chains all of that money goes away from the community, it goes to corporate headquarters,” Weiller said. “Spending locally keeps dollars flowing in that community.”

"So, Christmas is a big part of our sales,” Skorman said. “It could be up to 60% of our sales for the whole year, so it's really important for us."

Skorman has kept his business alive by carrying things big box stores might not actually carry.

"We've been preparing for this for months and months,” Skorman said. “We weren't sure if the supply chain was going to be hurt this year because last year, toys were hanging out on boats from China, so we bought a lot local, and we have a good full stock right now."

Economists say that it's hard for small businesses to compete with big chain prices, but Skorman believes stores like his can get through inflation by investing in their customer service.

"You'll find that people who work in locally-owned stores are really knowledgeable,” Skorman said. “And in some cases, local stores can talk you into something cheaper than what you were going to get so that could be an inflation buster. If you lose your small businesses in a community, you really lose your sense of character, your sense of place and a fair amount of money that would be invested and that community goes away."

Sunday marks the start of Kwanzaa and one woman is turning to education to celebrate the special tradition.

It's a seven-day, non-religious holiday observed in the United States. Kwanzaa is meant to honor African Americans' ancestral roots.

"It’s so important to convey this tradition because it’s ancient. It’s not new, it’s old, and it brings us together," Doris Fields, who celebrates Kwanzaa, said.

The tradition often involves symbolic items like a candle holder (Kinara), unity cup (Kikombe cha Umoja), placemat (Mkeka), crops (Mazao), corn (Muhindi) and gifts (Zawadi).

Fields has celebrated the holiday for over 35 years, from paying homage to ancestors to sharing hopes for the new year.

"Usually there are people in their 90s [who attend], and they have so much wisdom," Fields said. "They have so much to offer to us."

While Fields' annual events may look smaller due to the coronavirus pandemic, she said she doesn't stop the opportunity to teach.

On Sunday, her home was a haven for a small group of friends, eager to learn more about the tradition.

"There were people here who had not had Kwanzaa with us before, so it's very nice to be able to share our thoughts," Fields said.

The holiday involves seven principles, represented by candles: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

"I’ve been celebrating Kwanzaa with my family. probably for the last like 10 or 15 years," Markella Clinton, who also celebrates Kwanzaa, said. "It’s something I look forward to every year. It’s a great family excuse. It’s a great community motivator as well because you don’t just have to be family to be able to come and enjoy."

According to UCHealth, a not-for-profit health care system, Kwanzaa is the fastest-growing holiday in the world.

As popularity increases, Clinton said it's important to ask important questions.

"Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to look for information," Clinton said. "Educate yourself, because it’s not a religious holiday. It’s about community engagement and having faith in yourself and having faith in your community."

The celebration lasts until Jan. 1.

Can at-home COVID-19 tests make holiday gatherings safer?

Yes, combined with vaccination, home test kits for COVID-19 can add a layer of safety and reassurance by providing on-the-spot results during this second year of pandemic holidays.

"We will be using rapid tests to double check everybody before we gather together," says Dr. Emily Volk, president of the College of American Pathologists, who is planning a holiday meal with six vaccinated family members. "We'll be doing it as they come in the door."

Home kits are not as accurate as the PCR tests done in hospitals and at testing sites, Volk says. But they have the advantage of giving results within minutes instead of days.

Testing kits are available at drugstores without a prescription, and a box with two tests typically costs about $25. Swabs, testing solution and instructions are included.

Adults and teens can test themselves. An adult can test a child as young as 2. How-to videos on product websites can be helpful.

Most tests require swabbing about a half inch inside both nostrils, so it may tickle but doesn't hurt. You will get a positive result if the test detects a viral protein in your sample.

Home tests will miss some infections and in rare cases mistakenly indicate an infection. One popular test misses around 15 out of 100 infections — these are called "false negatives" — and gives a false positive result in about 1 in 100 people who aren't infected.

Test shortages were widely reported during the last COVID-19 surge, but new options have recently hit the market and major manufacturers such as Abbott Laboratories have ramped up production.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers other tips on ways to enjoy the holidays safely. Vaccination remains the best way to protect against the coronavirus.

The makers of some of the most popular toys in the United States sounded the alarm this week about the global shipping crisis and labor shortages limiting their ability to keep stores stocked throughout the fall holiday shopping season.

Two leading toy company CEOs who recently spoke with CNN Business said they fear their supply chain woes and the resulting inflated prices will mean many children won't get the toys they want for Christmas. That's why they're warning parents to get their holiday shopping done early.

"There is going to be a major shortage of toy products this year," MGA Entertainment CEO Isaac Larian told CNN Business. "The demand is going to be there. What is not going to be there is the product to fill the demand."

Larian's privately held company owns and distributes Little Tikes, Rainbow High dolls, Bratz dolls and LOL Surprise!, one of the hottest toy brands of the last few years and the top toy of 2020, according to NPD Group, a leading market research company.

He admitted to being "very frustrated" this week with shipping container companies such as Maersk, who he and other toy industry insiders accused of taking advantage of the global shortage on freight containers by dramatically raising their prices.

"The container that cost $3,200 last year is now $22,000," Larian said. "The installation of raw material and labor has gone up exponentially. We've seen a 23% increase in cost of product in China without the logistics. That is going to translate to higher prices with retail."

Even after paying more to get his products to U.S. shores, Larian said a trucker shortage is preventing him from getting his toys into warehouses and ultimately onto store shelves.

"We've had hundreds of containers on 46 ships sitting in the ocean at the port of LA and Long Beach for the past 30 days," he said. "There are people to unload it, but there are not enough trucks to pick it up."

Basic Fun CEO Jay Foreman expressed a similar frustration this week. Foreman's privately held company owns and distributes Fisher Price toys, Tonka trucks, K'nex and Care Bears among other brands. He said some of his products have been stuck on shipping containers "when those containers can be found." Other Basic Fun toys, he said, are "stacking up" in factories in China, making it harder for him to keep stores stocked in the coming weeks.

"You're going to find various times during the holiday season where the store shelves are going to have empty holes in them," Foreman told CNN Business. "You're going to see constant outages of the key products that consumers are looking for."

A problem, big and small

Executives at Hasbro and Mattel, two of the three largest toymakers in the world along with Lego, told analysts in late July that their companies have secured enough shipping containers to keep up with demand this holiday season, even though they'll have to raise prices to compensate for higher shipping costs.

Consumers can expect price increases of 5% to 10%, according to Jim Silver, CEO of trade publication "Toys, Tots, Pets & More."

"We have the inventories to meet the demand that we need for the second half of the year," Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner said during the company's latest earnings call. "It's a little different than past years where direct import could play a bigger role than it has in the past. But again, working with our retailers around the world, we feel, most importantly, we want to meet the high demand."

The toy industry landscape is yet another example of the largest companies winning big and smaller companies losing out during the pandemic recovery, according to industry analyst Neil Saunders, managing director of the retail segment for GlobalData. Saunders said shipping companies cater more to their largest clients, including toymakers Hasbro and Mattel and retail giants Walmart, Target and Amazon.

"The bigger companies that have more money, more economic clout because they place more orders, definitely have more scope to mitigate [supply chain constraints]," Saunders told CNN Business. "Smaller chains just don't have that economic power."

Both Foreman and Larian expressed doubt that even the largest toy makers can keep up with holiday season demand this year due to supply chain limitations.

"Whoever is telling you it's only the small toy companies' problem is full of it," Larian said. "MGA is the fourth-largest toy company. We are not small. The beauty of MGA is we are private, so I can talk to you openly."

Toy sales have continued to flourish throughout the pandemic as parents turn to dolls, Legos and board games to keep their kids entertained while many have been forced to spend more time at home. Pandemic conditions and stimulus money from the federal government resulted in a holiday sales boom last year. James Zahn, senior editor of "Toy Insider," a leading trade publication, said he expects similar success this year provided the Delta variant doesn't force retailers to shutter and stores can keep toys stocked.

"Families have money to spend, and if the toys are available, they're going to buy them," Zahn told CNN Business. "No matter what, kids will still play and parents will do whatever they can to do right by their kids."