Kris and I live in a small, quiet neighborhood south of Portland. When the trolley line ran through here — between 1893 and 1959 — Oak Grove was actually thriving community, with shops and stores and more. (It’s true! I’ve seen pictures!) Now, though, downtown Oak Grove, such as it is, consists of a convenience store, a hair salon, a joint once named “the best dive bar in Portland” — and the home office of Get Rich Slowly.
There’s also another business in downtown Oak Grove: a small coffee shop that opened a couple of years ago. It struggled a little at first, but eventually business picked up, and it’s become a valuable part of our community. In fact, Kris and I think of the Oak Grove Coffeehouse as the only real hub our area has.
But there’s a problem. This summer hasn’t been kind to the Oak Grove Coffeehouse. The business is struggling. Jason, the owner, has been forced to cut back hours. He’s waiting for classes to resume at the nearby high school in hopes that the teachers and students will bring a cash infusion. But for now, things look grim. Here’s a recent Facebook post:
I’ll admit that I haven’t been supporting the coffee shop as much as I used to. Kris stops in once or twice a week on her way to work, but I’ve cut it out of my budget for both fitness and frugality reasons. (I’m living the latte factor!)
Why I buy local
Still, I feel passionately that small businesses are vital to the success of a community. It’s probably because my family has owned many small businesses in the past, but I do my best to support Mom and Pop operations whenever possible, and I try to avoid national chains of all types.
- I’ve always joined local gyms instead of national chains.
- Kris and I almost always choose local restaurants instead of national chains.
- I prefer small, independent bookstores to national chains. (Except that I use Amazon a lot, thus proving my hypocrisy.)
- Whenever possible, I choose independent movie theaters instead of the national chains. (I loathe big chain theaters.)
- I try to use small barber shops instead of national chains.
- When we lived in a small town, we used a small, local grocery store instead of a national chain. We don’t have that option now unless we want to drive 20 minutes.
- I use a local credit union instead of a national bank.
- Kris and I have never really had an auto mechanic, but she’s just started taking her car to the place around the corner.
- And so on.
When it comes to local businesses, I try to put my money where my mouth is. I vote with my dollars. Why do I buy local? For a lot of reasons, including:
- I believe that small, locally-owned businesses give character to a community. They improve its quality of life. Yes, every Starbucks you walk into is the same, and this makes a lot of people comfortable. But I like that independent coffee shops (or record stores or comic shops or bookstores) have a unique feel. I like that Flying Pie pizza is unique, and not just the same homogenous stuff you can get from Domino’s or Pizza Hut.
- I believe that buying local products from local merchants fosters community by enriching my neighbors, by supporting their endeavors. I’ve written a lot about the importance of social capital — mutual goodwill — and frequenting local businesses is a great way to strengthen social bonds.
- Small, locally-owned businesses are more likely to keep the money they earn in the community; it’s not siphoned off to the corporate offices in Akron, Ohio. And local businesses are more likely to use local suppliers. I’ve never found a local product at our nearby Safeway, for instance, but the local produce stand has fruits and vegetables from around our area. (They even had a bunch of Kris’s currants for sale recently!)
There are indeed times that I’ll eat or shop at a national chain, but if I have a choice, I’ll almost always opt for local. Yes, there usually is. (Though not always.) But the cost differential isn’t great. Even when I was digging out of debt, I was willing to pay extra to buy local. I considered a sort of “community tax” — a surcharge I paid to keep the local area vibrant and strong. That’s important to me, so I’m willing to pay a little extra to make it happen.
Not everyone feels the same way, of course.
The opposition speaks
Kris and I hosted the annual Roth family reunion last Saturday. It was a smallish gathering (only about 20 adults and 10 kids), but it was lively. Roths can be rambunctious, and we’re not afraid to debate with each other.
Over our sausages and sauerkraut, somehow the conversation turned to supporting local businesses. I forget why the subject came up, but it’s not surprising:
- My family owns a business that makes boxes in Portland.
- My cousin Ted is an artist who makes baskets and furniture.
- My cousin Bob has a company that builds granite countertops.
- My cousin Tammy runs a tutoring business out of her home.
- And my youngest brother is trying to get his own business off the ground.
As you might expect, because there are a lot of small businesses in my family, there’s a lot of “buy local” sentiment. But not everyone feels that way. During our rowdy conversation, Tammy made it clear that she’d rather shop at Wal-Mart than at her neighborhood stores.
“Oh, come on,” said Tammy’s brother, Ben. “There are people here from all sorts of political backgrounds, but I think there are two things we can all agree on: Monsanto is evil, and you shouldn’t shop at Wal-Mart.”
“Why shouldn’t I shop at Wal-Mart?” Tammy asked. “The stuff is cheap, and I don’t have a lot of money to spend.”
The argument discussion continued for several minutes: Tammy vs. the rest of the Roths. When Tammy learned that her brother Ted lives 2-1/2 hours from the nearest Wal-Mart, she was appalled. “I would not like that,” she said. “Where do you get your groceries?”
“Just the local store in town,” Ted said.
“And you’re paying through the nose, right?” said Tammy.
My brother Jeff jumped in: “But he’s supporting a local business, supporting the local economy. If local business isn’t supported…”
“Well,” said Tammy, interrupting. “Think what you want. I’m just not that into the local economy.”
Tammy has some valid points. National chains are successful for a reason. They’re cheap, they’re widely available, and they’re familiar. You know what you’re going to get and how much you’re going to pay. You know how the system works. Working with local businesses can sometimes be…interesting.
Why shop local first? Click the image to view a larger version.
Do YOU buy local?
Family bickering aside, the debate over the importance of buying local occasionally gets debated in communities across the U.S. Last week, for instance, USA Today posted an article about towns trying to block chain restaurants in order to preserve character and protect local businesses.
I was curious what GRS readers thought, so last week I polled my Twitter followers and the folks at the ever-growing GRS Facebook page. I asked, “Do you go out of your way to support small businesses in your neighborhood? Why or why not?” Here are some of the responses:
- Michele Gilhouse wrote: I go out of my way to support local business because I want my neighbors and community to prosper. At times I know I pay more, but it doesn’t bother me.
- Jane Cny wrote: Yes, I support local businesses and have made a conscious decision to increase my support, including moving my money to a local back. I have been unemployed for over a year, and my dentist, my hairdresser and my dry cleaner have all lowered their prices for me to support me during a tough time. I can’t imagine a big business doing this. You can bet these people will continue to get my business!
- Cheryl Estridge wrote: I try too, but I also price shop and buy only from places that are offer the same goods for less $$$$. I won’t spend more money just to support a local business.
- Melissa Bush wrote: I prefer local stores, and when it comes to food and housewares it’s pretty easy to avoid chains. Clothing is a different story. Chains have too much buying power to let a small clothing store selling new clothing.
- Shari Theroux wrote: I try very hard to buy local whenever I can. Being a small town, though, I can’t always find what I need here and have to either travel or buy online.
- Janell Adamczyk wrote: Miss the days of the local shops – like when I was growing up in Chicago. You had almost all you needed down the street or a short bus ride away.
Most of the folks who responded on Twitter and Facebook try to support local stores over national chains, but a few do so with reservations. They’re wary of paying higher prices, and some have had horrible service experiences. (National chains usually have quality standards that keep service uniformly good.)
Conclusion
Let me make one thing clear: I don’t condemn anyone who does not or cannot buy local. I’m an ardent supporter of small businesses, and I hope that you will be too, but I’m not going to say you’re wrong if you have good reasons for shopping elsewhere.
All things being equal, I suspect most people would choose to buy local. But each of us has a different price at which local is no longer an option. For some, this point is immediate: they’ll always buy the cheapest option, regardless of other factors. Others — and I know a few like this — will buy local no matter the cost.
So where does my zealous support of local businesses leave me with regards to the Oak Grove Coffeehouse? What about the latte factor? What about my diet? I’ve made some compromises.
Twice a week for the past two weeks, I’ve walked up to the store on my way to the office. I buy a Mexican Coke and a cinnamon roll. (I don’t actually like coffee.) Now, I know that my $8 per week isn’t going to keep the place in business. But I hope that it helps a little.
Meanwhile, I’m just exercising a little harder to burn off those extra calories…
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I do both, based on what is local to me. It’s a two minute walk to the chain grocery store and three minutes to the franchise hardware store, so that’s local convenience but supporting chains. I also bike to the farmer’s market on weekends. I am discovering that many locally owned frame shops in walking distance beat Michael’s (a longer bike ride) for framing prices.
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“People who used to grow what they needed to survive now are putting all of their eggs in one basket”
Right, but they weren’t always able to grow what they needed to survive. Many of them died from malnourishment.
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I’ve always liked buying local in theory but it wasn’t until my most recent move that I actually started spending most of my money in local businesses. I don’t drive and in my last place I had a mall and a few local restaurants in walking distance, everything else involved travelling. I went to the local book store and theatre and organic food store on occasion but far more often I was at the chains because they were walking distance and if you drive it’s easy to forget how much of a hassle using transit to do errands can be.
Now I live in my country’s biggest city on the edges of a neighbourhood that’s known for it’s local shopping. I have groceries, butchers, bakers, fruit stands, bookstores, restaurants, clothing stores and a movie theatre all an easy walk or bike away and all closer than any of their chain equivalents.
So now I shop local. The sticker prices are sometimes more but I’m not paying for a car or for a transit pass to get me to the chain stores so I’m definitely still coming out ahead.
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I try to buy local as much as possible–we get our produce from one farm and our beef, chicken and eggs from another local farm. We also buy the majority of our clothing from a great consignment shop three towns over. We go out to eat at local places about 50% of the time. A lot of our local businesses even in our upper class area are closing in this economy, though.
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Growing up in a small town, we spent our money at locally owned businesses, the IGA (Independent Groccers Association), Wrights Hardware (est. 1899), a garage that was simply known as “Polack” John’s, John’s (different John) Pizza.
Over the years they all closed down (IGA became GreatValu with higher prices, Harry Wright died and his daughter was too busy being a teacher to run the store, John I took his money and ran to escape the IRS, John II took his money and ran to escape his wife!)
So it’s not as easy as it used to be to buy local. Where I live now, in a college town, local choices largely mean bars and restaurants with bars.
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It hasn’t been intentional, but in thinking about it, I do shop locally fairly often. My service providers (vet, dentist, etc.) are mostly locally owned as well. The grocery store is a locally owned chain, and frankly, I find them to be cheaper and have more options than Wallyworld and many of the national/regional chains. I do go a bit out of my way to get there, but it’s totally worth it.
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A lot of the “Chain” restaurant are owned by local people. Our McDonalds’ owner buys tire from my store. I don’t mind going to McDonalds because it supports him along with the big corporation. A lot of these chains are franchises with local owners, you just have to figure out who owns them.
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Just had to mention… it’s true I am an American that has never stepped foot in a wal-mart!
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I love Walmart, and Lowes for that matter too! When I go in there, I see a hundred individuals employed, that’s good for my community. I also see a few hundred more people with access to fairly priced items they need and use everyday, many of whom could not afford the same quality of life without the option to purchase at Walmart, also good for our community. I don’t have any problem with local restaurants and shops, but I certainly wouldn’t consider them a greater asset to the community, only different.
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I liked the article, but I would like to point out that most chain stores and restaraunts are usually owned locally via franchise. So buying a pizza from the Pizza Hut around the corner is still supporting the local community 75% of the time. Some of the money goes back to corporate headquarters, but most of it goes to the frachisee.
The part about local produce I can completely get behind, except that I live in Arizona, and locally grown produce is terrible for the environment considering it takes twice as much water and fertilizer as produce grown in Iowa(or someplace else fertile).
Buying locally sounds like a good idea, but its more complex an idea than you make it out ot be.
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Generally, we try to go local unless the price is drastically higher or it’s just too inconvenient. We buy 90% of our groceries at a local chain even though it costs a little more than Wal-Mart. We’re looking in to buying our meat from a local source if possible – either directly or through Whole Foods.
For clothing and personal items it is hard to find a local store. It’s all chain stores and Target/Wal-Mart in our area unfortunately. Or we buy online if it is less expensive.
Otherwise, we don’t consume that much – don’t go to movies, buy books or visit a gym. We eat out about once a week which is usually at a locally-based national chain (Panera). When we do have a sit-down dinner out we usually go local, avoiding the big chains.
We bank at one of the bigger banks in the country due to the convenient locations and they also hold our mortgage.
One additional comment – aren’t most chains actually locally owned franchises? Only the royalties (usually a % of sales) goes to the out of town company. I would guess 90-95% stay local. Correct me if I’m wrong.
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A lot of stuff I buy I don’t buy local, it’s just cheaper/convenient to buy from Amazon. But we buy our dog food from a local hardware store, and almost never go into a chain restaurant. The local versus chain restaurant is a big deal in my family, since my father was in the restaurant business (until the current economy put him out of business). He NEVER went to a chain restaurant. If the economy is not doing well the chains have the flexibility and negotiating buying power to save money strategically and spend less (with typically a bigger profit margin) than a single owner restaurant does. So while I feel customer service and the food is not as good at a chain restaurant, unfortunately I think we will continue to see proportionally more independents closing due to economic reasons.
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In general, I prefer smaller companies to larger ones because they tend to be more focused on quality products over growth/profit, and because they usually offer more personal service, but this isn’t always the case. Note that this says nothing about location — there are some small businesses far away from where I live that offer the best products or service in their fields. I’m not going to choose a local option over a distant option if the quality isn’t as good.
One thing I definitely *won’t* do is be charitable to a business. Your coffee shop example is perfect for this, J.D.: I’d never buy something I didn’t want simply to support the local economy. When I want a cup of coffee I may very well choose the local place over Starbucks, however, if I don’t want a cup of coffee, neither of them gets my business. There’s no more reason I should give the local shop owner $8/week than there is reason that he should give *me* $8/week, is there? After all, I’ll spend that money in the local economy, and it’ll “foster community” in the same way, will it not? Did you local coffee shop owner buy a copy of your book when it came out, especially if he didn’t really want it? I doubt it.
Another thing that’s interesting to consider J.D. — what are your thoughts on big corporations that are based locally? What if Dell and Microsoft were based in Portland, would you give up your macs? What if Microsoft was struggling financially? Would you buy a few of their products just to keep them in the local economy? If you lived in Seattle would you buy Starbucks coffee that you didn’t really want?
Also, for certain things, coffee being a good example, the “local” aspect of it just doesn’t mean anything to me. When your primary product is produced in Central America, how local can you really be? Even you J.D., go to the coffee shop to buy a Mexican product, why not buy a Thomas Kemper soda instead, or something else made in Oregon?
And when it comes down to it, the motive behind all of this is more selfish than we like to admit — by keeping our money local we’re also keeping it from going to *other* communities. We strengthen our own communities at the expense of other communities where we avoid doing business. This is reasonable — there’s no rule stating we have to look out for the other guy here, and so we might as well make a difference where we’ll see the results, rather than in someone else’s community hundreds or thousands of miles away. Still, buying locally grown apples instead of apples shipped from Washington impacts the life of someone in Washington in a negative way.
Edit: one more thing J.D., how do you reconcile your desire to buy locally with the increasing importance of travel in your life (which is both expensive, and by definition, not local). When you’re in a foreign country do you feel guilty for spending money on their community instead of on your community at home? If not, is the reason simply because you can now put a face to the people you’d be supporting when you buy imported goods?
I think the real decision that many people are making here is that they want to support the small merchant with a face, rather than the large corporation with a registered trademark. I’m not sure locale is actually as important to people as they think in many cases.
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J.D.-
Love your blog. Pardon me if I take a moment to suggest an adjustment to the way you look at this issue.
I’m a informal student of economics and one economist made the point that the value added from buying local isn’t geographic proximity, it’s usually increased accessibility of management/owners, more personalized service, convenience, etc. For products or services where those things matter, it makes sense to buy them locally, even at a premium. For products where it isn’t, it doesn’t make sense.
If nothing else, I’ve helped you justify your continued use of Amazon.com.
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I think Crossfit is an international brand even if the franchise is local. We have one in London, UK, I tried one in Toronto, ON which is the problem I also have when people stress a difference between national and local businesses. Most national companies franchise to a local business owner who shells out a lot of money to purchase rights to use the brand name. Yes, that comes with perks that local businesses don’t have, but they pay a lot for it. And even a national chain hires local people. So if it’s in your area, employing the people who live there, who cares if it’s a business no one else knows about or a global brand.
I’d rather go somewhere that supports community initiatives and has good values than ruin someone’s livelihood by refusing to shop somewhere just because they bought into a franchise. Those people are still small business owners and it’s always shocking to find people don’t make that distinction.
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This post inspired me to plan to go to a local market nearby today, an Italian deli that also sells grocery goods. I looked them on up Google to see if they have a website and other information, and I stumble on their Facebook page, where I learned that the patriarch owner died about three months ago.
Whenever I would stop in at the market, I would notice its small size and wonder how it stayed in business considering its national chain competitors. Reading through its Facebook page today, though, I now know why. There were so many comments from people expressing their condolences and sharing their experiences with the owner—about how kind he was, how he knew families, and how he went out of his way to accommodate his customers. These were comments from customers who live in our city as well as those who’ve moved away but still remember him. He was also a former mayor of our little city, so he was involved not just from a business standpoint.
The last time I saw him, I was paying for some canoles, and he offered me a pastry, on the house. “Go ahead and try it,” he had said.
I don’t think any grocery store clerk would have offered me a free pastry. It’s also unlikely that a grocery store clerk would be a former mayor. And I don’t think national grocery chains would go out of their way for their customers that, upon the owner’s death, would garner hundreds of comments and condolences.
I’m a new mom now, so national chain stores are convenient for me what with the lack of time. We patronize the farmers market every week, but for whatever we don’t get there, we end up at the grocery because they usually have those items. I can’t always go to the local market knowing that they won’t have everything.
Today though, after reading this post, I’m going to stop by the market, not so much as an errand (I’ll still have to go to the chain store this weekend), but as an outing, and to buy what I can. Perhaps more importantly now that I have a little one, we can take more trips to the local store to expose him to more local businesses, maybe even making it a fun outing instead of a chore. And I think I’m going to buy another canole in honor of the kind owner.
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I try to buy local but it is hard when you dont have a car. I cannot just walk around the corner and find a foam matress pad. Even if I jump on the bus, it is hard to lug it back from somewhere. A lot of times it is just easier to jump on the internet and get it shipped to me. I feel that not having a car is a sound choice for me and because of that I have to make some sacrifices.
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I do make an effort to buy local & smaller/closer-to-source, started really paying attention about 2 yrs ago. In my experience, the more you look, the more options you can find (eg the local hardware store doesn’t carry everything that Home Depot does, but they often know who does – plumbing supply store, electrical supply store, etc).
Luckily we live in a relatively densely populated area so there are options! I do have a price sensitivity, so sometimes “local” means out-of-state-meat bought at a locally owned store (vs. local meat from the producer) – we know that this store buys direct from the ranch, so seems to fall in that next-best category.
JD, one idea (from a caffeine-free, gluten free person whose only coffee shop purchases are for her spouse) – you could host a personal appearance/discussion type thing at the Oak Grove Coffeehouse to help get them more traffic, and you don’t have to buy a latte! Would take your time, but not necessarily too much (any?) incremental spending on your part. Or Kris could do a home canning how-to talk. Or you could invite other folks you know to do a talk. Or simply host a (few) meeting(s) there (other attendees will help support them that way).
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Because I’ve always lived in the the Bay Area and now Portland proper, shopping locally has always come easy for me. I do shop at local chains such as New Seasons and Fred Meyer. Does that count, or is that too large? Other than that, I shop at farmers markets and co-ops both for reasons you and other people have stated and for health reasons.
Most of the local business I support are in walking distance or at least in areas of the city that I may spend a weekend afternoon in. I rarely support a business out of obligation. Oak Grove sounds a little far for me, but I will be sure to check it out if its on my way to someplace else.
I never dine at chain restaurants and cafes except if I’m traveling to an area where I have very little choices. Other exceptions include:
24-Hour Fitness – I love the flexibility of going to a national chain to workout that’s open 24/7. Very convenient when traveling to another city.
Amazon.com
Staples – Maybe I’m not looking hard enough, but I have yet to find a local office supply store.
Ross and Marshals – Why should I spend $250 on a suitcase when I buy it for $45 for at Ross?
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As many have pointed out, this is a complex issue. We typically buy locally because it’s convenient. The one area we don’t contribute much locally is eating out–our little town has a good pizza place that we buy from, a few mediocre options, and a few really bad ones. I struggle with this as I can’t help but think that multiple vacant storefronts and restaurants that fail within months right on the main street just look bad and I’m concerned at some point it will affect our property values (who wants to be within walking distance to a bunch of vacant stores?) I don’t want to eat bad food just to support a local business though (and there’s only so much pizza I can take). So, we travel a bit to the next town over and eat at (mostly) non-chain restaurants there.
I have access to a wonderful farmer’s market and my local grocery store chain carries local produce too. I prefer local produce because it tastes better, and I also like supporting these farmers. However, Walmart, due to its purchasing power has probably made more of an impact by expanding its organic options than many realize–they are one of the largest purchasers and sellers of organic produce in the country (if not the largest).
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@67)Carla
Fred Meyer is a brand of Kroger, one of the largest supermarket companies in America. But don’t feel bad, I do 90% of my groccery shopping at King Soopers, another Kroger brand. Both my wife and my brother-in-law work there.
One thing that people should remember about even chain supermarkets is, when its in season, they will buy their produce locally.
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One of the joys of living in a major city is that most stores and restaurants are locally-owned. I do the majority of all my shopping in my neighborhood, on foot. My office is within walking distance from my home, along with our neighborhood post office, (2) grocery stores, wonderful restaurants, and shops, and (2) locally-owned hardware stores. I LOVE the hardware stores in my neighborhood. You walk in, go to the counter, tell them what you’re looking for; they go back into the deep recesses of the store, and bring it to the counter for you. You pay for your purchase, have a nice conversation with the owner and you go home. Try doing that at Lowes, or Home Depot. I might pay a slight premium for my local purchases, but I save money because I do not need a car. Plus, there’s something to be said about knowing and interacting with the owners of the establishments that you spend your dollars at.
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I’m ambivalent about buying local. Many of the points I would make have been covered in previous comments. My favsorite: should I find a GRS replacement that is “local”? Or — to extend the argument — look for a personal finance book by a “local” author rather than one who lives in Oregon?
Mostly I object to what seems like, at bottom, an appeal to guilt. It’s unseemly to convince someone to buy from you by making him or her feel sorry for you or for the community that you live in. Sympathy dates rarely work out well for anyone, and sympathy purchases are likely no better.
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What a fantastic conversation. This really is a hugely multi-faceted issue.
For us in the PNW, Starbucks really is a local mom-and-pop that made it big. Fred Meyer was just a guy who did well in the grocery biz. Same is true somewhere for all the big chains.
Personally, I like having shops and restaurants I can walk to from my house, even if I don’t often actually go there. But if I want them to stay, I have to give them a reason; I have to go shop there even when I don’t want/need to, so that they’re there when I do. It’s not rational, maybe, but it’s worth it. Right now, I am terribly excited that a new food cart pod is growing in my neighborhood, and I can’t wait to go try it out!
JD, why shop at Amazon when you live in the hometown of Powells Books?? Huge, but local.
I go there often for used books, or just to hang out. Next time I want a new book I’m going to our little local bookstore; even if they have to order it, they won’t charge me shipping. And I really like having them there.
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Have to echo the Powells comment. Powells.com isn’t quite the slick experience of Amazon, but it is a great online bookstore…and it is local for you.
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Once again, an interesting topic. Living on the road creates such a challenge for us. We stop at Walmart fairly often as we travel across the country, because they allow motorhomes to park overnight for free. So naturally, we shop there. It is a brilliant marketing strategy that many more local businesses with big parking lots could use. On the flip side, we found a great small town to stop and explore (with the nicest Walmart I’ve ever seen) and in doing so discovered an organic farm and a local butcher shop. We shop there for our food now. They both serve our needs.
Over the years, I’ve found that shopping at the farms is the best way to get to know your food and back-up plan. At the farm, she digs the carrots while I wait, the prices are cheaper than any store and she generally throws in a few “extra” because I’m a regular and I’ve only been here 2 weeks.
I also saw the real value of supporting the farmer, when the egg recall just happened. You couldn’t find eggs or the price just jumped a dollar in the stores. The organic farm had eggs for me, without a price hike. There are organic farms everywhere. It is fun for my kids to go along and to me it is a great way to participate in a local community.
As a side note, one of the other posters noted they didn’t need that many things at a big box store. Traveling full time really drives that point home. Each time I go in a big store now, I just look around and marvel at all the useless stuff for sale.
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I try and support local businesses as much as possible, but I end up doing almost all of my food shopping at Fred Meyer and Safeway. There is a New Seasons Market (local) being built a few blocks from my house, and I expect that I will shop there, but their food is tremendously more expensive than I’m used to paying.
My neighbors own a 7-11. So for them, shopping there is buying local. We only buy our Slurpies from them, and my kids specifically ask to go to “Laura and Karim’s 7-11.”
Whenever I link to books on my blog, it’s always to Powell’s instead of Amazon. It’s my little way of supporting a local business. Of course, Amazon is a Seattle based company, so it’s pretty darned close anyway.
I am lucky, because my neighborhood is a hub of locally owned businesses, and sometimes I feel like I’m in a Sesame Street episode playing “These are the people in my neighborhood.” I know the owners and they know me, which is fantastic.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”
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I am enjoying this discussion.
I had a thought – When a local person owns a franchise of a national chain, isn’t that a locally owned business? When I buy from national chains in my area, I’m always aware that local people work there and depend on that location’s success for income. That awareness makes the “buy local” question even harder for me.
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I find this post shallow and hypocritical. It mainly talks about retail shopping which is a small portion of most people’s expenditures. Also the retail stores all sell the same stuff anyways, a bottle of Coke purchased from the local corner store isn’t any different from one the national chain (unless its from Mexico; certainly a head-scratching detail about buying local). What matters is where is it made. Do you own shoes? Where are they made? Only 2 brands of shoes are made in USA; if you wear shoes and live in the USA you not buying local unless you live in Middleborough Masachusetts or Port Washington Wisconsin. Is this unfortunate? Not really, the world figured out it does not need shoe makers on every street corner and this has enabled people to go on to have more meaningful lives than making shoes.
Like others posted, I want to hear how the owners of this blog apply buying local to the running of this business.
Does this blog cater to local readers? Maybe it would be better hosted on Multnomah.Net than the internet?
Is the staff employed by the blog local?
Is it hosted locally?
Is it powered locally?
Where did the software which runs it come from?
Where was the hardware built?
Where was the network it relies on built?
etc..
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My family almost always buys local, even when it costs us more. The problem with comparing costs between the local stores and the big-boxes is that you aren’t seeing the true cost. Whatever you might be saving in the short-term, you will end up paying back in higher taxes for things like safety net programs that have to bolster the wages of workers earning below-poverty wages, or immigration enforcement because its cheaper to pay undocumented immigrants less than minimum wage to produce our food. Anyone who says shopping at walmart is cheaper isn’t seeing the bigger picture.
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Apologies if this has already been posted, I don’t have time to read through all the comments. I highly recommend the book, “The Small-Mart Revolution” by Michael Shuman. He lays out some good arguments on why to buy local–including how it helps your bottom line. If you don’t have time to read the book or the cash to buy it, go to his website (http://small-mart.org/home) and look for the “Action Lists” under the “Take Action” menu.
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I’d shop at more local businesses if my schedule allowed for it. Most of the local stores in my town close before I get home from work, and I hate shopping on the weekends (too crowded). However, there are a few locally owned stores I go to for specialty products. And, when grocery shopping, I try to buy locally produced food if possible, e.g., milk and butter from New England dairies. But, because I live in New England, buying locally grown produce in the winter is a bit difficult :/
There are also some national chains I frequent, such as CVS and Dunkin Donuts, but they’re headquartered in New England, so for me they’re still local
I also stopped buying as many books and go to the library, but I use my Kindle to subscribe to the Boston Globe. So I’m supporting a local newspaper but reducing paper waste and saving money (Kindle subscription is less than regular subscription).
But, after reading this I’ll try to buy more hardware stuff at the local store than Lowe’s.
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“Whatever you might be saving in the short-term, you will end up paying back in higher taxes for things like safety net programs that have to bolster the wages of workers earning below-poverty wages, or immigration enforcement because its cheaper to pay undocumented immigrants less than minimum wage to produce our food.”
1) You’re going to pay those taxes whether you shop at Wal-mart or not.
2) Plenty of local businesses pay only minimum wage; and more than a few hire undocumented labor.
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I’d say 50/50 for my family. We use local business for auto repair, karate for the kids, and some restaurants. Typically groceries, clothes are purchased at chains to get the lowest prices.
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“Twice a week for the past two weeks, I’ve walked up to the store on my way to the office. I buy a Mexican Coke and a cinnamon roll. (I don’t actually like coffee.) Now, I know that my $8 per week isn’t going to keep the place in business. But I hope that it helps a little.
Meanwhile, I’m just exercising a little harder to burn off those extra calories…”
This goes against all kinds of economic sense. If you have to go out of your way to prop up a struggling business, then something is wrong. Businesses should come in to fill a demand, if the demand isn’t there, then the business is just economic inefficiency. why don’t you just save yourself the calories and drop the money directly in the tip jar and not buy anything? You’re actually paying for additional stress!
This post, In my opinion, is the most irrational post I’ve ever read on this blog, which I thought, was supposed to be about sound economics and personal finance.
Why all the hate for large chains? They: employ more people, offer cheaper prices, bring in more local tax revenue and foster more community growth. large chains can do thus by pricing out inefficiencies. It dosn’t mean there’s no place for local business. Local businesses thrive on the niches where large retailers cannot. a good example is your local bicycle shop.
anyway, In my opinion, the best thing to do is act like a rational consumer, do what’s best for you, whatever that may be, even if it’s a donation in the tip jar at your local coffee shop.
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Tyler K. and babysteps both had good points about supporting the local coffeehouse. I’d be less inclined to buy a sugary treat I didn’t really want, than to just drop $10 in the tip jar.
If I were in the position to do so, I’d probably offer to hire a consultant for them to see what (if anything) they could do to draw more of that evening business. Wages can’t be all that high, but we know they need at least three people on staff (cook, manager/cashier, and server). How much do they need to sell to cover that payroll? Probably not much. What are their other expenses? What’s their margin? etc.
It could well be that going to the trouble of getting a beer/wine license and a license for live music could make an enormous difference. Sometimes businesses have to change their character a little in order to survive the tough times.
DH and I shop & dine locally more often than not. Neither of us shops a whole heck of a lot anymore. I buy signed first edition mysteries at a local book store, but all other reading at Amazon or Borders. I’m a fan of the independent bookstore, but in my observation the ones that succeed are the ones that specialize; generalists just can’t compete. Here in West L.A. we have a venerable art & architecture specialist, a children’s book specialist, and the Mystery Bookstore just to name a few – all are successful.
Part of their allure is that you can get out of print, rare, or otherwise collectible items and actually look at them and touch them first – unlike with Abebooks.com, which is a great resource but still a gamble.
And, again in my observation, the same goes for other independent businesses. The local clothing store that tries to copy The Gap will fail. The local store that handles consignment & vintage, or made-to-order reproduction, or tailoring services, or formalwear – any specialty that draws foot traffic – is more likely to succeed. A mobile personal-training business is more likely to support its owner over the long-term than opening a brick & mortar gym, if only because the overhead is negligible.
A hole-in-the-wall restaurant with a small, perfect, easily adapted menu is more likely to succeed than a big bar & grill with the same food you’d expect at Chili’s – as long as the community can support that. Many small towns simply can’t. You’ve got to cover overhead, food costs, and payroll no matter how many customers show up (or not). And many consumers want a predictable experience when they eat out.
I do support buying local. But I’m also a capitalist, and I think many small businesses don’t do their homework. If their business model is poor, no amount of local support will keep them alive. And if the community simply doesn’t have the collective cash flow, local businesses will eventually run out of money.
I believe this is why small towns typically have boom & bust cycles that are much more devastating to their inhabitants than macro cycles in bigger cities. Maybe Nicole the econ expert can weigh in on that!
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I try to support local businesses, but I’ve noticed it becoming more difficult recently. Some examples:
1. My local movie theater has a sub-par sound system. They can’t afford to upgrade it because business is bad…but I’m not going to pay full price for movies when the audio is crackling. If their system was better I’d go more often.
2. I love my local butcher, but they don’t carry grass-fed beef, which I switched to last year, so I haven’t bought from them since then.
3. I live in a wonderful old building that has a great wine shop on the first floor. I buy from them whenever I can, but their hours are limited, so about half the time I’m forced to go up the street to a chain store if I need wine for dinner or a party.
Many chains started out as a local business (Starbucks). Growth necessitates more structure, policy, mass purchases, etc. so you lose the neighborly feeling. Just read a great article about Trader Joe’s that speaks to a lot of this — they try to maintain the neighborhood feeling despite being a major chain, and only open about five stores per year.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/20/news/companies/inside_trader_joes_full_version.fortune/
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I have tried to buy locally as much as possible for a few years now. There are several reasons for this.
1. I want to support my local economy and my friends who are artists and/or small business owners.
2. The quality is usually much better than the quality at big chains; at least here,that’s true.
3. I don’t like supporting with my dollar the slave labor markets in China, Bangladesh, and other countries where workers are exploited. Most big box stores are able to charge lower prices because their merchandise is made in these places.
4. I think the fastest route to true economic recovery and stability is for American citizens to take back the money and power back the huge corporations by starting and supporting local businesses as opposed to national and international businesses.
5. I firmly believe in karma. If I support my friends and neighbors, they will are more likely to be there for me if and when I need it.
I am not and never have been a wealthy person. In fact, I’m a teacher in New Mexico where salaries are fairly low. But even when I was supporting my two children on just my salary, I still tried to buy local as much as possible. Sometimes pricing and availability make that difficult or impossible, but I do the best I can.
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I also meant to chime in on the Mexican Coke and cinnamon roll as well, J.D. As a fellow Crossfitter, and someone who has followed your journey to lose weight and get fit over the past few years, I cannot believe you are going out of your way to jeopardize all of your hard work in the name of helping this local coffee shop. It will take more than a Crossfit class to burn off what you’re taking in there — you’re not doing yourself, or the shop, any favors! I think you’re using this “save the shop” idea to justify eating something you want, but doesn’t get you closer to your fitness goals.
Sorry to be preachy, I’m just surprised to see you do such a 180. It’s as if you said, “I’m supporting this coffee shop by buying some food on my credit card every day; I’m not paying it off right away, but I’ll get to it. It’s only $8.00…”
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If I like a particular brand or just don’t care, I get products where I generally get the best value, or where it is most convenient… which may well be a local or national chain store.
With certain products, like beer and certain restaurants, I prefer shopping for smaller sized companies (but not necessarily only local shops), just because of the unique flavors that differentiate one shop from the other.
I do tend to shop within a 5 mile radius of my house, because it gives me the sense that the money is supporting others in the local area and because I’m generally prefer not to spend my time running errands.
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We live in a Houston suburb, so we dont have mom and pop grocery stores. Kroger and Walmart gets all my business there, but when I was a member of a gym, it was the local gym. When we eat out, it’s local places 70% of the time (My Pizzeria, Catfish Cafe, and Crystal Donuts are fantastic…Crystal Donuts even bought a back-up generator during Hurricane Ike so we could have hot food even though we had no gas line or electricity). I also enjoy the local family run Bingo hall. I’m a big fan of the character local places add to the community.
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In all these comments, I don’t see too many gearing toward reducing the tax burden on the locally owned business. I run a small shop in Birmingham, and don’t feel like I bring home all that much after expenses. I pay enough tax to feed a family of four! Why don’t I hire anyone? I’d like to, but heck, I can’t afford it, and the coffee shop in question can’t make payroll either.
I hate to turn this into a political thing, but geez…reducing business costs seems like a no-brainer, and a huge cost is taxation.
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Great discussion, everyone. Thanks. As you’ve all noticed, this is a complex issue. What is local? And in what context?
For me, it seems more important to directly support local business owners that I have personal contact with, when possible. Sure, Fred Meyer is a local corporation (now owned by Kroger), and Starbucks started in the Northwest. And sure, many big chains have local franchise owners. But for me personally, I want to support small businesses owned and based in my community.
Yes, I’m well aware that there’s a certain level of hypocrisy involved here, especially when I’m buying a Mexican Coke. Why do you think I put the Mexican Coke in the article? Why do you think I mentioned Amazon? My point is that this is a complex issue, and no matter where you stand on buying local, it’s impossible (or at least very, very difficult) to stand by your principles 100% of the time. (By the way, for those Crossfitters worried about my sugar consumption: Hey, it’s twice a week. Plus, I don’t subscribe to the paleo diet. I know it’s not ideal, but again: I contain multitudes!)
For me, it’s interesting to see where my “buy local” mantra breaks down. Take buying a car, for instance. Kris and I have had terrible experience with American-made cars (read: Fords), with three absolute duds. We won’t buy American cars, yet isn’t buying American cars one of the center-points of the whole “buy local” movement? And what about furniture? My furniture was made in New York state. Why not buy from a local manufacturer? (I have an answer, but it’s mostly rationalizations, and it’s too long to write here.)
I appreciate some of the interesting points of view you folks have shared. You’ve done a great job of illustrating just how complex this issue is.
Again, I’m not condemning anyone who chooses not to prioritize local shopping. How can I? Even though it’s a priority for me, I don’t do as well a I could! I’m just hoping that more folks will consider the local option when doing their day-to-day shopping.
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For a ‘local’ establishment to thrive, they have to add something that the ‘big box stores’ don’t add.
Cutting back hours? Does that make any sense?
He’s teaching his customers not to come by when they are driving in the area, as he will most probably be closed. (Starbucks closes here at 7:30pm, so we get to go to our local coffee house at night which is open later)
I’m assuming that since the coffee house is the center of attention, it has already gone through the process of asking “Who are we? Why do we exist (besides making money) What is our culture?” etc.
What I’d be thinking about:
1) What extra value can he offer his customers that SBUX doesn’t provide? Free Internet, local club meetings, Art on display or for sale, soy milk available, environment friendly, have coffee gifts and cards for sale at reasonable prices, comfy chairs, etc.
2) Ask customers: “What do you want?”
3) Create Tribes! go read Seth Godin’s book.
4) Frequent / loyal customer rewards?
5) Best and friendliest Baristas
6) Strategic partnerships with other locals: Bakers, candy makers, musicians, artists, etc.
Anyways, we love our local coffee ship “Insomnia Coffee Company” and have been going more when we are able. We feel like we’re part of a “Tribe” now.
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Great discussion, and good points on all sides. The ‘buy local’ issue and farmer’s markets made me think of the article at this site, below. Basically – if someone uses their ‘carbon footprint’ as a reason to buy local produce, that’s not always a logical choice. The great majority of energy is used in growing produce rather than shipping it, so depending on what is being grown and its suitability for the local climate, buying local may be either good or bad for the climate. This does not address the other reasons for buying local, but I thought ppl might find it interesting nonetheless: http://www.conservationmagazine.org/2008/08/the-problem-of-what-to-eat/
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I think the term “buying local” is as over used as saying “go green”. Going green can mean about 1000 different things.
Per some of the previous posters, there is value in chains AND local restaurants. Both employ people locally, both can give back to the community, etc.
In general, I tend to go chain for mass produced items because the prices are lower and I want to support the person who gives me the best deal. Before home depot moved into town, the local hardware store was charging ~50% more for the same exact items..until they got competition. Then their price immediately dropped to ~10-20% more. No way am I rewarding that guy. The lumber yard that offers a small markup and free delivery of any item, even if it’s just one sheet of drywall? Heck yeah, they’ll get my business over home depot every single time.
So in summary, I will buy local if given the option, but not if they’re price gouging me because they’re the only game in town.
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I live in Akron Ohio and found it really really odd that my city would be used as part of the example “it’s not siphoned off to the corporate offices in Akron, Ohio”… Akron is in the rust belt, there are tons of people without jobs and any money coming here is a blessing. If you want to shop local, why not try buying stuff made in the USA rather than China? I do agree with the article and shop at our local farmers market for produce. I love local coffee shops too.
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I buy local when they do a good job of providing a good combination of service and quality products for a good value. And most local businesses do a good job. I do not buy local just because they are local. There are many local shops and restaurants that are poorly ran and do not provide good service or value. Of course most of the time local businesses do a fine job. And yes price does matter and I’ve got limits on how much I’d pay for better service or other indirect things like impact on community. I’m not going to pay 50% more to subsidize a small business that can’t compete.
I’m curious: For the people who do Buy Local, do you also Buy American?? Do people consider that the same thing or not?
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Re: the franchise issue: by patronizing a franchise you are supporting local labor but not local business. The corporations skim off the top (not to mention the fee to open the business), and most (if not all) franchises are required to use the same exact products, which means they probably come from a distant source and were leveraged for lower prices. If you want local goods, you’re not going to get them at a franchise. If you don’t, I guess it doesn’t matter to you.
As for the “same product/same source” issue: you don’t have to be a locavore to support local business. Yes, Coca-Cola is still getting your money, but the difference is that someone in your neighborhood is profiting from it as well when you buy from an independent business; when you buy it at a chain, you’re choosing to give your money to TWO far-away corporations instead of one.
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I wanted to buy my life long medications at our local mom and pop and daughter pharmacy, but our insurance would only allow me to buy a one month supply from them at a time. Sadly I had to move to ordering online where I could get a three month supply for the same cost.
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