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 own an independent bookstore, so I’m declaring my bias right up front. The frustrating thing about owning a small business is that the playing field is not level. We collect borough and city taxes on sales made in our store. Amazon dodges paying all sales tax. We bought a structurally sound but ugly buillding on the main street of our town (after renting in various spots around town for 20+ years) and spent $40,000 rehabbing it into an attractive building that won the Chamber of Commerce “Most Improved” award. A big box store wanted to move to our town just before the economic crash–and they pressured the Chamber and city council to change the zoning, subsidize their utility hook-ups and re-configure existing streets–or they wouldn’t come. Yes, they hire more people than I do. But the net effect, after they put all the little stores out of business, is not very much. Luckily, a group of citizens and business owners who value not looking like everywhere else U.S.A. was able to fight this store and win, but probably only because of the economic downturn happening at the same time which made every chain wary of expansion. I’d be thrilled to see our town take that same amount of money and use it to help small businesses get started–we could really use a kid’s clothing shop, a barber (plenty of salons, but no barbers for men), and a health food store.
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Jenny, from amazon’s site:
“Items sold by Amazon.com LLC, or its subsidiaries, and shipped to destinations in the states of Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, or Washington are subject to tax.”
There is no dodging. It is illegal to sell items in the state you are physically selling from without charging sales tax…if you created a website and sold books to people outside your state, it would be the same for you. I am sure amazon files a tax report and pays federal taxes and local taxes for where they actually are too.
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Kat, what Jenny is referring to is Amazon’s corporate tax dodging. State and local tax is but a small piece of the pie.
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Steve, what corporate tax dodging does amazon do? Their effective tax rate is low, but it’s all legal.
To quote Jenny she said “Amazon dodges paying all sales tax,” which is what I addressed (that they do collect and therefore pay sales tax where they are legally required to).
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I buy local mostly because it is a much more pleasant experience. I started doing this when my son was young and needed to buy birthday party presents. There was a local toy store just a few blocks from our home. The toys cost about 15% more but it was really convenient, they always smiled and could answer questions about the toys. They made recomendations and provided free gift wrapping.
It was fun to shop there. I set the same limit as I would have if we went to Toys-R-Us or Walmart and the kids got a little less – but really how many toys can a kid use?
Unfortunately that shop closed – due to internet competition, according to the owner. There is another independent toy store that I shop at – but it isn’t quite so convenient.
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JD,
Lisa recently linked to Supportland on Facebook. I looks like a great marketing and incentive program to encourage shopping locally. A win-win for the business owner and the consumer:
http://supportland.com/
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I go out of my way NOT to shop at Wal-Mart, I don’t care how low their prices are, I find Wal-Mart repugnant for a variety of reasons and will not support them.
I do support local businesses, we have a small downtown that I do my best to patronize. We go out to the bars and do most of our dining in our little downtown. I patronize the local pet supply store for my dog food and other dog supplies. But I do so because I am getting better service not just because they are local. I know that my dog food costs more buying it at my local shop than it would at PetSmart, but the local business owner knowns me by name, knows my dog by name, offers personal and extra special service, etc. Plus I can walk to the store.
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@Kat (104): I didn’t say it was illegal. Tax evasion is illegal, but dodging is “only” unethical.
Amazon paid 4.1% corporate tax from 2005-2008 by reporting nearly all of their income overseas. Businessweek wrote an article about it in 2009. Additionally, Amazon stops affiliating with sellers in particular states when those states demand Amazon pay sales tax on those purchases. Not exactly a nice practice.
When I have a choice of supporting a business that gives more of my money back to my government versus one that gives it to shareholders, I’ll choose to give money to the government every time.
Now don’t get me wrong: I want the government to keep their hands off of my income as much as possible. I just don’t have a problem with megacorporations giving the money I spend back to the government.
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JD–
Why on earth does it take you 20 minutes to drive to New Seasons in Sellwood when it takes us no more than 10? Do you go to the one on Division? That one is a 20 minute drive for us.
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I only buy local if that is the experience I want. I am a capitalist. I base my purchasing decision on who can provide me the best for my money. This doesn’t mean I don’t buy local, I just find the best value. Besides, what does buying local really mean? I could buy a Ford Ranger assembled right next door in St. Paul, MN with parts from Mexico OR I could buy a Toyota assembled in Indiana with parts manufactured in Texas with components made right here in the small factory I work in. Which one is more local??? FYI: My company is headquartered in California and all of our assembly is done in the Philippines….
I spend my days at work toiling to make sure my Company produces the best product at the best price for our customers. Why wouldn’t I hold my vendors to the same standard?
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Tammy is short sighted. Like many people, she sees an immediate savings and no disadvantage to herself.
Walmart does have bakers that they pay a minimum wage to and sell the products for cheap. This drives the local bakers out of business. The same for dry cleaners, butchers, and most local stores. These people making a decent wage are replaced in the town with people making a Walmart wage.
The downtown district that used to house these local business becomes empty, driving the remaining businesses to close even if they don’t compete with Walmart, because there is no more walk by traffic.
With no more competition, Walmart raises its prices back up again.
Then one day Tammy wonders why so many people can’t afford her reasonably priced tutoring services. Or why she doesn’t have alot of money to spend.
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This is why the free market is so great. In a free market, we can choose whom we purchase our goods and services from.
I generally don’t like the big box stores, because they seem to get special treatment (tax credit, or other incentive that local businesses don’t get) – this is not a free market principal and has a negative impact on the local businesses (higher tax rate, for example).
It is important to note that buying from a franchise that is locally owned is still buying local. The franchise company does get money from it, but not as much as if it were a corporate owned store.
I think it is important for the local businesses to reach out to the community in non-invasive ways to let them know that they are there. They should be willing to compete on more than just the fact that they are a local business. If a business is not willing to be competitive it can’t survive.
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http://www.aarp.org/food/eating-out/info-08-2010/livin_la_vida_local.html
this article says it’s 45% vs 14%, so basically 3x.
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Hey, Amy Jo: I always figure 12 minutes to New Seasons, and I wasn’t counting that. I was thinking of either Thriftway (Canby) or Wizer’s (Lake Oswego), both of which are 20 minutes away. New Seasons is great, but it’s expensive. Safeway is not great, but it’s cheap and close.
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@ Aolis (110): Bingo! Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
Furthermore, Walmart’s treatment of their suppliers is absolutely abhorrent.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/interviews/gereffi.html
Every time Walmart forces another manufacturer to move their facilities to China, it creates a destructive ripple effect that is felt through out that manufacturer’s supply chain. From the parts that go into the product itself to all the components required to package and ship the product — all the companies involved feel the effects.
Sure, the few dollars saved at Walmart may seem pretty nice right now, but in the end it’s simply a short-term gain / long-term loss for everyone (except for those that are deemed too big to fail).
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J.D. you are living the ‘Third stage of Life’!
One of the USPs of this site is/was value for money, in that context if buying local makes sense it’s great. Commentators here tend to narrow their definition of local to neighbourhood – maybe the title of the article should be changed to ‘Why I shop in my neighbourhood’.
Big national box stores have their advantages – 1.They drive efficiency in supply chain, manufacturing, costs and on 2.Americans like their choice (25 varieties of potato chips!), 3.Trip to a box store might be an entertainment factor for some (maybe a lot of readers on this site are financially well to do so do not realise this), 4.Create jobs, 5.Pay legit taxes, etc
Do not get me wrong, I shop at farmer’s markets when I can. But for now what drives my buying decision is value for money and an experience to enjoy.
Maybe this buy local movement can bring back manufacturing jobs to the US!
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Being from Ann Arbor, MI I can tell you that if you shop with Border’s over Amazon, you are shopping to a (more) local community. The last couple of years, Amazon has done everything it can to run Border’s out of business. The corporate headquarters that is right downtown in Ann Arbor used to employ over 1,000 people, and now they are down to less than 300. Even though Border’s is probably a chain store to people outside of MI, to me it is my favorite local business.
Maybe that’s the problem with trying to buy local now. Everything is a little bit local and a lot “out of town”. Besides avoiding the biggest places, it gets harder to find a place that is actually supporting your community directly.
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loves me my Trader Joe’s…
Yeah they’re not local. But they seem to be VERY good at stocking local wine. The CA stores stock CA wine; the OR stores have OR wine. Pretty cool.
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@Jim, in our neighborhood, buying local usually means buying American–in fact, most of the stores are stocked with goods made right in our metro area. And the restaurants get a lot of their food from local farmers/producers. In fact, the product source is often why local stores are more expensive than national chains; while local stores stock more domestic goods, which are more expensive at wholesale, national chains focus almost exclusively on products produced dirt-cheap overseas.
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We make a point of buying local to help keep our transitional neighborhood transitioning in the right direction. We also switched to a small statewide bank, for a variety of reasons. I think pretty much any family that is middle-class or above can afford to buy local at least some of the time–it’s just a matter of being willing to scale back on lifestyle. E.g., when we ate meat every day, bought 2 or 3 Christmas gifts for every family member, and ate out twice a week, we could only afford to shop at national chains. We’re now almost-vegetarian, buy one Christmas gift per person, and eat out once a week or less, and suddenly we can afford to shop local and regional stores. We’re buying better-quality food and products, and we’re healthier and happier because we’re finding happiness through together-time instead of Stuff.
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I support my local community too. Your post has inspired me to write about my local area and how I support them at: http://www.moneyreasons.com/2010/08/buy-local-how-i-support-my-community/
I’d also like to thank you for pointing me to the article about Monsanto! If that’s not enough to make people buy local, I don’t know what is.
The 80% local vs big chain claim is interesting, I’ll have to see if I can find the source anywhere on the internet.
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The “I buy local” badge is such silly hype.
The cashier at the local pharmacy is not being paid any more than the cashier at walmart. The cashier at walmart probably has health insurance.
The teenager who butts out her cigarette and starts washing her hands when I drive up to the local pizza place isn’t all that promising either.
Whoever gives the best service and price wins. I’m willing to pay more for service. I’m not willing to pay $5 a pound for tomato’s because peer pressure tells me I should. Be sure to ask the guy in the pick up truck where get got the watermelons or sweet corn. He wouldn’t be the first one to toss some mud on a barrel of pumpkins and tout them as local.
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The 80% of chain money leaving the community doesn’t make sense. Isn’t a substantial part of the cost of running most of a business in the form of salaries (and that money stays local)? Adding in things that can’t be outsourced (like cleaning, trash disposal, landscaping) and it’s way more than 20% of revenues. Maybe 80% of the profit leaves…but that’s another story.
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While it is very unfortunate for the 700 Borders employees that they lost their jobs, does it count as buying local to order from amazon if you live in Seattle, where amazon’s corporate offices can hold seven THOUSAND workers?
If people are willing to receive “Walmart wages” then that’s what is going to be offered.
JD’s local coffee shop needs to figure out WHY it is not getting business. It’s not Starbuck’s fault, if anything the popularity of coffee that Starbucks generated allowed this coffee shop to open at all…it’s open less than 3 years, so Starbucks existed first! Maybe their coffee’s not as good, service not as fast, not a good location, not as good prices. If it’s not that customers are going to starbucks, dunkin donuts, or whatever, then there is no demand for coffeeshops in the area, and they should have done more research in the area’s profitability before opening, and now need to figure out a new strategy (serving things other than cinnamon rolls for those who are crosfitting, maybe?).
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Ahem!
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I determine which product or service offers the highest quality at the lowest price and shop accordingly. Usually that results in a purchase at a chain or web store. I support me and my family as no one else will. I understand the actions I take and accept the consequences of those decisions. I hold no judgement on how others are willing to live their lives. I adapt to changes that result from my decisions and actions.
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I’d also like to point out that national chains like Wal-Mart are in MANY ways not cheaper than local stores. Rather, they have done a fantastic job of creating the perception that they are cheaper. Sure, the great deals that are plastered all over the place are indeed great deals, but it is well documented that big-box chains undercut prices primarily on staple products such as milk in order to win ALL of your shopping– since you are there you will not mind overpaying on other things where you don’t realize it.
“Big Box Swindle” by Stacy Mitchell is pretty darn doom-and-gloom, and I dont buy all of it, but there’s a lot of research in the book to support the assertion that Wal-Mart isn’t really the best deal. Good read overall
That said, there is something to be said for the value of convenience shopping that these stores provide (although as an architect I shudder at their lack of character and how they obliterate landscapes and farmland).
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I live in a rural area 45 miles away from the closest big box store. I am lucky enough to be able to walk everywhere and always shop locally. My daughter shops at the big box store because diapers are half the price. She is not alone in doing that and the local economic development agency survey about shopping locally said price was a major factor for those who were willing to drive to shop out of town. I live on a very low income but don’t like to drive so I am willing to pay a little more to my local farmers market, grocery, hardware and 2nd hand clothing shop.
One of our local family owned national chain hardware stores celebrated their 80th birthday today. They gave me a free root beer float and assembled my little wheeled cart for free.
We like to joke that if they don’t have it you don’t need it. They have everything in there and always know right where it is.
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We try to go to as many local restaurants as we can, mostly because my husband has a soft spot for finding that hidden gem out there.
BUT…
I have to say that many of these places just don’t give a crap. For me, part of going out to eat is the dining room itself. I hate to say it, but 70% of the time the local joints have broken chairs, wobbly tables held straight with old pieces of wood, and are just grimy in general. One place we went to was like this (we were also jammed up against a wall between the bathroom doors) and they gave us our average burgers and salads on the cheapest styrofoam plates with forks that broke on the second bite. The price? More than we would have paid at Chili’s or the like. And unfortunately, this situation happens more than I wish it would.
Yes, every once in a while we find a nice (or even great) place that we would want to eat at again. But to be honest, I would say it’s only maybe 1 out of every 7 tries. And those other 6 times are a disappointing and expensive experience.
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There has to be room for local and multinational – different needs and different geographies call for different usage levels.
I do think you wandered a bit into the political here, though, particularly with the Monsanto link. Perhaps this is worth a read, for starters:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/opinion/20budiansky.html
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I don’t care who is selling as long as they are selling what I wish to buy at the best price. Why should I pay extra for a small and/or local business? If a local shop is more expensive, then it’s because it’s less effective. The more I pay the less I can give other businesses, and the worse the economy will be.
Sometimes a local shop is nicer. It can be more cosy or you might like the owner. That might be worth paying for, but paying more simply because it’s a small and/or local business, that’s a waste of money.
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We just went for a walk on the Main Street in our town. Bought a few books at the used book store, had an awesome dinner at the Mediterranean restaurant where we know the owners by name, and picked up some things we needed at the (used to be until Walgreens bought them) local drugstore chain. Thanks for the reminder that sometimes the best things are right in your neighborhood.
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I believe Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the world, which often makes them a ready scapegoat. The reality of the matter is that your skill set dictates wages not the Wal-Mart “Gods”. While I have not done any extensive research, I’m sure Wal-Mart’s executives, lawyers, and community liaisons are paid a living wage. People sacrifice of themselves to develop marketable skill sets, often incurring crushing loan debt, spending many hours away from their family and friends, foregoing everyday luxuries like fine dining, and an automobile, pushing back dreams of a family. They should be rewarded accordingly. Companies just should not altruistically pay people who have not made such sacrifices or given any regard for their career paths because it’s the right thing to do. The reality is multi-national companies are being crushed under the weight of unions, assuming they have them, healthcare, pensions. A well-known candy company, Brach’s, closed and moved their operations to Mexico-they were paying factory candy wrappers almost $19.00/hr + benefits, some of them had worked there since 1969, some of them never graduated from high school. Also, I visited St. Louis, MO recently – and healthcare costs also contributed to Budweiser being sold to a foreign company. My point is not to make disparaging remarks about the poor, I’m not an elitist-or American businesses. The point that I am making is that a lot of companies cannot continue to thrive under such business models -to make Wal-Mart a scapegoat for such phenomena is folly.
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Wow, there’s a lot of hate for Amazon!
I, for one, will buy 1,000 books from Amazon before I step foot in a local bookshop (unless I’m just there to browse and kill time; I never by from local bookstores). And I think I have a pretty good reason, namely that they have a great selection, cheper prices, and I encounter lower transaction costs by buying form them.
The point has been made that you can order any book from a local book store, but why would I drive to the store twice to pay full retail and sales tax when I can buy it off of amazon in one click, without driving anywhere, without paying taxes, without paying shipping, and (usually) at a considerably lower price than retail?
Now, I will buy local for certain items or experiences: regional restaraunts, coffee shops, breweries, etc. But the thing about all of these is that the extra cost I pay (if any) actually gets me something I can’t buy at a chain store, like local flavor, a unique roast of coffee or a brew I’ve never had. The same cannot be said about bookstores: a book is a book, and Amazon has them all. The extra money you pay at your local bookstore doesn’t enhance your reading experience, it simply promotes an inefficieny in the market. If you like the warm fuzy feeling of buying from a local bookstore, then have at it! You’ll certainly pay the price for that experience. But we all have to come to terms with the fact that the times, they are a’changing. Business models come and go, and the progress ultimately benifits the consumers and society as a whole.
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Even though you may sometimes be able to find a better price on something by going to the dreaded Walmart, its important to support your local businesses.
They are the backbone of our country.
Plus , it builds up ethical capital, or whatever the new catch phrase is for that …
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Fascinating conversation. I am a pragmatic hedonist about buying local – I shop local if it feels good. I shop at the farmer’s market even though it’s expensive and the prices are fixed. The food tastes better. I’d rather buy new shoes than get mine fixed at the local cobbler’s – the guy is a jerk at best and possibly a racist (given the differential treatment my white husband and my non-white self get) and I won’t go to the local “ethnic grocery” because the food is often spoiled or past its sell-by date. I don’t have a lot of options for clothes in my college town so I shop online. And so it goes.
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I like your post, however please consider that some shops with “National Chain” names on their stores are actually franchises that are owned and operated locally. Your local chamber of commerce can let you know who is and who isn’t.
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I am a younger person, and I have always been kind of an anit-Walmart person. I tell them I would rather pay more money for something and buy it elsewhere than a support that kind of company. People give me a hard time about it… but eventually people will learn.
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I so wish we had Wal-Mart in Europe. Nothing over here compares to their prices. I don’t think you Americans appreciate the options you have.
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If your coffee house is struggling, it needs to adapt and take a serious look at its marketing strategies in order to get more customers in the door. Get some live music/karaoke nights/show local art/have a craft show in the parking lot/host charity events, etc. Things that will drive customers to them and that won’t cost them a lot. Find out why customers aren’t coming and fix it. Find out what makes the community tick and capitalize on it. Or make excuses and close forever. It’s their call.
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What a great post – provoking lots of good points around the issue of ‘buy local’. I love that your family member (can’t remeber which one) said – Mansanto is evil and you shouldn’t shop at Walmart. And it’s so true that the current trendiest way to pat oneself on the back for doing the ‘right’ thing is to not shop at Walmart (although we dont’ shop there either – except on rare – like once every couple years – oaccasions, I need some sewing supplies late on a Sunday and they’re the only ones open). It is about asking the question – how loyal am I to my own neighborhood. Personally, we try to make local shops a priority, but I do expect them to try to price match and have reasonable hours. And in most cases – the honest good local shop tries. All I ask is that they come within 20% of the big chains. I figure the chains have the ability to leverage for lower prices so I can only ask so much. However, I found that on average, when I ask, most places meet or beat a chain stores prices. For example, the local motorcycle shop will order in clothes for me cheaper than any internet price, same for the 4 wheel drive shop. As for the local granite installer – he was willing to match Lowe’s installation price on Quarts countertops, and I’ll be able to go back to the
*same guy* if I have any problems down the road. On the flip side we we have family that owns a tire shop, it’s a Big O, but it is family owned and operated by local people with mortgages and school loans.
As for your local coffee shop
1) If you can’t make a coffe shop profitable in Portland – you’re making bad coffee or have some thing seriously wrong with your business model. JD find youself a better place now, cause this one is tanking fast.
2) The whole – we can’t afford to stay open later – is bull…. Owning and running your own business is hard work, and long hours. I can’t tell you how many local coffe shops I’ve tried to patronize but ‘we’re not open on Sunday or Monday’. Come on – you’re a COFFEE SHOP. If I can’t get a cup of coffe for my Monday commute – you can bet I’m not coming back Tuesday or any other day of the week. Since I figured out on Monday that the Starbucks is also on my way to work, makes a predictably acceptable cup of coffee, and is open on my way to work and on the way home.
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Kate’s point (#6) is a good one – if you only buy local, then you can’t support developing countries. I find that “local + fairtrade” is a good compromise for this. For things that can be bought/grown locally (and in the “grown locally” category, I define “local” as “in the UK”) then I try to. However, there are lots of things I don’t want to live without that aren’t possible to buy as “grown locally” e.g. bananas or chocolate. For these, I will pay the mark-up to buy Fairtrade. Then I know that whoever worked to grow/make those goods was paid a fair living wage for them, and that the income will help *their* community to do things like send their kids to school and buy life-saving medicines and vaccinations.
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Great to see your strive to support the locals. I agree totally with supporting the local business men and women, business strives through friendships and close communities. I live in Lawrenceville, GA and its much like your small town full of shops, with out the support of the locals the downtown would be dead. We’ve started the Lawrenceville Trolley Tours to stimulate our downtown area, that’s actually how we found our home. We rode a trolley that took us around town, told us history , introduced us to shops on the square gave us a goody back with discounts from the sponsors and visited local homes for sale. We found our home on the tour and now sponsored the tour this year.
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What a great discussion! I definitely try to buy locally when I can, and I also try to buy American-made when it’s an option. But I’ll admit I’m not a purist about it, I just try to pay more attention to my shopping choices, especially since I’m spending less money these days. I bear no ill-will to workers in other countries, but giving my business to those in my region/country seems likely to benefit me more than improving the economy in China, and I’ve never claimed to be selflessly altruistic. Perhaps “commerce begins at home” like charity? I avoid Walmart at least partly because I don’t even like Walmart, so it’s easy for me to do the “right thing” in that regard. I do notice that when I buy used books from Amazon, I am generally buying them from small independents who sell through Amazon. But I try not to buy a lot of books, since swapping and the library are the most cost-effective options. And our trusty fifteen-year-old Saturn makes us feel that only buying American cars is a perfectly sound choice.
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This topic is dear to me, so I’ll take the time to write this long comment.
A few weeks ago, the Air Conditioning in my house stopped working. It’s one of the standard central AC units – the ones they called “Forced-Air” with a blower and a heating unit in the basement and a compressor outside the house.
I checked everything and things looked good, so I opened the panel in the basement and realized that the LED on the circuit board within was OFF meaning that the board did not have power meaning (in turn) that the fuse on it was shot. So I went out to the Auto Parts store, got five (experience!) new fuses and replaced one.
The blower started but the fuse blew right out when the compressor kicked on. A friend helped me debug and we soon realized that every time the compressor kicked in, the fuse would blow.
We opened the compressor unit and a burnt smell came out right away from this little black part on the side. I noted the connections and unscrewed it – then headed to Google.
Google told me that the part was called a “Contactor” and it’s basically a high-current switch aka relay and my relay was shot, so I needed a replacement.
Now here’s what’s interesting – no one in the area would sell me a Contactor retail. Every company I called wanted to come out and offer me their services to fix it. Finally, a wholesaler took pity on me and gave me the address of a few local stores who would sell this part to walk-in customers.
The local store got me the part I needed and the AC is back to normal. Finally, all is well.
But I figured out that the little hardware store is a Mom n Pop outfit that thrives on excellent customer service. No matter how inexperience you are or how stupid your question, they treated me like a king and helped me solve my problem. While it’s a 20 min drive for me, I’ve continued to take my business to them versus Home Depot.
But in some cases, the big chains are really better.
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I prefer small, independent bookstores to national chains. (Except that I use Amazon a lot, thus proving my hypocrisy.)
If you are going to use Amazon, why not switch to Better World Books? Prices are usually cheaper than Amazon and it’s free shipping in the U.S. no matter how little you spend. Plus, a small portion of the proceeds go toward funding literacy projects around the world.
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We are members of both a farm and a beef CSA. We live in a cold climate, though, so we do buy our vegetables at the supermarket in the cold months.
When we go out to eat, we generally like to try new restaraunts out that are not parts of big chains. But on some occasions we do patronize some of the chain places. I stay stubbonly local when it comes to sandwich shops and Chinese restaraunts. Here in New England there are a lot of great independent sandwich shops that put the offerings from Subway and Quiznos to shame. I’ve also never found a good chain Chinese place, either.
For hardware and automotive supplies, I have tried to find a local place but end up going to one of the national chains, simply because the hours don’t line up when I’m working on something. The problem I’ve found is that their selection can be very limiting. One local auto parts store closes at 5pm on weekdays, and is open 8-12 on Saturdays, no Sundays. Where my parents live, though, there is an excellent hardware store that keeps decent hours, has knowledgeable staff and is well-stocked. If I lived there, I would never step foot in a Home Depot or Lowe’s.
A lot of “buying local” is charged with a lot of nostalgia, too. I recall growing up that not all local merchants were created equal. Limited selection, poor service, dirty stores and cheaply made goods were not uncommon. Also, limited hours were fairly common, too, although blue laws may have had a lot to do with that, too. The Better Business Bureau was developed for a reason — because there were enough of these local merchants who were not exactly honest.
This is a complex issue, though, as already mentioned. I would dearly love to only deal with responsible, service-oriented, locally-owned businesses, but today’s reality just doesn’t have that as an option. I do what I can, when I can.
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There is a difference between buying produces made locally (versus nationally or internationally) and supporting a business whether a national chain or independent store.
In reality no matter where you shop in town you support a local business. Big box chains can’t outsource the workers in the store which are local and pump money back into their towns. Additionally, many franchisees are local owners. My father franchised an Arctic Circle restaurant but pumped many many many dollars into the local community. He did this mostly via support youth programs but also used local suppliers. So just because a store is a national chain doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be supporting the local economy.
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JD – if you really want to support the coffee shop, why not hold some personal finance fire-side chats there? Or bring in your buddy Chris G. It will be a win-win for both parties and surely better than you dropping $8 in the register. Use some of that social capital you’re talking about.
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In reference to post #51.
tg hits the nail on the head. I own a small mom and pops frame shop and art gallery and yes, we do beat the big box stores consistently on price, quality and service. We deal with “real” artists who are local regular joes and janes.
I know I’m preaching to the choir here but locally owned business are the backbone of any community. We support schools, charities and hosts of other good stuff, and we genuinely care about our customers.
Excellent and timely topic, thanks.
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