We are fortunate to have both a great local small-chain (3 stores) sushi restaurant and a great single-location teriyaki place just minutes from our house. These are our favorite foods, and these two stores get the lion’s share of our eating-out budget.

We often get take-out from each place, and I noticed how much waste that creates (even though the food is packed in recyclable containers). On a whim, we picked up a big bento box from a local Asian foods market, and approached each store about possibly packing our food into this reusable container for us. Both establishments very cheerfully agreed to do so, so now we get our delicious food artfully arranged in a stylin’ container we can throw in the dishwasher.

I can’t imgine very many chain restaurants being able to agree to unusual customer requests like that. The folks at these local chains know us and are willing and able to go out of their way to give us great service as well as delicious food. It’s wonderful!

In general, my practice is to support local as much as possible. However, by no means buy only local as not all items I like are grown in the area.

I refuse to buy video games from a local place that always reaked (people told me it smelled like pot but I wouldn’t know) and was run by some pretty awful people. No thanks, I’ll go to Gamestop or order from Amazon.

The notion that spending money at a chain hurts your local economy is ludicrous. Yes part of the dollar that I spend at Walmart goes to its shareholders. Well, who are those shareholders? I bet a lot of readers who eschew WM could own stock in them inside one of their mutual funds and not even know it.

I buy my tires from a local guy because he gives a comparable price but his service is the best ever. He will literally get you in and out in mere minutes.

If local wants my money, they need to earn it and living next door to me is not enough.

I’m a penny-wise, pound foolish kinda gal– I shop whereever’s cheapest most times. And a lot of times, that’s NOT the big box, at best it’s a semi-local discount chain.

As far as groceries, I don’t shop at Walmart and I don’t pay through the nose. I’ve found that a local ethnic market is almost always cheaper than walmart for fresh stuff. I shop at Walmart once a year when I’m on vacation.

As for service– again, here in the Northeast, Walmart tends to be particularly problematic. If I end up going to walmart to buy something in particular that I can only get there (for a while, they were the only local distributors for a certain kind of storage bins), I have to take a friend with me to spot me. Otherwise, though I pick up lots of ‘good buys’ in the aisles, as I wait in the long long line, I put back everything I’ve picked up, piece by piece, until I’ve put back EVERYTHING and the trip is wasted.

I expect good consistent service from every large chain I frequent; the prices have to be rock-bottom before I’ll put up with bad service.

Now, when I go to a small local store, though, I’m more forgiving– and I usually get better deals, too. The local hardware store will sell me the part I need to fix my toilet, while the big box hardware places will only sell me a complete rebuild kit, and probably the wrong one.

People who feel that one or the other store must ALWAYS be cheapest for everything are easy to gyp– because they don’t shop around.

An example of how it is not practical:

I needed a small pet carrier. The local pet shop which has friendly, competent staff wanted $37, while the Target wanted $15. While sometimes I’m willing to pay a little more for stuff at a local business, I am not willing (or able) to pay twice or more.

Sometimes I will buy produce at a local farm because it just tastes so good, and because the produce at Walmart is HORRIBLE. But again, it gets really expensive. If I do shop at Kroger or Walmart, I will try to look for locally produced products — but those are few and far between.

Also, not all local businesses are that great. I’m not going to support local businesses that have a poor product or really bad service. At least with a national chain, I basically know what to expect and there is some general level of consistency.

When it comes right down to it, local businesses just can’t compete with national chain prices that the average Jane is looking for (I’m mostly thinking of groceries/household items here).

Frugality has been an “in” thing for the last several years, partly out of necessity, partly from prudence (at least I hope so), and a large number of other factors. Still, frugality is “hip” and people or companies who do spend on the things they care about (and can afford) are seen as tacky or misusing their funds. I wish people would stop judging what others should spend their money on. Positive advice is fine but criticism and negativity for all spending is not a healthy attitude either

Perhaps you can do a book reading at the coffee shop instead? Putting together a book club, craft event, calling a friend and treating them to coffee would all result in more business and possibly more personal satisfaction.

We definitely like to shop the farmer’s market. That’s about quality and freshness as much as supporting local businesses.

If I can buy something local and get equal value, I’m willing to spend a little more money or go a little more out of my way – especially since it usually comes with better service.

But there are also some things that a big chain can do for you that local businesses just cannot. Return policies at chains are typically much better, for example.

I live in Akron, Ohio, and I just had a good laugh over that one. Other than Goodyear Tire and Rubber, I can’t think of one corporate office in town. It’s funny that you should use my town as an example.

The commenter who said that even people at the corporate office in Akron, Ohio, need jobs is right on the money. I’ve been unemployed for over a year, and the corporate workers here have been getting downsized for years. Young people have fled in droves to seek greener pastures.

Will the last person to leave Akron please turn out the lights?

Local Pharmacies might not be the cheapest price but they make you feel welcome and that your not just another number.

I long for the days where people can actually get together again to discuss things face to face. So much of JD’s tone is missed in just reading the article (and I think he’s a pretty good writer, certainly better than me). I could read this article many different ways depending on the tone I imagine the writer having. Then again, maybe I’m just getting old.

Only about half of Wal-mart’s employees are covered by Wal-Mart’s health insurance. 25% of their employees are part time and not even eligible for insurance until they have 2 years experience. Many thousands of Wal-Mart employees receive public Medicare at the cost of taxpayers.

On average small businesses aren’t really better at providing health insurance but health insurance is not really a strong point for Wal-Mart.

If you are someone like J.D. or some of the other posters on this site that make good money then you can afford to buy local or buy whatever you want because some extra dollars here and there is not going to sink you.

But if you are like a lot of people in this country where your job and income has disappeared over the last few years then buying local is not an option.

I take my car to the local mechanic. But that’s because unless the problem is severe he will always be cheaper than the dealer.

My local independent grocery store is a good 15-20% more expensive than going to a chain supermarket that’s 10 minutes away.

I could go to my local State Farm Insurance rep. that’s two blocks away and support him, or I could drive 20 minutes across town once a year and save 30% from an insurance broker that sells multiple companies.

I could go to a local independent pharmacy where the 70 year old pharmacist and his 70 year old technician will take an hour to fill a prescription; if they even have the drug in stock.

Or I could go five minutes away to a corner where a CVS and a Walgreens are across the street from each other and I’ve never waited more than 15 minutes in my life.

While shopping local might be better and may help you sleep at night as being a good citizen, it always will lead you to spend more and if you are not part of the upper-middle class or wealthy it is not a reality for a majority of people.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.