Local & Loving it
I always read the Sunday D&C, but I usually skip the USA Weekend magazine. This week, however, I was lucky to catch this interesting item about the value of buying locally instead of from national chains.
There are good reasons for buying local. It reduces the need for shipping, which reduces pollution, and it supports the local community. “A study we did found that for every $100 spent in a chain store, $14 went back into the local economy. For a locally owned business, it was $45,” says Stacy Mitchell, author of “Big-Box Swindle” and researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. “Locally owned businesses buy a lot of services from other local businesses. So by buying from one local business, you’re not only supporting that business, you’re supporting other local businesses.”
The articles author then explains how she shopped (and dined) with local businesses to celebrate her husband’s birthday. Okay… I took a look at Institute for Self-Reliance website, and found this re-cap of a recently-published “shop local” study of Grand Rapids MI (similar in size to Rochester):
…if the 600,000 residents of Grand Rapids and surrounding Kent County were to redirect just 10 percent of their total spending from chains to local businesses, it would create nearly $140 million in new economic activity for the region and 1,600 new jobs.
1600 jobs? $140 Million in new economic activity? Hello… COMIDA? Maybe we should be encouraging ourselves to redirect 10% of our personal disposable cash to local businesses, instead of pouring tax dollars into the pockets of mall owners, providing a competitive advantage to national retailers who siphon our money away from the region.
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Local business owners are often passionate about what they do. I’ve gotten very knowlegeble advice about all kinds of items and saved tons of money by listening to store owners about their favorite choices of products as compared to advertisd brands.
The other secret about buying locally is that you can get some excellent items that will never make it to the chain stores….heirloom tomatos for example.