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Shopping local offers support to local economies
May 18, 2010
By Jennifer Mohan
Staff Writer
Lately, it seems as if everyone is looking for new ways to become more “green.” What better way to start than by examining the green in your wallet and how you choose to spend it.
At first glance, shopping locally can sometimes appear to be more costly. Many items purchased at smaller, locally-owned businesses can often carry a larger price tag. However, in many ways spending your money at local businesses can be one of the most economically savvy things you can do. Not to mention the added benefits to the environment.
What exactly is “Shopping Local”?
Defining shopping local can be a tricky, if not downright confusing, process. Not every store located in your community can be considered a “local” business. There are the obvious exclusions, such as the “big box” and the chain stores, but what about the franchise owned by the dad of one of the kids on your son’s little league team?
Local business owner Ryman Maxwell said you have to think beyond location when trying to shop local.
“You can go three miles to a Target and technically that is local because it is within the town you live in. But you aren’t supporting a business that is local,” said Maxwell. He added that most of the proceeds from your purchase usually head out of state to where the corporation is headquartered.
Maxwell is the co-owner of the Down to Earth Café in Perkasie. The café is a member of The 3/50 Project, a movement to support local businesses that was the brainchild of author and motivational speaker Cinda Baxter.
The 3/50 Project came about when Baxter issued a challenge on her blog. “Ask consumers to frequent three local brick and mortar businesses they don’t want to see disappear, and to spend a very affordable $50 per month doing it.”
Baxter lists the criteria for a local business, or “independent” as follows:
• The majority of the business’ ownership is private, by employees, the community, or an area cooperative, and is resident to the community in which it’s based
• The business operates out of a physical storefront or similar and is the only business residing at that specific doorway’s address (not a kiosk, home based business, etc.)
• The business relies solely on its unique name and reputation (ie, does not “wear” a nationally recognized brand name)
• The business is registered only in its home state, and has no affiliation with an out of state headquarters or corporate office
• Full decision making function for the business is held by the local owner(s), including the name, signage, brand, appearance, purchasing, etc.
• The business is solely responsible for paying its own rent, marketing, and other expenses
• It has no more than six outlets, all of which are located in a single state, with a central base of operations in that state
• It is not a vendor (ie, does not sell wholesale).
Credit: (http://www.the350project.net )
Some of the benefits of shopping local
Maxwell said he actually loses sleep when he disappoints a customer. He says he takes it so personally because he is actually crafting the item the customer has purchased.
Another local business owner said that she likes being able to drive her business decisions through intimate knowledge of her customer’s needs and desires.
“Local shopping is a personal experience,” said Jill Strickland, owner of Frox, an upscale women’s boutique in Perkasie. “I get to know my customers, and when I am out selecting merchandise for the store I keep them in mind.”
Strickland is one of the members of Perkasie Olde Towne Association, a business association that aims to support its members in the Perkasie area. One effort it is making, coming June 12, is a new event called “Saturday Mornings in Perkasie.” That program, expected to occur on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month from 8 a.m. to noon, will offer events, specials and more at local businesses, including a passport system that encourages residents to visit five local businesses to enter to win a prize with the goal of highlighting more businesses residents may be unaware exist locally.
Customer service is often touted as one of the main benefits of shopping local, the GreenUPGRADER web site listed it as number six as well as number 10 on their list of top ten reasons for shopping local.
The GreenUPGRADER also nicely breaks down how much of you shopping dollars stay within the community when you make local purchases.
For the community at large the benefits are numerous. Mainly, the added revenue from the local taxes collected goes back into the community versus heading out of town. This directly benefits schools and other community programs.
Local businesses also create local jobs, which in turn adds employees to the area who need to eat lunch, buy gas, run errands and therefore spend additional money in the community.
As far as the benefits to the environment, local businesses in general tend to generate less of a carbon footprint. The reason is two-fold. First, local patrons are traveling less to reach their shopping destinations and secondly local businesses often don’t hold the large inventories of their “big-box” counterparts. This means their products can often be shipped utilizing more environmentally friendly vehicles.
Some tools to help think about shopping differently:
It may seem daunting to change your shopping habits all at once, but what about taking small steps?
A new web site http://www.10percentshift.org offers some tools and advice to help you get the process started.
The web site is built on the premise that if every household in a local community shifted a mere 10 percent of there existing purchases to local, independent businesses there would be a great economic stimulus, with “thousands of new jobs created and millions of dollars of new economic activity.”
10percentshift.org offers a simple local calculator tool that can help you track your current spending and then shift ten percent of it to local, independent businesses.
Help us continue our coverage - what do you want to know about shopping local? What do you buy locally that people are often surprised is available? What do you think is lacking in local shopping? Visit our website at www.perkasienewsherald.com to weigh in on our survey and see what others are saying.
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I shop locally for items that are LESS expensive that the same or similar items in the big box stores, not to mention much better service and knowledgeable sales people. Two of my favorites are Davis Feed for lawn and garden supplies and Shelly’s Hardware for paint, screws, hardware, even some electrical items.
So, if I had written the article, I would not have lead off with “Many items purchased at smaller, locally-owned businesses can often carry a larger price tag.”
The more people know about local merchandise that LESS expensive, they more they will shop local (plus save the extra 30 minutes driving to Quakertown or Souderton.)