Picked this up from a small grocery store in downtown Cape Girardeau:
1) Preserve local/regional identity
2) Far better benefit to cost ration as compared to chains (unfortunately, the flyer doesn't say what the actual ratio is).
3) More equitable income distribution (again no statistics but Starbucks is offered as an example. Which would you rather patronize, Starbucks or Melange?)
4) Better community reinvestment (45% vs. 13%) (This is an oft quoted figure that comes from a study done several years ago by a retailers association in Texas).
5) Better goods and services (assuming local is better, local businesses are more likely to buy local).
6) Adds richness to life (no-one ever comes back from a trip bragging about the great little McDonald's or Applelby's they ran across).
7) It's the right thing to do. (This one is pretty touchy feely. Who's to say what is right?).
It's more than a little ironic that you got this advice while grocery shopping in another state, you know?
ReplyDeleteA glaring omission here is that, unlike, say, the Walton Family, most local business owners care about and and stake in their community.
ReplyDeleteMeant, "have a stake" in their community. Maybe I was thinking about how Walmart drove a stake into mine.
ReplyDeleteThey probably care about their family and their community! (It's just nowhere near Carbondale...)
ReplyDeleteThe Waltons certainly support their local university. It's just not our local university.
ReplyDelete