Purposeful Shopping: Money Spent In The Local Economy Goes A Lot Further.

Posted: March 13th, 2009 | 3 Comments »

Sure, the convenience of those big-box stores is nice because you can get almost everything you need (and a bunch of stuff you don’t, if you are anything like me) in one place, but do you know where your money goes after you give it to the clerk? It heads right back to the big-box headquarters, paying out giant bonuses and perks to the bigwigs while leaving the workers to fight for minimum wage and meager benefits. I fight the urge to buy everything at the big-box stores as much as the next person, but when I think about where my money is going it does make it a little easier. I live in a very small town where most of the stores and restaurants are locally-owned, and I try to make it a point of buying from them instead of driving the 63 miles to the nearest Target. (There is a Walmart here in town, but I don’t shop there for reasons I won’t get into.) Sometimes it takes going to 2 different stores to find what I need, or spending an extra $.50 over the price it would be “down the hill”, but it’s worth it because there is a human behind the storefront. These people work very hard to keep their small businesses alive in town, and as a resident of the town, I want to support them as much as I can.

There are several reasons why supporting local small businesses is so important in our communities:

First of all, when stores are kept in business, it keeps jobs in town. That might not seem too important to you if you live in Los Angeles or NYC, but in small-town America, every job counts.

Second of all, money spent in your town in a local small business usually stays in town. It goes into the local bank, where it is loaned out to local residents, and it circulates within the local economy. Money spent at the big-box stores leaves town immediately and goes to the headquarters of said company, never to return to the local economy again. One 2004 study found that for every $100 spent at a local businesses, $68 remained in the community versus $43 for chain stores. That’s a big difference.

Third of all, you get better customer service from small businesses. Have a problem with something you bought? Walk in and talk to the guy that sold you the product. Try getting someone to truly care at Target or Walmart!

And lastly, it keeps your community alive. Instead of having a busy big-box store down the street and empty store-fronts lining your downtown, keeping local business owners “in business” keeps your town alive and kicking. If we didn’t have a local economy here, this town would not exist. We have 1 big box store and 1 chain restaurant here; the rest are privately owned stores, restaurants, dry cleaners, coffee shops, etc. Starbucks? Yea right – thankfully we have 4 independent coffee shops selling great coffee to locals and tourists alike. Keeping the economy alive also helps with local events, where small businesses are more apt to sponsor and support things happening here. Big-boxes usually just take the money and run.

The reason I wrote this piece for this site is that supporting local businesses is living purposefully. You are giving conscious thought to where you are spending your money and where it goes after it leaves your wallet. Sure, there are times when I need to pick up a few things at Target because I cannot get them here in town, and that’s fine with me. But I do my best to try to support the little guys, cause without them my town would not exist. Besides, I like saying “hi” and knowing the face behind the counter.

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3 Comments on “Purposeful Shopping: Money Spent In The Local Economy Goes A Lot Further.”

1 Enrique S said at 11:30 am on March 13th, 2009:
I always like to help out the “little guy”, and that includes going to the local hardware store vs. Home Depot, or paying a little more from an independent beverage distributor rather than buying beer in the supermarket. I don’t want my only choices to be Target, Walmart, or Lowe’s.
2 SavvyChristine said at 12:53 pm on March 13th, 2009:
As a college student and recent college graduate, I practically lived out of big box stores like Walmart and Target. Now that I’m a bit beyond those years, I can (finally) see the benefits to shopping at the smaller local stores. When it comes to restaurants, they’re way more accommodating of food allergies and that sort of thing. Hurray for people who care!
3 Jesse said at 9:35 am on March 18th, 2009:
We have this store in town called Hardwicks. It’s ostensibly a hardware store, run by the same family for something like 60 years now. You have to gird yourself before going in however, because if you’re not careful you may find yourself on the receiving end of of some choice words from the crotchety old goat behind the counter!
Once I made the plunge though, I haven’t looked back. I love that place! There are things I’ve found in there that there’s no way you’d even find at a big box store…what’s the slogan…”think global, act local.” I think that goes back to the early 90’s at least, but it’s even more relevant now.