posted on June 11, 2010 13:53
Editors Note: Well, this is a first. As followers of this blog know, from time to time we have guest bloggers. This week, we were scheduled to have Niles Main Street Manager Lisa Croteau featured as a guest blogger. Lisa contacted us and said she could write one, but had a hard time beating the speech her daughter had written for a college compeition this past spring. The speech was about why supporting Main Street is important. So, for the first time ever, we feature the writing of a college student on our blog. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
By Heather Croteau
Senior
Rochester Institute of Technology,
Rochester, NY
I know we all love the elderly greeters at Wal-mart, but imagine something with me for a second. Imagine walking into a store, the shop owner smiles and greets you “How was the wedding, did the shoes work out for you?” or “Did you enjoy the book? The ending was my favorite part." He remembers you from the last time you were in and cares about whether or not you enjoyed your purchase. Exceptional customer service, personal interaction, a store that caters to your needs, all things that you aren’t going to find the next time you walk into Wal-Mart.
Today I’m going to talk to you about the many benefits of shopping locally and supporting small businesses. All my life I’ve grown up around small business and the struggle it takes to keep one going. My mom is what they call a ‘certified main street manager’ in the town that I grew up in, Niles, Michigan. That means she is in charge of getting businesses to settle in my town and help promote them so that they can thrive and stay in business. My grandparents also own a small doll shop in my town, so all my life I’ve grown up around small business and the struggle it takes to keep one going. Niles is just one of the many small towns in Michigan and it, as well as the many other small towns in Michigan and across America, relies on the support of the local community in order to stay alive. This may not seem like anything major, but with large chains, malls, and big box stores popping up everywhere you look, this task is not an easy one. I’m going to address the economic benefits of shopping locally, the personal benefits of shopping local, and the reasons people might possibly have for choosing not to shop locally. Shopping local is something that is starting catch on. With the economy the way it is people are starting to see why it makes sense and benefits them to shop locally. Shopping local means your money stays local. Yes, the money you’ve worked hard to earn, stays in your community and helps make it better for YOU, it doesn’t leave and end up paying for things like shipping products to you across the country, or paying for cooperate accountants and marketing campaigns.
One of the major negatives about shopping in chain stores is that almost none of the money stays in your community. According to Matt Embrey, a writer for greenUpgrader.com, 57% of the money you send at a non-locally owned business leaves your community and is spread elsewhere but with locally owned businesses, only 23% of the money leaves. When local businesses keep the money they make in the community, it helps make the whole community better. It helps create more jobs at local businesses, grows the local tax base, and promotes community development. Locally businesses are also more likely to give back and donate to local non-profit groups and charities, which further promote the growth of the local community.
It’s always great to know that there are long-term benefits to actions that you are taking, but what about the immediate perks? Knowing that somewhere along the line the fact that you shopped locally will help out your community isn’t exactly enough to convince someone that it is the way to go. There are so many amazing reasons why a person should shop local, or at least experience it, the reason in my introduction being just a few of them. The customer service and attentiveness of shop owners or employees in local stores easily soars over any help you will receive from a large chain store. These people want you to know that their store is there to serve you in order to keep you coming back. Also the products you will find are unlike what you will find the next time you are at the mall. Do you really want to be wearing the same sweater that hundreds of other people are wearing across America, or would it be nice to feel like something was made just for you and that no one else has it. Or how about giving a gift that is absolutely perfect for a friend that you know they never would have found on their own because you found it in a unique little shop in your area. Even biting into a tomato or apple and tasting the freshness you get from local produce picked just a day ago rather than something picked weeks ago, stored, and then shipped to you later is something, all such simple experiences that you won’t get from anywhere but a local establishment. Shopping local is an experience, not a chore; you do it because you enjoy it, not just because you need something from the store. It’s something you can look forward to, take your time, and enjoy.
These are all some of my favorite reason for shopping in and supporting small businesses, but I don’t live in a fairy tale, I know that there are probably several reasons that you can think of that make you not want to step out of your Wal-Mart safety bubble and venture into the world of small business. Some of the most common being ‘it’s so easy to get everything in one place’ or ‘I don’t have time to shop around’ and even ‘everything is so much cheaper at chain stores, why would I want to pay more’ all of which are valid reasons for why people choose to shop large rather than local and reasons that make large chain stores so successful. There’s no denying the fact that stores like Wal-mart and target do indeed make the world go round and allow us to live the easy American lifestyle we are all so used to. I think that Michael Shuman, author of the book ‘Going Local’ said it best. He said, “Going local doesn’t mean walling off the outside world. It means nurturing locally owned businesses.” Shopping local is about the experience not just about necessity. It’s not something that I’d expect a person to do every day or for every one of their needs. All I’m saying is that next time you are looking for that perfect gift, or looking for the best ingredients for the perfect meal, step outside the box, you’ll find the extra time and money is worth it. Support the fact that a business has made it its goal to hunt down unique and beautiful gifts so that you don’t have to. Or that a local farmer has grown the perfect head of lettuce or tomato so that you can experience what truly fresh produce tastes like. And when it comes to produce it is often cheaper to buy local. According to localharvest.org, only 18 cents of every dollar goes to the grower and the rest goes to middlemen. If you cut out the middlemen then you also cut down the cost.
In closing, here is my challenge to you, get up one Saturday and head down to the public market, enjoy the morning bustle of people and amazing variety of produce. If fresh fruits aren’t your thing, head on over to your nearest true downtown-big or small- and check out the local, independently owned shops. Whatever your reason, be it for your community or for yourself, give local businesses a chance. Not only are you guaranteed to find something you are going to love, you are also guaranteed to have a great time. Remember to enjoy the experience and that the money you spend when you shop local is going to make a difference.