With all of the talk going around about shopping local, we thought we would do some web Searching. If we wrote our own article, in our own words, about the importance of local shops, it would seem self serving, wouldn’t it? So, we scoured the web for information. Actually, it was no work at all as everything came up on the first pages from pretty reputable sources. Let’s get started.
USA Today says: Shopping at small businesses keeps money in your community to help finance schools and other institutions. You support schools, police and fire departments. When you shop small, the bulk of the money you spend and most of your taxes stay local — helping schools, paving streets, keeping you safe. According to the research firm Civic Economics, for every $100 you spend In a local small business, $68 stays in your community.
You'll raise your property values. Lively, vibrant neighborhood shopping streets are considered an advantage when selling a home. They make your property more valuable.
Shoppers can find those sought-after one-of-a-kind gifts in locally owned boutiques and jewelry stores.
The Institute For Local Self-Reliance gives us some bullet points. Here are 2 of them.
9. Competition
A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term.
10. Product Diversity
A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based, not on a national sales plan, but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.
Time Magazine: …”Indeed, says Boyle, ( NEF researcher David Boyle.) many local economies are languishing not because too little cash comes in, but as a result of what happens to that money. "Money is like blood. It needs to keep moving around to keep the economy going," he says, noting that when money is spent elsewhere—at big supermarkets, non-locally owned utilities and other services such as on-line retailers—"it flows out, like a wound." By shopping at the corner store instead of the big box, consumers keep their communities from becoming what the NEF calls "ghost towns" (areas devoid of neighborhood shops and services)…”
“…And what about that higher cost of local goods? Susan Witt ( Executive Director of the E.F. Schumacher Society) says that the difference falls away once you consider (all the factors)… one could argue, lower transportation, and therefore environmental, costs, and you know what you're getting—which as we've recently seen with suspected contamination in toys and other products from China, can be a concern…”
Entrepreneur Magazine: .”…Know the people behind the product…Better customer service… More personalized service… Buying local has benefits beyond mere convenience. When you support local business owners, you get a better level of service, as well as helping make your community a better place to live. This is in addition to the health benefits and access to unique products that you usually can’t find with chain locations.”
Finally, this great graphic from The Huffington Post.
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Good World Goods.
6333 E. Brainerd Rd.
Chattanooga.