In the movie "You've Got Mail" a small, local bookstore is run out of business by a large chain store. Meg Ryan, the local store owner, puts up a valiant fight to save her children's bookstore but in the end Tom Hanks, the chain store owner, wins and the big bad Fox Books wins.  Unfortunately the takeover of local businesses isn't isolated to just big cities like NYC and the takeovers are damaging to communities around the country. The chain stores impact a community in ways that are seen immediately and cannot be seen until years down the road.  One immediate loss to the community is that of the personal touch - the personal knowledge of the customers who come into the store - the finger on the pulse of the community. Oh the chain stores will try, they will do what they can to try and be part of the community but their efforts are surface, they are simply too big to truly be a part of the community they are in. A scene from the movie illust...

I've got a growing habit. When friends want to go out - grab coffee, food, beverage of another sort - I am quick to say, "Sure, let's try for local." It's my first thought - what's around that is local and we can spend our money and time there? And you know what I find? We don't lack for options, at least not in my town. My fave local places have the best coffee, the best other beverages, fresher food, better service. I love sitting in a locally owned place knowing that I'm partnering, in a sense, with others to keep our community strong, diverse, and operating. I love being part of the unique offerings creative people in my town offer, and really that's just one of the reasons to stay local when spending your money.  Shop Small Saturday is a day dedicated to shopping at locally owned businesses - but why stop at just a day? Here's 6 reasons to shop small everyday.   So go local and help start a trend.

When a chain store moves into a community inevitably you will hear the following argument, it brings more jobs which boosts the local economy. And that may be true BUT. But the jobs brought are generally minimum wage and part time so benefits don't have to be paid. In some cases this does not boost local economy because minimum wage doesn't really cut it these days in most, if any, states/towns/cities.  Let's take Walmart, a popular big box store - that ironically enough started as a small business. For several years now there have been studies and reports done about the earning wages of Walmart employees. The majority of them need financial assistance through SNAP or WIC programs because their earning wages do not cut it and are not allowing them to put any money back into their communities. They still need the community to support them even though they have a job. I first heard about this problem a few years ago. In fact, here's one article about it fr...

When you shop local you are contributing to a someone's story - to their dreams - to their livelihood. And you are contributing to the story - the dream - and the livelihood of your community. When you shop big box you are contributing to some CEO's overblown salary, or in some cases the cycle of poverty due to low employee wages, and the lack of community.   Local business owners are varied in their income levels but every penny they do earn stays in their communities which helps. We all have to work together to keep our communities strong, relevant, and healthy and if we aren't a local business owner the very least we can do to contribute is be a consumer at our community local businesses.  So shop local and help your community write its story.