We talk a lot on our Facebook page about "spending where it means more" - AKA, choosing carefully who we give our dollars to - and the importance of daily choices cannot be overstated. There's a tendency to drift towards easy or convenient options, such as pulling off the interstate on a road trip and turning directly into the closest fast food location, as opposed to looking for a small deli a mile down the road, but fortunately we do have the power to make better choices. 😀
Robotic behavior is what comes to mind, to be honest; the predictable actions of humans following big-name brand signage seems almost too ant-like for me, and such choices are, in many ways, shrinking our lives down to only the brands we know. That's kind of a sterile world, isn't it? 🤔
Making the effort to acknowledge, notice, and spend with our nearby possibilities, many of them owned and run by folks we know, has far-reaching benefits which trickle down into the roots of a neighborhood. From streetlights to public water lines, police and fire departments to schools, the daily operations of a town or city are unsustainable without tax revenue, business licenses or financial activity, making our choices literally, the fuel for economic growth.
Personally, I've come to dislike - no, borderline hate - the term "Shop local"......why? It feels flat, played out and overused, sending a stale message that unless we all spend compulsively on "things", small town America is going to vanish. In reality, it is all of our combined actions - decisions made multiple times each day - which will either build or break a community. Check out a few of our suggestions below for thoughtful ways to spend better!
- buying gift cards to an independent coffee shop for employees at the holidays
- passes to the family-owned amusement complex
- tickets to the locally-owned movie theatre which STILL - after 50+ years - offers the same small town cinema experience
- asking a neighbor for a recommendation to find a quality company for your plumbing needs, HVAC, auto repairs
- taking out of town visitors to real places which offer an authentic flavor of your culture or local history
- making a trip to a farmers market with the family
- saying "Hey, we know of this great place for karaoke and drinks on Saturday night" instead of a chain
My feeling has always been that "being local" is a lot of different things, but there is a common thread which runs through activity centered around "buying better"; no matter where you live, recycling more dollars back into the local economy is a winning strategy.
Go Independent, Shop Small (Anywhere USA) began as a love affair with locally owned businesses and the people that operate them. Join us as "Live Local USA" on our social networks and help spread the message that small business STILL matters.
