Why You Should Buy Local

I have a lot of contradictions when it comes to giant retailers like Wal-Mart. I'm not crazy about how Wal-Mart treats their employees. The recent class action suit from women employees is a good example. They lost on a technicality and because of a conservative majority Supreme Court, but I do think that they had a case. But I also know several people who work for Wal-Mart and they tell me that they like working there a lot.

One lady who has worked there a number of years recently appeared with her daughter in one of their ads that was distributed all over the country. They seem to do a lot of stuff like that to reward their employees without actually increasing their pay.

The other thing that concerns me about Wal_mart is that they move into small towns and put the small businesses there under because they can't compete with the low prices that Wal_Mart offers. It's like the Jon Stewart skit where he vigorously complains about how unfair Wal-Mart treats their employees and then goes: "Thirty dollar refrigerators! Thirty dollar refrigerators!"

But then again, Sam Walton started out as a small local business owner. He must have done something right or Wal-Mart wouldn't be as big as it is today.

Some years ago, I managed a restaurant in the small town of Eureka, Missouri. Whenever I needed a hardware item I went up to the local hardware store and bought it. The owner had built the store from the ground up himself and the people behind the counter were very helpful, especially to a customer like me who was trying to keep his restaurant running on a shoestring budget and didn't have a clue about how to fix something.

If I tried to do a repair at the store myself, I could always depend on the guys at the hardware store to take care of me and show me how to do it. A few times I gave them a free lunch and they actually came down to the store to help me when I was having a problem. Find a Wal-Mart store that will do that for you.

But then the big boy came to town. It wasn't very long until they put Bayer Hardware out of business. The family business had been there for many years and now they were gone. Mr. Bayer told me that the problem was that people still came to him for all their nickel and dime items and advice, but bought all of the big ticket items from Wal-Mart. He just couldn't stay in business that way.

I started buying what I needed from Wal-Mart after Bayer closed, but it just wasn't the same. Gone was the advice. The kids at Wal-Mart usually couldn't even find the item I wanted let alone tell me how to use it. Gone was the personal service and the account I had established with Bayer. Yeah, I saved money, but sometimes Bayer would wait and bill me the next month, helping me make my budget. Gone were the long friendly conversations. I dealt with someone that I knew and he knew me.

The Healthy Planet Magazine gives some reasons why you should buy locally.

1. A Stronger Local Economy.

2. Appealing Local Character.

3. More Local Jobs.

4. Utilizing Tax Dollars

5. More Responsible Decision-Making

6. A Greener Environment

7. Community Well-Being

8. Unique Choices

9. Better Service

These are all good reasons to buy local, but maybe the best reason is that it's really hard to make friends at a large national chain store.

Source: http://thehealthyplanet.com/2011/07/celebrate-your-independents/