Local businesses often have a hard time, especially in rural or semi-rural area. People often shop at the major supermarkets so they can get everything in one place at one time. Another increasingly common practise is shopping online for convenience. I do both of these. However, I do try and buy my fresh food from the local butchers, fishmongers and greengrocers. This is partly so that i have the food fresh on a regular basis and also to prevent them closing down. They are really important to a lot of local people, especially those who do not drive or have access to the Internet. Do you patronise the local shops or do you prefer supermarkets or Internet shopping.
If I can buy something at a local shop rather than a chain, I absolutely will. I want to support the business, definitely, but I also find that when it comes to local food/produce, the quality is often higher
I live in a small city/large town. We still have mom-and-pop stores on Main Street. I do shop there. Well, except for the computer repair guy, he charges way too much and I've always been able to figure out how to fix issues LOL. Sometimes people will set up tables in the corner of parking lots of the furniture store, gas stations and car dealership. The businesses let them, so they support each other, which is nice. They sell crafts and other merchandise. There is no formal farmer's market in town, but we don't need one. The parking lots are our farmer's market!
I try to do this as much as possible, especially when it comes to small farmer's markets or vegetable shops. I also like to visit small family owned coffee shops. In many cases, their coffee is actually cheaper to begin with.
Buying from local businesses has always been my priority, most especially when it comes to fresh produce. I have the same attitude when it comes to patronizing services such as salons and dress shops. When I discover some hidden talent from one of these shops, I also help promote their services through word of mouth. By doing so, I know I am helping a family meet their daily needs instead of making capitalists rich. There are items that are, however, only available in big shops. It leaves us no choice when it comes to these matters.
Like you said, it all depends with what I want. I can buy from them if it is something to do with groceries and those farm produce. But when it comes to other things, I would rather get them from the chain store because they are much cheaper. Those guys with small stores buy them from the chain store and sell it to you at a high price with the aim of getting profit.
I try to, but i won't go out of my way to do so. I support any business that offers me value in exchange for my support, and if they happen to be local, then that is just a bonus. For example, we have a local boutique grocery that stocks a lot of obscure brands, so I frequent that as well as large corporate supermarkets equally. Also, it's a lot more comfortable for me to shop there since the store is much calmer. However, the most defining factor for my choice will most often be price, unfortunately, so if a local business offers the same product for a higher price, then I most likely will just buy it from a big business.
I try and support local businesses as much as possible, but the fact that they don't lower their prices, and supermarkets and big chains sell the same prodcuts for nearly half the prices, makes it incredibly difficult to support them in this financial climate.
Yes i do support them because at some point we finally find things which are fine enough through local stores which are nearer to our localities and we get help through getting stuff easily and that is the way how it should be
Within reason, I'll always buy from the local farm if possible, but they don't always have the best pricing on certain products. Also, since I'm up in Canada there are different regulations or costs associated with certain products. Milk up here costs around $4.60 for 4 litres, but the equivalent in the USA costs around $2.60. While I would like to support Canadian dairy farmers, that's quite an extreme price difference. We have a similar situation with cheese. When it comes down to it, I need to penny pinch wherever I can until I have the type of career that supports me in such a way that I can extend it to support others.
Agreed, my local small convenience store sells boxes of cereal for almost $6, which is double the Walmart price. Unless it's a specialized or rare exotic product , I can't justify paying double just to support a shop owned by people I don't know. I have to be loyal to my kid and get the most food for my family that my money will buy.
I don't go out of my way to go to a local business. If a local business happens to have the best deal on something, or have something I can't find other places I'll go to a loc business. But I can't make it a priority.
I support our local businesses when I need something that they carry that no other store carries or is cheaper at. I have to save every bit I can so I'm always going where the sales are. If Wal-Mart has something that the local store has but is cheaper, I'm going to stick it out at Wal-Mart. Times are tough and we all are looking to save where we can.
Definitely! I regularly shop at the farmer's market, usually at least every other week because I don't always use everything I get in one week's time. I still get some things at big box and dollar stores because of the savings, and we eat out sometimes at local places (as opposed to chains).
Indeed I do. We have awesome local products and services. I would do it anyway since we had a convenience store in the family for almost 20 years, so I know how important the mom and pop places are, as I 'was' one. Locally we have a small grocery store chain, local shops people come out of the cities for. We also have a cheese house that makes cheese from scratch as well as selling also local grass fed beef! We have several places to eat, a couple being chains, and also one that is a 'country kitchen' cooking from scratch restaurant. I am very proud of my local community. But then when you say local, since I live in the country, local is roughly about 25 miles either north or south, there are other places that are local. You have to realize that local is a much bigger area than if you live in the city. I also go out of my way to go to farmer's markets. Most of them are indeed out of the way and cost extra gas unless I have other things in town. In fact today, I picked up from my elderly mother a LOT of empty egg cartons I will return to a couple of the people that sell eggs at the market.
Yes, I actually prefer to go to local businesses before I go anywhere else. Even if their prices are slightly higher, I still make them my first choice as their services are usually long term. I like to meet the locals and develop a good relationship with them, as they are the people I can rely on for immediate help if something is wrong with my purchase, or if I need something special. The locals are also much more likely to go out of their way to offer the best advice and help they can, whereas with the big corporate institutions it can get very challenging.
I try to support local businesses. There are so many manufactures locally that I have to search for a specific product made locally. Besides soda-pop, beer, and chips or snacks in general, I noticed there are soap and candle companies in my area.
I definitely do, providing that they treat their customers well and their products are clean and fresh. I don't drive so going to a closer grocery is always my best choice. There is one shop though in my village, it is the only shop that is selling food products and other type of things. But since they know they are the only available shop around, they charge a very high price to each of their product so most people in the village do not support the family at all.
I always try to buy my groceries locally because they are much cheaper here than they would be in a big store. That's because most of the town dwellers are farmers. You don't sell foodstuff at high prices to farmers because you could lose them all within a season. Otherwise, for any other products which are not locally produced, I'll get from a big store [when I get into the city to get farm supplies] because they're cheaper in the store.
