I've noticed that more and more people are more concerned with convenience. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, but it can be taken too far. We all go to the bigger stores because we can cross more items off of our lists while making fewer stops. With the internet, and tablet/smart phones, and other automated devices, life is getting pretty simple, right? Or are we setting our selves up for a big fall later on. Lets have a forum on our local businesses and the unique services that are offered right around the corner that we never new of. I was managing a restaurant a while back, "The Cheesesteak Factory", not cheesecake, right around the block from where I worked for two years was a glass blowing shop that had no storefront, the sold almost exclusively online because, as the owner explained to me, most people don't want to place an order and wait two days for a 16 piece glassware set (which they were selling for less than twenty dollars, beautiful and hand crafted) they'd rather go to Walmart and pay double the price for a sub-quality similar set so they could take it home immediately and not have to make another trip. Now, this businessman hired kids right out of high school and offered a full old fashioned apprenticeship to the ones who showed patience and common sense, giving them a trade and enriching the community. He's out of business now, but some of his apprentices are still around establishing the same business model for their own shops, with an eye to the future. What's in your neighborhood?
You wrote, "Now, this businessman hired kids right out of high school and offered a full old fashioned apprenticeship ..." Any shop that offered a young person an apprenticeship would automatically receive my business. I support small businesses in my community. There are restaurants, beauty salons, one local hardware shop, the local Dollar Store, and local grocery stores that specialize in ethnic foods. Don't forget that the Saturday after Black Friday, there is a national campaign for shoppers to support their local businesses.
That's great. I really hate to see us as a society moving away from practices like apprenticeships in favor of a more mainstreamed cookie cutter like business model. Individuality is almost a thing of the past, This makes me very sad. This is why, I also, do my best to support local businesses. I found a leather worker the other day who works out of his home and keeps himself busy providing custom work for his friends and to sell at swap meets. I am in the process of setting him up a web store to reach a larger market.
I'm not as great with shopping locally for STUFF - unless it is very specific and unique, like art pieces, or local pottery. Unfortunately I just don't care enough about clothes and what not to spend a lot more to simply keep a local place in business when I can hit a great sale at Dillards, you know? On the other hand, I've always tried to support local before big chains when it comes to services and restaurants. My husband is an attorney who works for himself. We know what it means to be a "local business" and it really is a huge boom to local economy to spread the word and keep these small shops in business. Not only that, but we've found that over and over, the small mom and pop shops almost always offer better customer service. A quick example is from last summer when we bought a new house. We put in all new carpet upstairs. I priced carpet at Home Depot first, just to get a baseline, but I knew I wasn't going to end up purchasing from them when so many local places would probably have better quality stuff and would likely price match or fit the budget I asked them to fit. And it turned out to be true. Instead of going straight to the carpet samples within my "price range" I simply said, "Show me what you can do in this color for under $5000." The place I went with ended up being able to install almost 6 weeks sooner than anyone else, we got top quality carpet, and we love it, and we feel like we can personally recommend the shop now because they did such a great job.
The local merchants are part of the community in general. When you support the smaller, more friendly business you are investing in the community you live in. The larger places are great for what they are, but I still like going to the small places even if I have to spend a little more. I don't see many Walmart sponsors on little league jerseys, but I will see "Sam's tailor shop," or other local sponsors endorsing the community teams and initiatives.
A lot of people in my neighborhood try to by local whenever they can and support local businesses. I don't know of anyone doing apprenticeship programs like that, but we do have a number of local businesses that are pretty good places to work, if you can get hired, but there is a lot of competition.
I would love to patronize the local businesses. Trouble is, they can be hard to find. I think there needs to be a better way to publicly support these folks. Hell, I would even support a small business that is NOT local, just for the sake of not caving to the big business franchise model. Your old glass blowing buddy is right. We live in an instant gratification world. But I think there is starting to show evidence of a divide. More people want products that are of good quality, and that will last. With the internet, we have a tremendous advantage. Forums like this are a treasure trove of reviews and promotions. We sure could use message board for small businesses.
I like many small businesses (especially second hand stores and bookstores!), but with many others I find the experience to be not quite what I want. Because the store is so small, it is not possible to avoid the vendor, and you can feel pressured to buy something to not have wasted the time of the person... But it's such a small store that they don't have quite what you wanted, or it's very pricey! Though I encourage people to go out and find the stores that will have the ambiance they like, the products they like, the vendors they like to chat with, it's really worth it, and good for local economy.
Most of my shopping is done at the big boys. I do shop at the local second shops when I am looking for something special. We do not have alot of small businesses in my area other than restaurants.
Not all communities have wonderful artisans like that. My area is full of small convenience stores where a cup of coffee and a doughnut costs $7.95. If those small local stores want my business, then they should charge more reasonable prices. I seriously got charged 7 bucks for a 16 ounce coffee and a doughnut by a local small business and I paid it because I was hungry and in a rush. I wish we had artisans and glass blowers around here instead of 17 different dollar stores.
There's all kinds of small businesses in my neighborhood, tailors, hair salons, antique shops, small markets, coffee shops. I like to shop locally, it's good to help small businesses. My budget is tight right now though, so if a small business is charging more than the average price for something, I have to go and shop somewhere else, just for my own economic reasons.
It is difficult now, I am on a very tight budget so find that prices at the larger supermarkets are often cheaper. I do use the local butcher and greengrocer too - their goods are slightly cheaper and far better quality. I would prefer to support my local businesses more but I just can't afford to right now.
It depends on what you're looking for. Small businesses will never be able to compete against the economies of scale and the sheer volume and purchasing power that giants like Walmart have. The difference though is that the small businesses may stock hard to find items, or items that don't typically sell in large volumes (therefore not worthwhile to large retailers to carry). Additionally, you'll find a lot better service and expertise across the board when dealing with smaller shops. Beyond that, it'd often better to shop at small specialty stores when dealing with niche goods since a larger retailer won't have any special knowledge about that niche other than what the particular employee might have a passing interest in.
The only locally owned small businesses that I buy from regularly, are fast food joints. The hoagie/cheese steak place and the pizza place. I generally buy from big box stores, mostly because it's waaay cheaper, and because most of the small businesses here charge insane amounts for food. Also, I live in a shore town, and in winter all of the small businesses are closed this time of year.
I don't shop at big chain stores and that's one of the main reasons why. I refuse to support it if I can help it. I just moved to a large city and I'm still getting to know it, but I haven't seen anything I'm impressed with. I do the majority of my shopping online, so I can find those who deserve the money and each product is made by someone who cares and contributes to the community. I don't need to save a buck that bad.. people first for me.
