Shop Local Movement Gaining Momentum
By: Stephanie Castillo
Updated: December 16, 2011
Do you make a point of shopping locally? What about shopping
local? While they might sound same, there's an important distinction
- at least in my mind. When I say "shop locally," I'm referring to the
practice of buying from stores in your community. But when I say "shop
local," I'm talking about buying from locally-owned small businesses.
While many people take great pride in shopping locally vs.
buying online from Amazon or some other e-tailer, they miss
the point by hitting up WalMart or another big box retailer. Sure,
these places employ local citizens and collect local sales taxes,
but a significant portion of there revenue goes elsewhere.
The study, which focuses on a particular section of Midcoast Maine, compares the economic impact of shopping at locally-owned businesses vs. major chains. Yes, it dates back to 2003, but the findings are still quite interesting.
In short, the study's authors found that for every dollar spent
at a locally-owned establishment, nearly 45% of that revenue
stayed in the local community with another 9% being spent elsewhere in
the state.
These expenditures included employee wages/benefits, inventory,
supplies, and services from other local local businesses,
profits accrued to the local owners, state and local taxes, and
charitable contributions.
In contrast, for every dollar spent at a chain store, only 14% of
the revenue stayed in the local community, mostly in the
form of payroll. The balance of that money flows to out-of-state
suppliers, or back to the parent corporation.
Based on these numbers, three times as much money stays in your
community when shopping at a locally-owned business vs. shopping
at a chain store.
Sadly, in many places, you just don't have that many options when
it comes to patronizing locally-owned businesses. Around
here, it's easy to find a locally-owned restaurant or coffee shop, but
for groceries, electronics, etc. most local retailers have been pushed
out by their big box brethren.
(Copyright: Forbes) read more
