Did you know that you can make the difference? You can help revive the local economy by shopping at your friends’ and neighbors’ local stores. Buy their products. Eat their food. Use their services. In turn, these locally owned and operated businesses will continually pump your hard-earned dollars back into the local economy by way of taxes, payrolls and purchases.​
This means more money for roads, schools, services and new jobs in your community. The shopping local movement focuses on helping the little guys not just survive, but thrive…and all the while helping them to contribute to their community. Small business owners think money spent in your community should largely stay there, not always go home with strangers who hail from heaven knows where.
These locals aren’t just “moms and pops.” They’re all about family—brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, cousins, neighbors, friends—all the people who make your community a wonderful place to live.​
Here is what happens when you “shop local.”
1. More of your money will be kept in your local economyFor every $100 you spend at locally owned businesses, $68 will stay in the community. What happens when you spend that same $100 at a national chain? Only $43 stays in the community.*
2. You embrace what makes your community uniqueYou wouldn’t want your house to look like everyone else’s in the U.S. So why would you want your community to look that way?
3. You create local jobsLocal businesses are better at creating higher-paying jobs for your neighbors. When you shop locally, you help create jobs for teachers, firemen, police officers, and many other essential professions.
4. You help the environmentBuying from a locally owned business conserves energy and resources in the form of less fuel for transportation and less packaging.
5. You nurture communityLocal business owners know you, and you know them. Studies have shown that local businesses donate to community causes at more than twice the rate of chains.
6. You conserve your tax dollarsShopping in a local business district means less infrastructure, less maintenance, and more money available to beautify your community. Also, spending locally instead of online ensures that your sales taxes are reinvested where they belong— in your community!
7. You create more choiceLocally owned businesses pick the items and products they sell based on what they know you like and want. Local businesses carry a wider array of unique products because they buy for their own individual markets.
8. You took advantage of their expertiseYou are their friends and neighbors, and locally owned businesses have a vested interest in knowing how to serve you. They’re passionate about what they do. Why not take advantage of it?
9. You invested in entrepreneurshipCreativity and entrepreneurship are what the American economy is founded upon. Nurturing local business ensures a strong community.
10. You made your community a destinationThe more interesting and unique you community, the more we will attract new neighbors, visitors and guests. This benefits everyone!
*Source: Civic Economics – Andersonville Study of Retail Economics.