Local Purchasing

It is truly amazing to walk into a large store to do your shopping.  Not only can you get most of your shopping done in one place, but there is such a wide variety to choose from of almost every item.  We tend to favor these businesses for their convenience and for their lower prices.

But what does that REALLY cost us?

How many items do you suppose you own that were made in China?  Or Mexico, Sri Lanka, Vietnam?  I would wager that the majority of your possessions were made overseas.  These convenient superstores are able to sell to you at such a low price because of their conglomerate-sized buying power, and because they get their products from third-world countries or China.

I think about the husband and wife who own a chocolate shop down the street from my house.  They make all their own candies and cakes and sell ice cream from a vendor in the next town over.  Yet I rarely stop there because I can buy candy when I stop at Target for the fifteen other things on my list.  Then there is the Christian woman who owns a candle shop in my town.  She makes the most amazing candles you've ever seen or smelled.  She has a quaint little shop that is quite fun to visit.  But once again, I usually drive right past her on my way to Target to get candles.  Both of these local businesses sell products that are far superior than anything I would dream of buying in Target.

I have been trying to change the way I think about the purchases that I make.  I realize that these giant discount stores have robbed us of something very special.  They rob us of the unique creativity of our local business people.  They rob us of high quality items.  They rob us of getting to know business people who are passionate about what they do or sell.  When you go into Target or Wal-Mart, the employees are there only to facilitate your purchase .  A local business person is eager to talk about their products.  They know everything about it: the raw materials used, where they came from, how it was made, how long ago it was made.  They enjoy talking about techniques and secrets of their trade.  They also enjoy talking about the things they know about the community because they are in touch with the people who live there.

Here are some examples of shopping locally:

After the homeschool Fine Arts Fair and graduation last week, my husband and I decided to treat our kids to ice cream.  My first thought was, "Let's just get them a cone at McDonald's because they are really cheap."  My next thought was, "We should go to the gelato shop that is owned by a single woman who homeschooled all her grown kids."

We chose the gelato shop.  Yes, it was much more expensive.  But we came away from her shop with a much richer experience than if we had gone to McDonald's.  She spent nearly an hour talking with us.  She encouraged us in our homeschooling efforts, told us about her joint venture with her siblings to start a large farm in another part of our state, and told us what it was like to grow up in communist Vietnam with the daily threat of not teaching her children about God.  She told us how the government would shove chopsticks into children's ears to destroy their eardrums and blind them so that they could no longer be taught about God by their parents.  She talked about how much she relished her freedoms here in America and how we should never allow anyone to take our freedom from us.  I went home with much to think about.  That would never have happened in McDonald's.

The candle lady has told me stories of her antique-finding expeditions for decorating her darling shop, and stories of items that her grandmother used to use that are now part of the antique look in her shop.  No one in Target has ever talked to me about the way they decorate the store... not that I would care at a place like that!

Most people have felt economic woes happening in our country in one way or another.  That tends to drive people to seek the cheapest product to fill their need.  But lately, I've felt compelled to rethink what my needs really are and, if necessary, to buy fewer things so I can spend my money at a local business.  I'd rather see my neighbor's store stay open during these more difficult times.

The same goes for restaurants.  My husband is a pizza lover.  I've come to despise chain restaurant pizzas.  The don't even taste like real food to me anymore.  We recently ate at a fabulous local eatery with the best pizza I'd eaten in years.  We also ate at another restaurant where I was able to chat with the owners.  I discovered that they were from Albania, a country that I visited for two months while they transitioned from communism to freedom.  We had quite an interesting conversation about Albania and their lives there.

So when you make your shopping list, ask yourself if you are able to buy some of those things from a local business instead of a conglomerate superstore.  Do you have a farmer's market?  Do you have a locally owned restaurant or candy shop?  They will appreciate your business, and you might make a new friend.