Buy Local …Ramblings and Thoughts

There have been numerous ‘buy local’ campaigns over the past few years. Many of these campaigns have been economic-driven, as people have seen many long-standing local businesses disappear due to the economy. Project 3/50 has used social media well to spread its philosophy of shopping locally. Last year, American Express had a great social media campaign over Thanksgiving Weekend, “Small Business Saturday.” With the success of Small Business Saturday, I expect Amex to roll the campaign out again, along with many more social media splinter campaigns jumping on the concept. Most markets seem to have their fair share of FB pages  dedicated to promoting ‘Buy Local.’ As successful as these campaigns have been, with as many people talking and pushing ‘Buy Local,’ I still see plenty of long lines outside the Olive Garden and Outback. In contrast, the local restaurants do not deal with that problem/opportunity. Indeed, the most significant benefit of buying local is that more money stays in the local economy for every dollar spent than at a big box. Still today, the most challenging parking lot to get into seems to be Costco, and many people fighting for that spot think ‘local’ and are local business owners themselves. Best Buy still has much more foot traffic than most local retailers that offer the same products, and let’s not even bring up Wal-Mart. Is it the deal beats local? Is it that you know precisely what you will get when you walk through the door of a Big Box? Is it that they just do a better job of marketing themselves?  When businesses do things right, they can beat the big boxes; in every market, there is an underdog, a company that goes head to head with a big box and wins. Is ‘buy local’ not always as black and white as it seems? I have some friends who are franchise owners; they own their businesses, but they do not have their names on them. Some team members, dozens, some hundreds. They pay local taxes, support their community, and send their children through the local school system; they’re community leaders and volunteers. Yes, some franchise fees leave the area, but how much less local are they? For me, what is black and white? If I buy furniture, I can buy from a ‘chain store’ or a local store in the community for over 70 years. Buying unprepared food: I shop for most of my food at local specialty shops supporting local ranchers and produce growers. I belong to a weekly CSA that provides locally-grown organic produce. There certainly needs to be more education on ‘Buy Local’ than just ‘Buy Local.’ As a local business owner you have a story to tell, tell it! You will likely not be as convenient as a big box, so you have to be better, and being better for most is more than just being local. The parking lots tell that story.   It is challenging, as most big boxes run well, and for the most part, big boxes began as a local business with a great concept. So what is the best answer… Or is there one?