Traverse Magazine Editorial
by Deborah Wyatt FellowsLet’s face it, national big box retailers and their online counterparts are in the business of making life easier. “One-stop shopping” is a concept that appeals to all of us in our busy lives. And when big box stores lure us in with their low prices or we get a discounted book with just “One Click,” it feels good to think we’re saving money. But are we?
Here’s a striking statistic: Three times as much money stays in the local economy when you buy goods and services from a locally owned business instead of a national chain, according to one study done in Maine.
A whopping 44.6 percent of the revenue of local independent businesses stayed within two surrounding counties and another 8.7 percent stayed in the state of Maine. Locally owned businesses put the money right back into their communities through wages and benefits paid to local employees, through goods and services purchased from other local businesses, through profits accrued to local owners who live in the community and through taxes paid to local and state government.
By contrast, the study found that big box retailers return 14.1 percent of revenue to the local economy, mostly in the form of payroll. The rest of that revenue leaves the state, flowing to out-of-state suppliers or back to corporate headquarters.
And we’d all be hard pressed to find a nickel that comes back to our local communities when we purchase items online from merchants outside our area.
In Northern Michigan most of us count on doing business with people in our community; we sell each other everything from insurance and legal services to cars and dry cleaning. But think about it: How is your livelihood affected when 85 percent of each retail dollar you and your neighbors spend at a national chain is sent somewhere out of state? Are you really “saving money” if your community’s retail dollars are not cycling back to your customers? Are you really “saving money” if your local and state governments have to raise taxes or cut back on services that you end up having to pay for? And if you love to spend part of your year or even a short time in Northern Michigan, are your retailer dollars spent here ensuring that when you return that small community you love is still thriving?
There’s more: The study in Maine went on to show that local merchants donate more to local nonprofits than do national chains. Most of us know this to be true even if we don’t see the checks written. We’ve participated in countless school, church and other nonprofit fund-raisers where we’ve raised money by auctioning off goods and services local merchants have donated for free.
In our household, we shop with local merchants the majority of the time. At this time of the year, we use the onslaught of out-of-town holiday catalogs like the Sears “Wish Book” for ideas, but then drop them into the recycling bin and head out with our lists to shop with our local merchants. Sometimes we get the exact same thing our eye landed upon in a catalog, often something better.
Along the way, we receive great advice from merchants, pick up and peruse items we’re considering and walk out with our packages, often gift-wrapped for free, having usually paid the same prices as in the catalogs, without shipping costs added on. If any of the gifts need to be exchanged, our recipients can drop in and do it for free—no return shipping costs involved—and usually walk out with a replacement in hand. I can’t tell you how rare it is to not find what I’m looking for, and with great ease. And I’m not an all-day shopper.
Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine is always a great resource for learning about Northern Michigan’s independent merchants. And every year, in this issue, we include Northern Holidays, our holiday gift catalog that combines a wish book with the service and handpicked merchandise of our region’s local retailers. Northern Holidays is packed with fabulous items, and whether you buy in person, order over the phone or online, you are putting the lion’s share of every dollar you spend back into a place you love.
Most of us who love Northern Michigan would find our lives sadly diminished if this holiday season our downtowns were not lined with lights and filled with warmth and good cheer, but instead were dark and empty. Our quality of life would be diminished if we couldn’t pop into our local grocer or fill up at the local filling station. Our schools, churches and other nonprofits would find their fundraising coffers running dry if their members hadn’t the resources to donate because of a fall off in sales at their businesses or if our local merchants were not so willing to donate items and services.
We are blessed in Northern Michigan with hundreds and hundreds of vibrant independent merchants of every kind. This holiday season, and as a resolution for the New Year, “save” money by choosing to shop in your own community at an independent merchant whenever you can. Not only is it a great feeling of community, it really does add up.
From www.traversemagazine.com
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