On The Upside with Marley
Buying Local Means Supporting Each Other
We've been hearing a lot lately about the importance of buying Canadian, and I'm completely on board. But I think we can take it one step further while keeping the politics out of it.
Buy Canadian when you can, but buy local when you can, too.
Every time we spend money, we're making a tiny decision about what kind of community we want to live in.
When you buy from the local hardware store, restaurant, printer, gift shop or service provider, that money doesn't simply disappear into a corporate bank account somewhere. It helps pay local wages. It pays another local business. It sponsors a hockey team, supports a charity auction and helps keep the lights on in the businesses that make our towns feel like home.
And here's something worth remembering. The local business you drive past to save $6 online is probably the same business you'll approach next month asking for a donation to your fundraiser.
Amazon probably isn't buying an ad in your kid's yearbook. The giant national corporation probably isn't donating a prize to your silent auction. Your neighbour might.
Now, I'm not suggesting we should never shop online. Heck I'm a web developer and help businesses broaden their market. Sometimes it's cheaper, sometimes it's necessary and sometimes what we need simply isn't available locally. Budgets matter, and convenience matters too.
But perhaps we could give our neighbours the first chance. Before automatically clicking "Buy Now," spend thirty seconds checking whether someone nearby sells it.
Buying Canadian supports our country. Buying local supports our community. And ultimately, that means supporting each other. That's something worth buying into.
Marley
Editor's Quote Book
"A small business is an amazing way to serve and leave an impact on the world you live in."Nicole Snow
Knowing the Owner: The Hidden Value
There was a time when knowing the person behind the counter was completely ordinary. The butcher knew what cut you liked, the mechanic knew your car and the hardware-store owner knew exactly which odd little screw you were trying to describe.
That kind of relationship still exists in many independent businesses, and it has value that doesn't show up on a price tag.
Sometimes knowing who you're buying from is worth almost as much as knowing what you're buying.
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