The Myth of the “Buy Local” Utopia
Decatur Metro | December 29, 2009Avondale writer Patti Ghettzi bursts our bubble with an article recently published in Mother Nature Network, titled “My Year of Shopping Locally”. In her email to DM she notes “I don’t name the businesses, because I wrote it for a national audience, but it’s pretty obvious whom I’m talking about.”
In the article, Ghettzi recaps the times in the past year when she vowed to “buy local” and ended up disappointed. Reasons for disappointment ranged from having a bad experience with a shopkeeper to being unable to find items in stock, or just unwilling to pay more for something she could find for less online.
But before we local-devotees jump down Ghettzi’s throat with cries of cherry-picking and not looking at the bigger picture, I think we should first consider the value of such an article. With its near cult-like status, it’s admittedly pretty easy for advocates to live comfortably inside the local movement vilifying all things big-box and tongue-kissing anything that’s displayed in the quaint corner store.
Of course, life, love and community are never that simple.
There are countless issues with living local. Higher prices and selection are oft cited reasons. As for customer service, I regret Ghettzi’s bad experience, but I wonder if she were to detail a half-dozen calls to her local Wal-Mart or Lowe’s how that narrative would read. Regardless, local shops are run by humans (in most cases) and sometimes those people have off days. I can’t say that every single one of my local buying escapades has been a near-cosmic experience. Sometimes people are cranky. I tend ti click with some shopkeepers more quickly than others. But this is the real world, not Main Street U.S.A.
Ghettzi has many valid, reality wake up calls for the liberal intelligentsia reading pubs like “Mother Nature Network”. But here’s where I think Ghettzi’s resolution misses the mark. “Buy local” is only a piece of a potentially revolutionary concept couched in the language of multinational corporations. “Buy local” is what you say to someone when they’re thinking about taking another sojourn to Edgewood Shopping Center for something that costs 5 cents more at the end of the street. It takes a larger concept about local living: shopping, eating, communication, politicking, etc and dumbs it down to take on the big-box.
So if you treat buying local the same way you treat buying multi-national, you may never really appreciate the larger concept of LIVING local. If you don’t ever develop relationships with shopkeepers, it’s just another place where you buy your stuff. To get more out of it, you must invest a bit more. “Buying local” can be that gateway. But it’ll never meet the expectation of a perfect experience every time, as seems to be assumed in the premise of this article.
That said, this is where Scott comes in and reminds us that this is a big business world, and if the little guy wants to survive another day he or she has to offer something different or better or he’s meat. Agreed. But unlike the experience of sameness that the faceless masses have at the big-box, at the local level there is a variety of experience that defines the movement and we must expect and accept the good with the bad.
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Haven’t read the article, but I do think “Buy Local” is more sustainable for the buyer if it’s practiced as a bias, not a hard and fast dogma.
Try to buy local first, but don’t break the bank, don’t put up with subpar products, consider the real value.
I try to buy gifts, books, dinner local as often as possible. I can’t afford to shop at the Decatur Farmer’s market for my weekly produce, but I might wander by and pick up one or two things. I don’t buy a book without checking little shop first, and will order there if I don’t need it right now.
A whole year of local and nothing else seems impractical, and if you set that as your standard, you are setting yourself up for failure.
Co-sign. “Buy local” as a dogma can actually be counterproductive. “Local” businesses have to do everything that any other business must do to stay in business: offer quality product, competitve prices, good service, etc. Often the cries of “buy local” come from businesses that fail not because they are squashed by big-boxes, but because they don’t offer the quality and competitve service necessary to attract customers.
Decatur is a great microcosm for this principal. We have several businesses that are thriving because they offer great product, and people go there without respect to any local/non-local bias. And then we have businesses that are in and out of business in a matter of months because they’re simply based on a poor business plan or can’t offer something that enough people want. It would make the market inefficient and reward poor quality product if we kept these businesses afloat artifically based on some “buy local” ethos. The majority of business ventures are, unfortunately, misconceived, and lose out in market competition.
That being said, if a quality local business offers a comparable product and a comparable price to a national chain, online store, etc., it benefits the community and the local economy to help keep those businesses alive. Like Daren says, this should be a bias, not a hard dogma.
A bit of a ‘heads up’ here and placing a bet. I’m betting the writer did not try Intown Ace Hardware on Scott Blvd. Their shelves are always well stocked. The people are VERY helpful and knowledgeable about the products they sell. I do think I know the hardware store they did try.. its been pretty bad for years. I’d also wager that they did not try Squash Blossom or Hoopla for clothing. Books? I don’t know if you can get Obama’s book at Little Shop, but if you wanted a children’s book, I would not look any place else. For unique gifts which CAN NOT be purchased online and which will tell the person you are buying for that you really put some thought into it.. Mingei’s, Heliotrope, Alexia, Worthmore, Seventeen Steps, Taste, Greenes, Pambili African Artworks, Rose Squared Gallery, Decatur Market & Gallery, the list goes on. I know I missed a lot of shops. Hair products? I’m sure that if one of the salons in Decatur did not have a specific brand, the knowledgeable staff would have a marvelous alternative to recommend. I guess the point is.. live a little… when you give a gift.. give it some thought and give a gift that will be cherished and not something that Amazon has a special on. Restaurants? Those who “tend to serve mediocre, overpriced food” can be found worldwide, not just locally. I don’t mind waiting at The Brick Store, Leon’s, or Watershed.
I did read the article and it looked to me like the writer gave up pretty easily on certain things. Little Shop had the Obama book and would have ordered it, I am sure, if they didn’t.
I do have to point out though that Squash Blossom and Heliotrope are far too expensive for everyday clothing shopping for most people. The writer did note her income was somewhat limited. Also, the types& styles of clothing in most of the boutiques in Decatur isn’t for everyone!
Could not agree more about the clothing NB. Style wise for sure, but also because it’s virtually impossible to find any fashionable selection (in any retail store) except online for my 5 1/2 shoe size.
But i definitely head to Decatur restaurants before any others and it’s where i take occasional out of town guests to eat/drink, and they always enjoy it.
I love our kids’ shops and restaurants!
In fact, I think I am singlehandedly keeping Yogurt Tap afloat. I frequent it nearly as much as I frequented the Point and Atkins Park in the 1990s.
Interesting article. And I think it mirrors, generally, a lot of people’s experience. I know it does mine. I try to buy local, but sometimes it’s either impractical or just too darned expensive. DM, I like your “living local” distinction. That is where true community resides. We are lucky that we have the potential to live 100% local to Decatur. It’s not even an option in some areas. Then there are all the arguments of what is “local”….
The community built in living local is very satisfying, and in the end it’s what I believe human beings truly want. And noone can argue convincingly that buying certain things local and sustainable (i.e., food) isn’t by far the best thing for the planet.
Taking intentional, measureable steps toward living/buying locally is way better than not doing it at all. Again, we’re lucky we have what we have available to us. I, for one, make such an effort. But I still like tomatoes in the winter, international beers and wine, and I refuse to pay 100% more for the exact same item just because it’s local.
I like what Daren says about buying local as a bias, not a hard rule. I think part of what makes buying local work is knowing what is worth buying locally. For example, I *always* shop at LSoS for kids’ books. They may be more expensive, but I can walk in, say “I need a birthday gift for a 9-year-old girl who doesn’t like fantasy or historical fiction, and is kind of a know-it-all”, and they will have a stack of appropriate books in my arms before my meter runs out. Similarly, I may not shop at Smith Ace for fancy lighting fixtures, but I do head there first there when we have a complicated plumbing problem that requires consultation regarding just the right size washer, pipe, and gasket. And I would 100x rather go to Heliotrope for a unique gift than have to schlep out to the mall for some cookie-cutter thing, even if I do end up with a slightly more expensive item.
Since that may be me DM is referencing, I’ll chime in. It’s not so much that this is a “big business world” or that local business must play by big business rules. In fact, they tend to fare better when they don’t play by big business rules.
Rather, it’s the universal truth that people — in the form of consumers and customers — expect value for the money they spend. For many, this has become synonymous with cost, which is why many local retailers complain that they cannot compete with the big boys. But, with increased interest in local economies, this is changing. People are beginning to realize and appreciate that value can come in other forms. We often talk about service or product knowledge or quirky uniqueness, but DM brings up a less referenced form of value that in actuality is probably the most important one of all: the prospect of developing rich human relationships that spill over from the singularity of commerce into the much greater integration and interdependency of the locally-lived life.
I know many of the downtown business folks, to the point that if my kid was up to no good on or around the square, they’d likely tell me about it. In my opinion, that alone is of tremendous value and just one more compelling reason to support local business.
Don’t you love it when other people (namely me) speak for you??
So the larger question is: when and why did the search for “value” actually become harmful to the human race? I’m gonna take a shot in the dark and guess it has something to do with cheap, available energy.
(Major aside: I’m no longer referencing “the earth” because it was recently pointed out to me that regardless of what happens to humans as a result of any number of proposed human catastrophes, “the earth” would be just fine.)
I don’t get the sense that her heart was really in this project. She admits to shopping at WM anyway, which is about as far from local as possible; people of conscience haven’t shopped there in decades. I also found using Wordsmiths as an example to be sour grapes-ish for an article written nine months after the closing (okay, perhaps it was actually submitted in the spring). I like to encourage buying local as much as possible/practical (some of you may have seen the picture of the beautiful scarf my mom just made from silk purchased at Sheepish) but not everyone has the resources (financial, time, and skill) to make this a reality. I choose to live in Decatur because it has the highest concentration of what an ideal community would have in my book. Yet I’m among the first to acknowledge its shortcomings and myopia. Daren’s philosophy likely rings true with many of us.
(Sidenote: this article appeared on Mother Nature News, an Atlanta investor-owned website launched earlier this year. There is no connection between MNN and the nearly 40-year-old print publication Mother Earth News, which featured Decatur as one of the 12 Great Places You’ve Never Heard Of in 2006.)
Carl, you’re of course entitled to your opinion, but I have to disagree with your (incredibly overbroad, overreaching) statement that “people of conscience haven’t shopped [at WalMart] in decades”. Yes, people of a certain bent love to portray WallyWorld as the Evil Empire (and in some aspects, they may be correct); however, there are may “people of conscience” whose means don’t allow them to shop elsewhere– but they try to do what they can within their budgets. WalMart’s tactics are really no different from any other big-box retailer’s (Target, K-Mart, etc.), they’re just better at playing the game. Some may find shopping at the big boxes too foul a prospect for their own personal consciences, but for many, many other people, it’s often the only alternative they have. The reason I’m reacting as strongly as I am is because overbown statements like this one give the impression that the “buy local” movement is merely an insufferably elitist mindset that’s ascribed to by only those who can afford it. Sometimes, there really isn’t any alternative to “buy local” for too many necessities, and WalMart’s lowest price-per-item is going to be the difference between someone being able to buy band-aids, Pepto-bismol, and toilet paper, or going without. Leaving out everyone who can’t really afford to shop elsewhere besides at WalMart assumes that those people do not care about their environment or their local communities, and that simply isn’t the case.
Full disclosure: My sister works in WalMart’s accounting dept., but I myself have not shopped there for at least a decade (not because of its “Evil Empire” connotation, but because I simply like what I find at Target & other stores better– and I can pretty much afford to shop where I like). Do I like being devil’s advocate for a company that I’ll frankly admit I’m not a fan of? No, but I just couldn’t remain silent in the face of your comment. It’s not my intention to attack you, personally, so I hope you can dig where I’m coming from.
My mom has worked corporate at WM for 30 years. She designs and plans the electronics set ups. She used to open and remodel stores, then she was a construction project manager. She started as a lowly assistant manager, then worked up.
Before someone gets on their high horse about WalMart (which I never shop at, BTW unless I am with my mother’s discount because my mom and her friends have not created an environment snotty little me enjoys) they need to step back from their privilege a little bit and ask my mom how many jobs for men and women with limited education and opportunity a Wal Mart can bring into a community. These jobs, after a year, come with retirement plans and health insurance. In addition, where else can a shopper of limited means can buy decent clothes and shoes for their children and reasonable groceries and even small luxuries?
Target doesn’t offer employee benefits and insurance plans the way Wal Mart does, nor does it have the same kind of promote from within the family policy. Whole Foods (I don’t see “people of conscience” running from their organics, baby) was founded by a man with very conservative values who openly opposed any form of healthcare reform(depsite the fact that I bet a good portion of Whole Foods shoppers are educated, crunchy white liberals) while WalMart executives openly advocated – and sent an open letter advocating the public option trigger- for reform. This was obviously self interested, but hey!
Okay, off my soapbox.
I apologize if my “people of conscience” statement was offensive, but that’s not nearly as offensive as the company is to many of us. Yes, it’s unfortunately true that in rural areas WM is in many cases the only source of many necessary items. Yet it is also the source of many unneeded ones manufactured in sweatshops in third-world countries (and conveniently provided in the form of a ridiculously-low price). Many consumers only see the front line (the price) rather than the bottom line (the entire manufacturing/retail process and the detriment is has on our local economy) and then expect a shirt to cost no more than X or a toaster to cost more than Y, simply because they saw those prices somewhere.
Without turning this into a long thread on the hazards of WM to the US economy, I’ll just make a couple of points. Only about half of WM’s US workers are eligible for their health insurance, and WM has more employees on public assistance than any other employer. Taxpayers spend billions each year supporting WM employees on these programs that wouldn’t be necessary if WM paid living wages.
WFM founder John Mackey is a staunch Libertarian, not a conservative. He recommends responsible health care, much as I (of a decidedly different political persuasion) do. He’s also a longtime vegan; does that mean omnivores aren’t welcome or shouldn’t shop there? Of course not.
Folks know that in addition to patronizing local businesses and co-ops, I also shop at WFM, Target, and am a huge fan of Costco. Yes, Costco. That would seem to be the opposite of shopping local, particularly since there’s not even a location in DeKalb County. I’m aware of the seeming paradox. Costco pays workers nearly $20/hr, provides real benefits to virtually all of its employees, and sees employees’ well-being as key to its success. Costco welcomes users of SNAP (f/k/a “food stamps”), as does WFM. Many companies that offer some upscale goods are perceived as being elitist. I would instead suggest that those which offer good pay and benefits only to the upper echelon of the company are the real elitists. Companies like WM that pay rock-bottom actually lower the overall wages in rural areas and decrease the quality of life. Yes, it’s legal and considered the American way for some. Just not me.
Russ, Tassimo discs are available via Amazon.com and Bed Bath & Beyond (hey, you get all those coupons in the mail…might as well use ‘em!). Better yet, get a french press and buy locally-roasted Batdorf & Bronson coffee at Dancing Goats or other retailers.
“Russ, Tassimo discs are available via Amazon.com ….”
Carl – I have some history with Amazon and coffee!
http://blogs.wsj.com/wallet/2009/07/09/delonghis-strange-brew-tracking-down-fake-amazon-raves/
I still haven’t replaced the Tassimo… I kind of like it!
Russ, you are awesome!
Carl, no offense really, but Target sources from sweatshops as well. So do Gap, Nike and even Starbucks. Do you know how Target’s payscales, insurance plans, retirement plan compare to WalMart’s? I think there is very little difference.
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13508
I don’t think people can get on their high horses about one big box while shopping at another.Unless you can verify everything in your possession is cruelty free, fair trade, etc. you can’t just jump on WalMart alone. In the end, we are all guilty of encouraging the consumerism that leads to sweatshop labor and exploitive business practices.
As to the public benefits many employees have: remember, for many, many thousands of people, if you have a housing choice voucher or public housing or certain forms of TANF, then you have to work least at part time to keep your benefits. But you can’t work too much or you’ll lose your benefits; or you may not have childcare.. And sometimes keeping your family on Medicaid is cheaper than buying insurance. The stuff behind those stats is somewhat more complicated I am sure than it appears on the surface.
BTW, I hope you don’t think I am attacking you Carl, ’cause I am not. I promise.
And I am not really wanting to defend WM either!
Very well said, Cuba. I think many dislike WalMart for one reason or another, and would rather not shop there, but you make a very good point about the people who do. I especially like and agree with your words, “overblown statements like this one give the impression that the “buy local” movement is merely an insufferably elitist mindset that’s ascribed to by only those who can afford it.” So true.
Nellie, having read so many of your previous posts, I am impressed (and surprised) with your response. People do overlook the positive aspects of Walmart. Walmart possibly helps more poor people than the government could ever dream of. Having said that, your statement that the Whole Foods CEO is “openly opposed any form of healthcare reform” is completely wrong. If you read any of his editorials or heard any interview, you would know that he has many ideas for healthcare reform. He most certainly does not believe that nothing should be done.
John Mackey’s opinions on what constitutes health reform – basically opening the free market even further and enacting tort reform- aren’t really under my personal umbrella of reform! But Walrus, I probably didn’t use the best example there. I just find it ironic that a lot of the anti-Walmart crunchy granola crowd (and I know lots of them!!) shop at Whole Foods and ignore John Mackey’s conservative/libertarian politics. I ignore his politics and shop there, to be honest, but I am not sanctimonious about Walmart.
Couldn’t agree more. I find it highly ironic and amusing!
“Walmart possibly helps more poor people than the government could ever dream of.”
Thanks in part to taking advantage of massive government subsidies.
Then you must not be against the subsidies, right? After all, they enabled Walmart to help poor people. It ‘s funny how so many people (I have no idea if you are included in this category) think the government should spend trillions on all these social programs (health care, etc.), but god forbid they help the private industry. The same private industry that CREATES THE JOBS! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with government handouts of any kind, however, I don’t like when people complain about government handouts out of one side of there mouth and beg for them out of the other.
My point was that you were portraying WalMart as more capable than the government in helping poor people (ie “Walmart possibly helps more poor people than the government could ever dream of.”) and all I was saying is that they can only “help” poor people with the help of government programs, which they shamelessly take advantage of. Whether they do it better or worse than anyone else is another conversation.
WalMart couldn’t exist in its current form without the subsidies it receives. So I find it funny when folks take the opportunity to pit government vs. business in instances where the two are obviously snuggled deep under the covers with each other.
I go to the local mega mart to get T-Discs for my Tassimo coffee maker. No other place can be bothered to stock them.
So what are my eco-options if I want to seek “person of conscience” status? (smile)
Russ, you know Bed Bath and Beyond has Tassimo? I can hook you up with wicked 20% off coupons
Decaturites want customer service and relationships as well as decent quality and price–from our stores, restaurants, city government, schools, churches, and blogs!
Hence the attractiveness of local stores, restaurants, city hall, school system, churches, and DM!
As the owner of the soon to close store Whit’s End, I totally disagree with Ms. Ghettzi, and feel her experience was an exception, not the general rule in Decatur, not sure about Avondale.
The author certainly set up odd restrictions on “local”. The article was out of place on a “green” website and would have made more sense in a publication directed at Walmart shoppers.
She says “I wanted to patronize some stores in my immediate neighborhood. What a random assortment: a bead shop, a cured meat business, a scrapbooking supply store and a chain loan-sharking outfit that employed a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty to dance in front of the shopping center during tax season. I admired Liberty’s enthusiasm, but I had no use for these businesses.”
So the alternative is to go to Target or Walmart? It’s not like Decatur is a small town in the middle of an Iowa cornfield. Ask a neighbor, read a few local publications, drive a few blocks – if she was willing to drive to Lowe’s, she was obviously willing to drive to the distant city of Atlanta and could have shopped locally there. Heck, get online to do some research on local sources rather than immediately logging on to Amazon.
I’m not fanatically committed to shopping locally, but I do much better than she did just in the normal course of living my life in Decatur. If I needed items like “hinges, nails, a doorknob and a few other home-maintenance items”, I know which items they probably have at Intown BECAUSE I SHOP THERE. If I also needed 4 sheets of plywood and 12 10-foot 2×6 pieces of lumber, I’d know not to go to Intown BECAUSE I SHOP THERE. That’s how “buying locally” works – by knowing what the local marketplace provides, you know where to shop for the things you need.
Nancy, you ought to repost this in the comments section of the article!!
Not to change the topic..but.. you DO know how to tell is someone is truly aware of what is available locally? The true test is if you know that you can get a particular item at the “Little Kroger” and won’t have to trek all the way over to the “Big Kroger” for it.
Bill – the “Little Kroger”/”Big Kroger” example is excellent. How often do you hear “I’m going to run down to the Little Kroger because I only need to pick up “? I’ve never really understood the complaints about the store and will choose to shop there when I can. It’s quick and easy, parking is never a problem and the staff is always friendly. Sure, the selection is limited compared to a supermarket, but it’s a neighborhood grocery store. Like the hardware store example, you have to know your stores.
Off topic a little: when I was a kid up North in the early 60s, we often did our shopping at my great-aunt’s tiny tiny mom-and-pop store that had been started by my great grandmother sometime before 1920. It had two aisles, high shelves and a great penny candy counter. Aunt Margaret cut and wrapped meat to your order, free delivery in the neighborhood (bags carried in to the kitchen by various cousins) and she kept a tab for good customers, who settled up on pay day. I loved hanging out there in the summertime – it was nice and cool sitting on top of the ice cream freezer, reading comic books. And I’d earn the occasional dime by making small deliveries on the block. Hey, a dime bought a lot of penny candy!
Not only that…but… in my opinion.. the best bank in Decatur has a small branch at the Little Kroger. I have never gone in the door of the main branch of Decatur First Bank and not be greeted. The tellers know me and greet me by name, not to mention the management and other customers. Their Popcorn is a nice freeby too
It’s funny you bring up the Kroger because I was just talking about this. I’ll go to the Little Kroger if I need one or two (non-produce) things that they are likely to have. Otherwise, I have to schlep over to Toco Hills. I can’t even go to the slightly closer Dekalb Industrial store because they refuse to stock the Ba-Tempte pickles and saurkraut that you can only get at the Kosher Kroger!
Can I put a plug in here for McKinney’s Apothecary, since it is locally owned and I am always delighted to walk in and get service and a smile before the door closes. Can I do that? I can? Good.
Consumers have an amazing ability to do the calculus of ‘value’ without even (consciously) realizing it. That’s why free markets work so incredibly well.
I’m sure we all agree that local/small businesses have to deliver something more in that equation (whether convenience, customer service, nostalgia, prestige, product selection, whatever) in order to compete. I love that locals stand a fighting chance by focusing on some of these dimensions. But what I resent/regret is the position (admittedly rarely taken, so notable in its occurrence) that consumers will buy local simply because a business is “local”.
As local consumers, we owe you nothing for your proximity or your size. But if you figure out which of these other value dimensions is important to us, there’s ample proof that the community will support you.
Totally disagree George. I am/was a frequent customer of Whit’s End which is closing. I spoke to Jeff otten about how/why they got going. Those guys did everything right IMO, and in the opinion of every Decaturite I ever spoke to. They live here, support the community, and had guywear that totally fit this town at affordable prices. They advertised, had parking, had a solid business plan, They allowed dogs, kids, participated in events, volunteered in the community, and gave fantastic customer service, and STILL went out of business. They are a victim of the economy..;…period. Folks supported this establishment the best they could with this poor economy. Jeff told me that they planned for the downturn, and also that the response to the store’s closing from the community has been touching. I for sure will miss this store. IMO it is a terrible loss for Decatur.
Kenneth,
Help me understand on which point you disagree –
I don’t know the Whit’s End owners, but I’ll concede they probably performed very well in the areas you mention: good products/prices, customer service, good local citizenship, etc. I applaud that.
But they evidently didn’t have the level of success they needed to survive. I’d guess there simply wasn’t enough demand. If that was the case, their good points, their good behavior, simply couldn’t overcome the lack of interest, or lack of traffic; they didn’t convince enough people of their value.
Every successful business wins on one of the elements I mentioned (or something similar.) But superior performance in some of these still doesn’t guarantee success if one or more of the other elements don’t work.
George,
I normally do not respond to posts about my store, but since I am closing….here goes. Our first year was fantastic, but the economy dove, and so did our sales. Over the 3 years we were here, we met new customers daily. Folks spent less, and came less frequent. The response from the community at our closing has been overwhelming. We are proud we finished what we started, and have no doubt had the economy not hit the floor, we would be a thriving Decatur business.
Jeff
Jeff,
By all accounts I’ve heard you ran a great shop. It’s a loss to the community. But lack of demand is a killer, and in this cruddy economy, unfortunately you’ve got a lot of company.
My understanding is that they did fantastic during their first year, the last year before the major recession. They would have survived just fine and maybe thrived if the recession was only a year long. Two years is hard for any small business to survive, except for bars and hair salons, which evidently are considered to be necessities even by the unemployed!
Wholeheartedly agree with your last point George. I’ve made it a couple times myself on this site.
But wanted to comment on this…
“Consumers have an amazing ability to do the calculus of ‘value’ without even (consciously) realizing it. That’s why free markets work so incredibly well.”
I agree that consumers have an intrinsic ability of determining value up to a point. But what happens when you throw government subsidies (highly influenced by big business lobbies) and a global market into the mix? Then our sense of “value” seems too myopic for the task at hand. You can blame the consumer, we can only think with the brain we have.
It’s when I think about these elements that I realize that going “local” isn’t actually liberal vs. conservative notion. That’s one of the biggest, smelliest red herrings out there.
George, your comment seems to have sparked a reaction of it’s own over on the Little Shop blog.
http://littleshopofstories.blogspot.com/2009/12/buying-local.html
Nice to know someone didn’t think I was too far off the mark. But I have to say that all businesses are vulnerable in an economic downturn (Circuit City is gone and other well known retailers shuttered hundreds if not thousands of locations.)
Yes, small businesses are always more vulnerable (I had to shut one down myself a few years ago, even during the boom times) but this recession is an equal opportunity oppressor. The reverse of the old saying holds: An ebbing tide lowers all boats.
In our business, we can not target everybody who lives within a two-mile radius, like a supermarket would. We have to very specifically target the people who collect art, and that’s a tiny fragment of the overall population. Over the last year or so, at least 4 art galleries have closed their storefronts: Junor Gallery, Boswell Gallery, By Hand South, and Vinson Gallery (who is still very much alive by appointment). These ‘closures’ were due to a variety of circumstances, not the least of which is the economy. By the same token, at least two art venues have opened over approximately the same period: Blue Rose and Decatur Art Market. And, rumor has it there is another coming. Even though we consider the ‘art collector’ to be our main focus, we enjoy the many people who come in and browse, to just chat, or to even visit with Amy’s cockatiels. We attempt to provide price points such that we can introduce people with little discretionary income to art. We do not feel that we necessarily compete with other galleries for this business. Each gallery has its own focus, its own feel, their own artists. Indeed, there is a great deal of camaraderie within the business. We can not speak for other businesses, but, when we say “buy local” we are not saying don’t go to Walmart, Target, Best Buy, or Macy’s. I dare say that most Decatur businesses do not feel in the least that they are in competition with these stores (there I go speaking for other businesses). If you are in the market for “sofa art” or a vase mass produced in the US or China, by all means.. you probably should be looking in these stores. What we are speaking about is, if you are looking for an item in the genre which is offered by your Decatur merchants, take a look at what they have to offer before you head off to Miami Circle, Poncey Highlands, Castleberry, or even Avondale. The day that we feel like we are competing with the mega store is the day we will close the doors. If you are in the market for some fine wine… Sherlocks.. not Buckhead. If you are in the market for gourmet food items.. Taste or Greenes. If its fine cookware you are looking for.. Cooks Warehouse. If you are looking for one-of-a-kind oil or acrylic paintings or that hand blown glass vase that will be an heirloom, come see us, or Blue Rose, The Decatur Art Market, Sycamore Place, or the studios at Beacon Hill; Not to mention the fine artists who sell out of their studios. Chances are very good that if they can’t help you, they will send you to someone (not necessarily even in Decatur) that can. We do realize that we must give quality and service. If someone is not sure about an art purchase, we will let them take it home with them and try it out for a week or two. We would much rather have a satisfied customer who decided a particular piece is just not for them than to have someone wake up every morning, look at the piece, and grimace over the fact that it just does not suit them. That customer will probably never be back. We feel this policy is of necessity for two reasons. First, we want a happy customer. Secondly, we do not take returns unless it is for another piece by the same artist (we pay our artists fairly quickly, so.. once they are paid.. the accounting can get pretty messy if we allowed exchanges for anything other than another piece of their work). A few interesting stories that I just can not contain myself from. This week, we had someone buy a piece of work for his wife by Michael Klapthor. As is the case with much of our art, it was a rather unusal piece that I won’t attempt to describe. It was among our favorite pieces by Michael. In any case, he proudly presented it to his wife on Christmas morning and she immediately began to cry. For some reason, it conjured up memories of a horrible experience she has had in her past. She could not look at it without crying. He called us and asked if we could exchange the piece for another of Michaels that we had. No problem. A similar story. A client had purchased two pieces by Kimberly Dean. Her partner got home from a business trip and..to use her words..one of them (a one-armed Juggler wall sculpture) totally ‘spooked her out’. Luckily, it has been almost a year from the time that the piece was purchased and it was installed in her home and the prices for Kimberly’s work had increased substantially. Plus she owed us some money on a third piece. Soooo.. we took the piece back and plan on making a substantial profit on it. We will deliver and Install for people. We will come by a clients home, bring some work with us, and help put things together for them. It is all about quality, customer service, and trust.
Not speaking for us since you will not find the same item elsewhere, there may well be cases where you can get the same item for a bit less. (There is a general policy in the art community that a gallery will not be undersold by another gallery or by the artist themselves …that dispenses with another perception.. that art is more expensive in a gallery… An artist underselling us are grounds for their departure.. a 500.00 painting is worth 500.00..not 250.00). As for myself, I have to ask myself if its worth the time and money to drive to the mega store, look for a parking place, drag myself through the mall.. to save a few bucks on a 300.00 appliance. Again, give your local merchant a chance.
Sorry for the somewhat long post but, if you know me, I can get wordy at times. Oh… a final note.. since moving to downtown Decatur, we are doing twice the business (in a bad economy) than we ever did in our previous location (in a thriving economy). Did I forget to mention that we pay local taxes on our inventory and collect sales tax for the county and state?
Thanks for your patience. This is a very interesting conversation that everyone seems to have good points to make on.
Bill
This article is being discussed on one the mailing lists to which I subscribe, and someone made a good point there that I don’t think has been made here yet: another reason to support our local businesses is that many of our local businesses themselves “shop locally”. That is, unlike the big chain stores, they source their clothing lines, jewelry, specialty gift items, handmade whatnots, etc. from locals.
Hi everyone,
Thank you very much for your comments and feedback. I read and appreciate them all. Jeff, I am very sorry for your business.My husband buys clothes for himself about once a decade, so we didn’t get a chance to patronize. It sounds like it’s our loss as well as yours.
Getting my subscriptions at Walmart saves over $900 a year. I could write a story three times as long about the frustrations I’ve encountered there. But it would be a dog-bites-man story, probably not very interesting.
The clothing store I had quality issues with wasn’t Squash Blossom. I have a pair of jeans from there, bought on sale and worn often. I bought them one day while at the Brick Store. I got caught in a downpour and was soaked. Our server took pity on me. She also works at Squash Blossom. She went next door, brought a couple pairs of jeans back in my size, I tried on a pair that fit perfectly, gave her my credit card and was able to enjoy the evening in dry clothes. So, yes, there is excellent service to be had in independent stores. I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise. And maybe my expectations are too high.
Best,
Patti
Whoops, sorry, I meant prescriptions (-:
Buy LOCALLY. Shop LOCALLY. Verbs are modified by ADVERBS.
Yeah, but logos and human brains do better with four than six syllables. As the daughter of an English teacher, I’ve learned that what’s correct isn’t always what works.
Shoot, I meant six than eight syllables.