An Ethical Consumerist Approach to Holiday Shopping: Commit to Shop Local
Posted by Jason Stern on Thu, Dec 15, 2011 @ 12:44 PM
An Ethical Consumerist Approach to Holiday Shopping: Commit to Shop Local
With 10 days to go before Christmas, we’ve entered into the last minute race to finish, or in some cases (like mine) to start shopping. The holiday shopping season doesn’t only benefit our friends and family, it provides a seasonal boost for the economy. The National Retail Federation projects that shoppers will spend an average of $500 on gifts this season. Where is all of this money going? The same report showed that we tend to spend money primarily at nationally owned discount stores and department stores. Is this where we should be spending our money?
We spend in places where we will see fewer returns than if we spent the same dollars in independently and locally owned businesses. The US Chamber of Commerce reports that for every $100 spent in a nationally owned chain store, $43 stays in the local economy. Buying online through nationally owned chains and big box, “made-in-china” stores brings a nice round $0 back to the local community. On the other hand, that same $100 spent in locally and independently owned stores returns $68 to the community via taxes, wages, and other means of disbursement. Online shopping through smaller retailers and on websites like Ebay and Etsy as least supports someone else’s downtown.
Imagine what could happen if we changed our buying habits, even on a small scale, to purchase from our local businesses and smaller independently owned retailers. What if we go back to our communities and take an ethical consumerist approach to holiday shopping?
Each and every one of us can make a simple but direct impact to the economy and in our communities. An AIBA Economic Impact case study found that if each household spent at least $100 on holiday gifts from locally owned and independent businesses, instead of gifts from nationally owned chain stores, the local economy would benefit in terms of $10 million--60% of which would be reinvested in the community to fund organizations like schools, libraries, and local fire and police departments.
This all begs the question: Why don’t we make every day “Small Business Saturday?” Imagine how we could turn our national economy around if we all focused on turning our local economies around
(Photos: Middle left: Lila Pague of Winter Sun & Summer Moon in Rhinebeck, NY. Bottom Right: Jerry Schlichting at Frazzleberries Country Store in Warwick, NY)
Amanda Gresens is the Marketing Coordinator at Luminary Publishing, publishers of Chronogram.