Five BIG Reasons to Shop Small

Let’s play a game of this or that.

Scenario 1: you gobble down Thanksgiving Dinner and run out the door to make the big box store sale. You wait in line to spend XX amount of dollars on a new shirt sold by a guy named Bob. Bob has been at the department store since 2pm that day so he missed dinner with his family. However, he won’t be paid any extra.

Scenario 2: You wake up on a Saturday morning and make pancakes with your family. You take your dog for a walk and notice a small business in your town. There’s a shirt in the window you really might like. It turns out they have a rewards program and every five items you buy in their store, you get a coupon. Come to find out, the store is owned by a couple in the community and your children go to school together.

 Which sounds like a nicer experience for both the customer and the associate? Here’s are five BIG reasons why you should shop small this year:

1. Supporting a Community & Re-Circulating an Economy

Whether you shop from a local in-person small business, or online, you are supporting a local community. The small business owner will contribute back to his or her local economy, ensuring community growth. If you shop small, at least 48%-60% of each purchase is recirculated locally, where as only 14% at chain stores is recirculated.

2. Charm & Environmental Sustainability

Think about a quaint town you’ve visited in the past. Do you remember the enormous outlet mall or shopping center, or do you remember the sweet small business store fronts from the walkable town square? There’s a benefit both in the beauty of a small business, as well as prevention to create massive shopping centers. Perserving these quaint areas are essential to reducing sprawl, automobile use, habitat loss, and air and water pollution.

3. Personalized Customer Experience

If you don’t like a product that was handmade or hand sourced by a local business owner, who benefits off your sale in order to directly provide for their employees and family, there is a level of passion in rectifying the situation that a bigger business simply does not have. An associate at Target may very well care about your experience, but if you return the product, he or she will still receive the same pay check. The small business will make sure you are satisfied so that you are a returning customer.

4. Product Diversity

Walmart, Target, and many others fill their shelves with the exact same product in thousands of stores around the world. If you shop small, your piece is unique and special to your own taste, as well as the business owner. They thought it was special enough to sell in their little shop with hopes the perfect owner would come along.

5. Entrepreneurship and “The American Dream”

Every dollar you spend shopping small, you are directly contributing to the dream of another. Doesn’t that make you feel happy inside?!

This year we are offering 30% off our entire on “Small Business Saturday” which will fall on November 28, 2020! Be sure to sign up for our email list and follow us on socials so you never miss great deals like this one! And as always: thanks for reading!

This article was written on November 17, 2020 by Alexandria Nevarez.