Whenever I can I choose to shop small/local business for them for my needs. It’s so rewarding to see who my money is going too, get to know the owner and see their passion, also knowing that my transaction is helping that shop owner fulfill their dream, makes me feel good.
I will admit the suburb that I live in, has a plethora of small independent restaurants, lots of local service places, and a handful of boutiques but as far as I have found does not have many places to purchase the items you NEED. We do not have an independent grocer, independent drug store, or even a local bookstore, we have the big boxes. For these needs I have found myself driving to other communities that still have them. For my grocery needs being a celiac the first place that comes to mind for me to do my shopping is Whole Foods, because they have a large selection of gluten free things but I have found myself going to the Fruitful Yield as well as the local Gluten Free store but both are in different communities and both places prices are comparable to those at Whole Foods. For the things that you would need at a drug store there was a local pharmacy here but they got bought out by a big box grocery store so we no longer have one of those and I haven’t found a community nearby that has an independent pharmacy to replace the pharmacy I was going to, so box store it is.
In case you did not know this week is National Small Business week and I encourage you to get out in your community and make it a point to check out the small businesses in your area. You may stop in their shop and not find anything or you might find a great new go to place, either way by just walking in the door shows that you care they are a part of your community. By buying local and small business, you are not helping fund an around the world vacation or a 3rd summer home for some CEO that will never remember your coffee order. You are helping the person you are more then likely directly dealing with put food on their table, pay for their childs dance lessons, helping them pay for their kids college and more importantly supporting the American dream.
There is also a community of thousands of people on websites like Etsy, Big Cartel, and Ebay full of people that are trying to make their dream of owning a brick and mortar shop a reality, by getting a following started online. Click and stop in and say Hi to those people too. That is why we are doing what we are doing here at Junk, we junk girls have big dreams but to reach those we need to start somewhere and every purchase you make through our Etsy Shop as well as in person helps us get closer to achieving our dream.
So please this week show the small businesses in your area some love, remember buying local helps your local economy and I'm guaranteeing that you are going to find some way more interesting and authentic things then you would find as say big box store or chain restaurant.
Over-N-Out
Well said!
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