Buying locally

A program called I Buy NEO was started by Cleveland’s Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) some time ago and is gaining traction in helping and encouraging consumers to buy from locally owned and operated businesses. In fact, COSE has designated July 4 – 11 as buy local week.

John Hughes, a deterimined young Detroit entrepreneur, is starting a for-profit business to provide incentives to Detroit citizens to buy from local merchants. He is hoping his plan will have at least a small role in turning around a decaying city. Read and hear an NPR review called The Entrepreneurial Spirit Burns Bright in Detroit.

Will Limkemann
www.siqualtd.com

Saturday morning as I was heating water for tea in my twenty-five-year-old microwave oven, my son was telling me a tale of woe about his five-year-old GE microwave. It had stopped heating. The expensive magnetron tube that produces the microwaves had failed, and considering parts and labor, it did not make economic sense for him to have the oven repaired.

As the microwave was built into his kitchen cabinets, he needed to replace the unit with one that could easily slide into the space. After shopping at Home Depot and Lowes he went to the local store, Stewart’s Appliances, and bought the unit he needed – at a lower price than at the “big box” stores.

The myth we all seem to want to buy into is that big box outlets offer the same merchandise at lower prices than locally owned and run stores. This myth has been the ruin of so many downtowns and local stores. Not only are prices often comparable but local store owners are knowledgeable and generally provide much better service. In addition, buying locally supports neighbors and puts profits right back into the community.

I want local businesses to support me, so I do everything I can to support them. What do you do?

Will Limkemann
www.siqualtd.com