WE LOVE SHOPPING LOCAL

Looking for 5 benefits of shopping locally? Local, small business shops rely on the customers within their town to keep coming back on a daily or weekly basis.

1. Tax Base. One of the five benefits of shopping locally is the increased tax base. By shopping locally, more sales tax is being generated by your favorite local stores, and that tax can be used within your community. Common uses for local sales tax include investments in infrastructure, police and fire departments, libraries, and parks.
2. Jobs. Local shops employ local residents, which means there will be more job opportunities within your community. The increase in jobs, one of the five benefits of shopping locally, also has a domino effect. Local stores will need to hire other local residents to help with accounting, create store signs, etc.
3. Product Diversity.Product diversity, one of the five benefits of shopping locally, may not seem important at first, but it is a win-win situation for local customers. Big box stores have national sales plans, and generally do not stock their stores with products that are sought after within a specific region. Local shops will need to stock their stores with products that their local customers will want, so if you have many local shops within your community, there will be a much broader range of product choices.
4. Competition. Competition of local shops is also one of the most important five benefits of shopping locally. Big box stores often drive mom and pop shops out of business, which means there is no competition. With no competition, the big box stores can charge higher prices. By having a multitude of local stores within your community, all of the stores will need to keep their prices competitive in order to gain your business.
5. Community Well Being. The final benefit on our list of the five benefits of shopping locally is community will being. By shopping at local shops, you will most likely run into your friends and family more often, which helps unite the community together as a whole. Local business owners are also more likely to donate more to local causes than big box stores are.

Did you know...

• that for every $100 you spend at a local business, $73 will go back to the local economy?
• that for every $100 you spend at a non-locally owned business, only $43 will go back to the local economy?
• that small Businesses with less than 100 employees represents 99% of the business in the U.S?
• that 75% of the new jobs created in the U.S. are created by small businesses?