Here's why YOU should buy locally!
Feel stuck in capitalism? Like one person can't move the needle? Spoiler alert—you can! You might need items but you can choose where your money goes, you choose who your dollar empowers. The magic really happens when you choose to shop small. Let's walk through six bite-sized reasons why buying local is multiplier of good.
1. $73 of Every $100 You Spend Locally Stays Local 💸
An MSU paper "Why Buy Local?" found that shopping at independent businesses keeps about 73 ¢ of every dollar swirling around your hometown—paying neighbors’ wages, funding city services, and sparking new storefronts. National chains? Only 43 ¢ sticks around. National chains & large corporations don't have a vested interest in the community like local businesses.
2. Local Shops Are 4× More Likely to Give Back 🎁
That same MSU paper discussed hometown businesses donate quadruple the amount large retailers do, relative to sales. It's crazy what you can do when you aren't required to send your money to wealthy shareholders. People tend to invest in the community the live in and organizations that help what they care about.
3. Chain Stores Funnel Profits to Distant Shareholders 🏦
Publicly traded giants are obligated to maximize shareholder returns—often at the expense of local reinvestment. Translation: cash exits your zip code faster than you can say “overnight shipping.” Not exactly the neighborhood-building vibe we’re after. In fact, there is a landmark Michigan Supreme Court decision in Dodge v. Ford Motor Co. stating that they could not run the company mainly to the benefit of employees and customers and instead for profit of the shareholders.
4. Local Businesses Re-Invest in the Community 🤝
Independents buy supplies from other independents—think graphic-designers, print shops, and nearby farms. They live and hire people who live in the community, shopping in local stores, paying local taxes. The result is a vibrant, resilient web of small enterprises that weather economic storms better together. Studies call this the Local Multiplier Effect; we call it common sense. Money spent locally circulates, while chain stores and corporations extract and send the money elsewhere.
5. You Hold Serious Purchasing Power 💪
Remember: every purchase is a portable protest sign. When Black residents in Montgomery refused to ride segregated buses in 1955, revenue plunged and the Supreme Court struck down Jim Crow transit laws —proof that dimes and quarters can dismantle injustice. Three decades later, shoppers across the globe boycotted South-African fruit, wine, even cigarettes; imports fell by 35 %, helping push the apartheid regime to the negotiating table. Fast-forward: more than 1,000 brands from Patagonia to Ben & Jerry’s paused Facebook ads during the #StopHateForProfit campaign, forcing Meta to add civil-rights leadership at the C-suite level. Your bank card is basically a policy lever—pull it toward justice.
6. Feel-Good Bonus: Sustainability & Originality 🌎✨
Big boxes ship container-loads across oceans. Hive To Home pours candles in small batches down the street, using locally harvested beeswax. Less transport = smaller carbon footprint.
