THE BIG PICTURE

BY PETER BECKMANN

Beckmann’s Bakery co-founder and co-chair

Last time I went shopping for my favorite hand lotion, I had an interesting experience. First, the lotions were hard to find, and lacking a helpful store clerk, I wandered through half the store before realizing that my lotion had been replaced by lower quality but equally expensive lotions. And secondly, in order to take advantage of the advertised “special” price, I needed to join their “club” first.

Although benign on the surface, this little story sheds light on some important changes we encounter in national chain stores:

The modern chain store layout makes us walk by all those items we did NOT plan on buying, before we get to the section with the everyday staples (bread, milk, eggs).

Chain stores are staffed to a minimum. And since employee pay is kept to a minimum, turnover is high, and knowledgeable employees are harder to find.

There is increasing pressure from national chains on their suppliers to deliver their wares at rock-bottom prices. Many of these vendors, committed to paying their employees livable wages and benefits, refuse to reduce their prices, and their products eventually are replaced by lower cost, lower quality, and higher margin products.

The alternative lies in the ever-stronger movement toward local commerce, where shopkeepers choose their products based on their own and their customers’ preferences and not solely for profit reasons. The Think Local movement, promoted by umbrella organizations like BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) and AMIBA (American Independent Business Alliance) currently comprises some 41,000 independent and locally owned businesses nationwide. It continues to grow, thanks to discriminating personal consumption choices by all of us.

By shopping “locally owned” we are creating our communities together. Please Join us!