7 Easy Ways to Localize

It’s that time of year. Holiday shopping stats are dominating headlines. Online sales crossed the one-billion-dollar mark on Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday weekend purchases totaled over $57 billion. Cyber Monday sales rose as much as 30 percent for major retailers. And much to our delight, Small Business Saturday, a marketing campaign initiated by American Express, saw an increase again this year. It generated $5.7 billion in sales.

Supporting the economic health of your community is a major focus at Ayureka. We believe we are all connected. The consequences of your daily choices have a ripple effect, beginning with your own wellbeing. The goal is to make the right choices for a healthy body, a happy mind, a safe family and an economically stable home.  The positive impact will gradually roll outward, reaching your community.

Buying local can save a forced mandate. By choosing to support a neighborhood vendor, you contribute to enabling your region to weather hard times. Economic resources stay close to home. With a shorter supply chain and less drive time, fewer natural resources are used. Over time, these factors can only have a positive impact the whole planet.

There are so many reasons to buy local. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance has a pretty compelling “Top 10” list:

1. Local character and prosperity: In an increasingly homogenized world, communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character have an economic advantage.
2. Community wellbeing: Locally owned businesses build strong communities by sustaining vibrant town centers, linking neighbors in a web of economic and social relationships, and contributing to local causes.
3. Local decision-making: Local ownership ensures that important decisions are made locally by people who live in the community and who will feel the impacts of those decisions.
4. Keeping dollars in the local economy: Compared to chain stores, locally owned businesses recycle a much larger share of their revenue back into the local economy, enriching the whole community.
5. Job and wages: Locally owned businesses create more jobs locally and, in some sectors, provide better wages and benefits than chains do.
6. Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship fuels America’s economic innovation and prosperity, and serves as a key means for families to move out of low-wage jobs and into the middle class.
7. Public benefits and costs: Local stores in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure and make more efficient use of public services relative to big box stores and strip shopping malls.
8. Environmental sustainability: Local stores help to sustain vibrant, compact, walkable town centers-which in turn are essential to reducing sprawl, automobile use, habitat loss, and air and water pollution.
9. Competition: A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term.
10. Product diversity: A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based, not on a national sales plan, but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.

This list creates a strong case for making Small Business Saturday a regular habit. Interested in keeping the momentum going? We call this “localizing.” Ducking in to that adorable corner boutique, trying out a neighborhood restaurant or checking out the local arts scene are great ways to start—especially during the holidays.

Here are a few suggestions for localizing the items on your “to do” list:

• Find your local farmer’s market: Make this a weekend adventure. And don’t limit your visit to veggies and fruits. Explore other offerings. From artisan bread and pasta makers to butchers to handmade soaps, most local marketplaces have an ever-growing array of area vendors.
• Switch-up your workout: Love your national chain gym? No problem. Find a local studio offering yoga, dance, kickboxing or other types of classes and attend one a week. If you have a few “hard to please” friends on your holiday list, leverage local studio gift certificates. It is a win-win!
• Resist those service and repair coupons: Major automotive service centers, furnace service businesses or even national plumbing companies can have large marketing budgets and sophisticated sales processes. Low-priced initial offers may result in high-priced recommendations. An independent shop may serve you best in the long run.
• Get to know your neighbor: We’ve all bypassed the local hardware store in favor of the sure bet. (Who wants to risk having to make two stops in the middle of a project?)  On your next run, give the small guy a shot. The breadth of inventory and quality of service may be a pleasant surprise.
• Keep the stuff you love close to home: Instead of discarding the killer boots you picked up in Italy or that great chair with ratty upholstery, find a local shop to repair, replace or restore your favorite items.
• Look for a hanging shingle: It can be far easier to establish a beneficial, long-term relationship with independent attorneys, financial planners and tax accountants. Most rely on positive word-of-mouth and repeat business. It should show in the quality of their services.
• Explore small local charities: The next time you’re packing-up items to donate, take a minute to research your options. Many smaller organizations run specialty thrift shops and struggle to compete against more recognizable names. The profit from the sale supports a local charity and the donated item is repurposed close to home. Localizing doesn’t get better than that!

Up for the localizing task? Purchasing decisions that positively impact the economic wellbeing of your community have a far-reaching impact. Share your thoughts. Where do you like to shop close to home?