I've been contemplating this topic for a while now. Is it something that I dare bring up for fear that I offend someone, or should I say it fearlessly, hoping that someone else feels the same way?
Here goes nothing.
Small town businesses.
Should they be supported? Is it worth spending our money supporting these businesses? Would I be better making the 90 mile trek to Grand Forks for all of my needs?
Here are my thoughts.
1. Should they be supported? Absolutely! How often do you run out of eggs after you have already begun making a cake? Or what about when the light burns out in your kitchen and you don't have any spares left? What happens when you are short 2-2"x4"s for a pole shed, or you have been on empty for the past 20 miles and need to find gas somewhere? Or how about the beef farmers- don't we all like to know where our meat is coming from? No matter the business, we each depend on the other. While most of these are crisis situations, we cannot leave our small businesses to only satisfy our crisis scenarios. Your business keeps the owners bills paid, puts food on the table, and gives their kids opportunities to do great things.
2. Is it worth spending our money supporting these businesses? A comment was made to me recently that one of the stores in our area was "a waste of their money". Um, what? Here's how I see it. You can't be for keeping our school open and against supporting the gas station or pro PodCo and anti T&B Hardware. All of these businesses are part of a cycle. Each of them thrives off of each other and keeps the cycle profitable and flowing efficiently. If you are against one business, then you are kind of against all of them.
3. Would I be better making the 90 mile trek to Grand Forks for all of my needs? Overall, no. Yes, I do make trips to Grand Forks to purchase supplies such as toilet paper, paper towels, clothing detergent, dish washer detergent, etc. in bulk, because we tend to go through large amounts of them. I am not denying or ignoring this, but I truly believe that buying the majority of our products in large stores only fuels the greedy pig. Who reaps the benefits of those purchases? Large companies that could probably care less about what we think or whether or not we spend out money with them is who. I think it's safe to say that small business owners truly care about what we think and whether or not we spend our money in their stores. Yes, prices may be slightly more expensive, but after driving 180 miles round trip, are you really coming out ahead? According to my calculations (at least for most products), no.
Maybe this will upset some of you. Perhaps some of you by some miracle see this situation the same way that I do. Whatever your thoughts and/or opinions, I am writing this in hopes that you will be willing to give small businesses a chance, because without them, what kind of a place would we live in?
Enjoy the warm weather, folks. :)
