By Doug Draper
There are only a few shopping days left until Christmas and Niagara At Large reminds you to celebrate the Holiday Season by giving one of the greatest gifts you can to the economic well-being of the greater Niagara communities we live in – buy what you can and all you can, through this Holiday Season and in to the New Year, from our local, independent retailers. ![christmas-candlelight-living-desktop[1]](https://niagaraatlarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/christmas-candlelight-living-desktop1.jpg?w=300&h=225)
We all know that it is so tempting to go in after the ‘door buster’ sales that big box corporate chain stores like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target and K-Mart advertise in the flyers stuffed in corporate-owned newspapers we get shoved in our doors every week. And some say; ‘Well, that’s a good buy and I ‘m not doing so well in the income department right now. I can’t afford not to take advantage of it,”
There are even more important reasons why all of us – as members of communities we hope will bring us decent jobs – should say ‘no’ to these corporate chains. Those reasons include the fact that most of these chains – and Wal-Mart is among the worst of them when it comes to keeping wages down to the barest-keep-them-slaving bones – peddle products made in sweat shops in developing or underdeveloped countries, and give little or nothing back to the communities the retail in than suck as much money out of consumers as possible. By virtue of how much expendable income they can suck out of us, they are scoffing what we have left to support local, independent businesses that hire local people and keep their money in our communities.![Shop-Local_07[1]](https://niagaraatlarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/shop-local_071.jpg?w=500)
In Buffalo, New York, there is a great ‘Buy Local’ group and movement that you can visit at www.buffalofirst.org and that the rest of us should get going in Niagara, Ontario and other communities in Erie and Niagara, Counties, New York.
This great Buffalo First group stresses, and I paraphrase past Buffalo to the greater Niagara region, that when we shop locally, three times more money stands in our communities. Shopping at local, independent stores is “also fun, authentic and good for the environment.”
By contrast, the more we shop at big box chain stores that sell us cheap, plastic stuff manufactured in sweat shops overseas, the more decent-paying manufacturing jobs we lose here. If that continues, we will all end up shopping at buck stores full of poor quality, disposable junk.
So think about it this Holiday Season and consider that even if you are paying more for better quality in a local independent store, you are investing in the future of our communities – not some Bay or Wall Street shareholders who bank their returns in a Swiss bank where they don’t have to pay any taxes here.
Happy Holiday from Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com .
(Niagara At Large invites all of you who dare to share your first and last name with your comments to place them below so that we may have a good and meaningful discussion on this topic.)
Niagara At Large 
Buying locally is such a simple thing to do. You save gas, time and your conscience. I can honestly say that There is nothing I can’t find in Fort Erie when I shop for daily stuff, special occasion stuff and absolutely this week’s holiday shopping. If you know me, you know I am kind of picky, so if I can find what I want and need in the Greater Fort Erie area than anyone can. We have some of the most unique shops and opportunities here and it really is fun to purchase something at a venue where you almost always run into friends and relatives. Every year I host , as a volunteer a gift wrapping booth for two weeks right up until 4p.m. Christmas Eve at our only enclosed mall for NAFA, a region wide animal rescue charity and although there is a percentage of people who bring their gifts from out of town to be wrapped for just a donation, the majority of our annual supporters getting their gifts wrapped share where they found the great buys and 90% of the time it is locally. Shopping locally is helping our neighbours pay their bills and it certainly makes it easier to return an item that may be the wrong size or colour. What a waste of time, gas and energy it must be to hit the highway this time of year just because you need to return something you could and should have bought locally.
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Well said, Doug. Small businesses hire more people in our country than the big-box stores do. Small businesses are owned by our neighbours who support our community not just with their money but with their individual, personal participation. These owners are often seen coaching our kids, carrying out fund-raisers for our community charities, taking part in our groups like Rotary; serve on community associations and service boards. They keep money in our community; they live next door. You, Doug, are one of them.
Niagara at Large, for example, gives us the real news that matters and raises the issues the competition seems to fear raising.
Suggestion: first try the smaller businesses in the area then the middle-sized businesses — often locally owned franchises — then the big-box enterprises if you can’t get it elsewhere. Keep our neighbours’ businesses here in town. Their owners are a significant part of our community. They may even coach your kids!
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I haven’t shopped at Walmart in over a year now and it has been great. My kids love their consignment clothes, and they don’t go to school in outfits identical to other kids. All summer they looked forward to Saturday morning around Sylvie Place, then a stroll downtown from Moody’s to My Country Deli. A LOT of people could benefit from an organized buy local initiative. This is a great article!
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