The Best Way To Stick-it to the Big-Box Retailers

[rucky]

is to support the locally-owned Mom & Pop Shops.

Please don't forget about them. Understandable that people are cutting back this holiday. Our extended family all decided to grant each other "gift amnesty" - meaning that if we don't give or get, we won't make a stink about it. Those who want to and can give are welcome to, but nobody should feel like they have to. I'm sure other families had similar conversations yesterday.

But I don't think the "where to shop" really comes up as much as it should. Obviously we take care of our personal economies first, but people who can and want to shop, please also consider where you'll spend your limited gift budget, and how it will effect the economic climate of your community.

The small businesses can't afford to advertise ad-nauseum, or discount items below cost. Most small businesses can't compete on price, but instead distinguish themselves by offering higher quality of products and service. My fear is that they'll be the first to be left in the dust this holiday, as instinct is sending shoppers to go for the bargains and not think about the larger economic effects of their decisions.

Many small businesses are extremely fragile, and MUST have a decent holiday to survive. This will affect your community more directly than if a big-box fails (which may actually help the mom & pop's).

So instead of buying nothing, I suggest you buy what you can, but spend it at a local shop.

[flor-de-jasmim]

1. Well said!

[rucky]

4. Thanks.

I must admit that I have a dog in this fight.

I'm babysitting while my wife and her sisters run the store today. :)

[Frustratedlady]

2. Our family has drastically changed habits for this year...

and everyone is excited about it. We are giving to the young ones and the rest of us will bring a $20-25 gift for a crazy exchange. I don't know what you call it, but the first selects a gift and opens it, but the second can either take that gift or select another. It goes on like that until all the gifts are unwrapped. With college-aged kids around, the gift exchange gets pretty crazy and they have a ball. It is a challenge to select a gift that everyone will want to fight over.

We will also pool our money (whatever each person can afford) and either adopt a family or give to the food bank. All the banks are hurting.

I think it's going to be one of our best Christmas seasons of all.

Oh, I meant to add that I make it a point to shop at Mom and Pop stores first and rarely shop at the mega-malls. Our Mom/Pop stores will stay around, where the chains tend to move on and leave an empty shell.

[rucky]

3. I think that's called a White Elephant

we did that last year and it was fun, but the grandmas vetoed it this time.

[Morning Dew]

5. That's a fun way to exchange gifts.

We did that our office years ago . . . it was introduced to me as "shit on your neighbor" . . . I guess that's not a very Christmas like name for it though.

[CrispyQ]

8. That gift game is alot of fun.

It's way more interactive than sitting around watching everyone open presents. Plus you actually have a chance of getting something you like. Being last is the best position for this game!!

[Frustratedlady]

14. The kids are catching on that I always hide a gift card for gas or groceries in mine...

This year, I need to get really innovative so they can't find it.

One of the funniest gift exchanges was when one of the college boys gave a gift of a towel that had "Face" at one end and "Butt" at the other. All the other college kids wanted that towel. We laughed so hard, we cried.

No one will miss that exchange. They absolutely love it, but you have to have people who will show some emotion when fighting for their favorites. I've heard offers to babysit, do their laundry, bake a cake...whatever it takes to get that special gift.

[CrispyQ]

17. Harr! That reminds me...

Years ago I bought my sister a gift card. I put it in a long narrow box, along with a few small rocks & sticks, so when she shook it she wouldn't know what it was. When she finally opened it, everyone got a good laugh.

I would love to see that towel!

[Frustratedlady]

18. Ask and you shall receive.

http://www.prankplace.com/buttface.htm:bounce:

[CrispyQ]

21. OMG!

What a great site!! I'm getting a can of Liquid Ass for my BIL.

http://www.prankplace.com/liquidass.htm

Liquid ASS is a highly–concentrated, butt–crack smell with hints of green poo, fart, and dead animal. Its uses are unlimited. Spray it in an elevator, car or office cubical. Just a few spray of Liquid Ass is enough clean a crowded room. Get revenge with Liquid Ass.

[Frustratedlady]

22. I just received a 12% discount for Black Friday...

You might ask, if it isn't posted.

[calimary]

28. Never mind - just found it.

D'OH!

http://www.prankplace.com/buttface.htm

This is hilarious!

[CrispyQ]

6. The year old super Walmart three blocks away was open yesterday

& the lot was half full. Today, the Walmart parking lot is over flowing.

In the meantime, the old Walmart building, on the other side of town, sits vacant due to extreme leasing restrictions placed by Walmart & that entire area is drying up. A couple of small restaurants, a shoe repair shop, a lock & key shop, a tobacco shop - all are gone - not relocated, but out of business.

This is what Walmart does to local economies. Maybe if the town could lease the space to another retailer those little businesses wouldn't have gone under, but nooooo, no retailer allowed. The great & mighty Walmart cannot abide competition.

A few years ago I had my truck in at a locally owned franchise shop for issues. Turned out I needed a new battery. The owner of the shop told me I could go to Walmart & probably save $10. I told him I would buy the battery from him - I refused to support a company that destroys local businesses. "You guys have done great work on my truck. What has Walmart done for me?" It's been at least three years & everyone in the shop still remembers that. I'm now referred to as the anti-Walmart lady. ;)

I hope I don't sound like a snob. I know some people have no choice but to shop at Walmart, either for economic reasons or because there are no alternatives near them, but for those who can avoid shopping there, we should.

[Midlodemocrat]

7. I think most DUers who have a choice don't shop there.

But, there are some DUers who are extremely poor and have no alternative. Some of the glib comments here about their choice of shopping venues is pretty disgusting.

Not you. Others I've seen today.

[CrispyQ]

12. Those heartless DUers should read "Nickle and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich.

One of her working stunts is at Walmart & she tells of a young woman who has hidden a shirt that meets the Walmart dress code regulations. It cost a small amount of money, like $5 & the young woman is hoping by the end of the day it is marked down so she can afford to purchase it to wear to work. :cry:

It is a book full of heart breaking stories of people, mostly women with children, who are barely getting by in the "greatest nation on the planet."

http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0805088385/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227892606&sr=8-1

I hate that this nation gloats in it's self-righteous belief that we care for children. One of the first groups we throw overboard are single/divorced/separated women with children.

[Midlodemocrat]

13. That book was a huge eye opener for me.

[CrispyQ]

19. It was for me too.

I remember her comment that having a car & enough money to put down a damage deposit on an apartment gave her an advantage that the people she was working with didn't have. That really struck me. I have always had a car! And I cannot remember the last time my savings account was under $500. It doesn't seem like much, but it left me with a heaviness of heart, that so many of us take for granted things that we consider to be insignificant.

Her book should be required reading.

Nice chating with you, Midlodemocrat. :hi:

[CrispyQ]

26. I saw that thread you are referring to.

It is disgusting. It is so easy for some to judge others based on the context of their own lives. They would do well to remember that old adage about walking a mile in another's shoes before judging.

Some threads make you wonder if you're really on a liberal board.

[Frustratedlady]

9. Our old WalMart has a Dollar store and a Big Lots store

It sat empty for a long time. I didn't realize they had that restriction in the lease agreement.

[Midlodemocrat]

11. I think it has less to do with a lease agreement and more to do

with the localities. I know here, at least, as the growth from the city moved westward, there were a lot of buildings left empty by relocating retailers.

personally, I think if a retailer wants to abandon a building and build a new one, they need to raze it to the ground before being allowed to do so.

Interestingly, it costs a company far less to build new than to renovate old. Hence all the new stores replacing others.

[CrispyQ]

15. In our town, while Walmart was negotiating their new space,

they also negotiated restricting who could lease the old space. It's only for a few years - three I think, but already the effects are stunning & we are only a year & a few months into it.

I would love to know what kind of tax breaks or other breaks they got on the new space. Often times, the community foots the bill for things like sewer & road upgrades, in addition to offering lower rates on property taxes. :eyes:

Everything for artificial entities that exist only on paper & feel no pain or suffering, but nothing for living breathing people.

[rucky]

10. In my town, the vanilla boxes sit empty.

But they keep building them.

:shrug:

Of course, no local businesses can afford to lease on the "Westside" But the upside is, we have a really nice downtown with all local businesses and affordable rents.

[jane_pippin]

16. We're on the same page:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4549730

You said it better than me. I would like to repeat that if you don't know where to start, check to see if there are business alliances in your town that promote shopping locally. It's a quick way to see who's out there and what products and services are available to you from businesses owned by people who live in and care about your town as much as you do.

:hi:

[sentelle]

20. Thats OK

I have no intent to visit the big box stores during christmas or any other time. I find that small businesses are more responsive to my needs than some big box.

[pitohui]

23. our local mom and pops are republicans, fuck em, and i do mean that sincerely

i am real tired of backing mom and pops who do not want me and mine to have a living wage nor do they want me or mine to have health insurance/health care access

so fuck em, they reap what they have sewn


stop talking, don't have progressive/political bumper stickers on your car, just be quiet and let THEM talk, your ears will really burn! -- if they think you're one of them, it's awful what they will say just by way of conversation

i have very little sympathy for mom and pops this time of century, if you are a mom and pop and you are not a racist fuckwit anti-clinton mccain voter, better speak up and let your customer know it, because almost all of the small stores around here have been very vocal the other way -- i have actually been in small stores that play rush on the radio, i mean, why would you do that unless you're TRYING to send a message of hate and to make blacks, etc. uncomfortable about shopping in your store?

at least walmart or our walmart is diverse, after katrina when the hispanics came, they actually added a large section of "international" foods and started adding meat labels and cooking instructions in spanish

what mom and pop did that around here, that wasn't actually latin owned?

[Bucky]

24. I don't think you should hyphenate "Stick-it"

Grammatically speaking, those are two separate words--verb and direct object--in your subject line.

But on your main point, I agree: it's always better to support your local businesses---you might spend a little more, but the procedes go to local hires.

[calimary]

25. Yes! Support your neighborhood businesses.

They're probably having sales, too.

[NikolaC]

27. That is a very good idea

:kick:

Last night at around 11:00 p.m. we were on the way home from Thanksgiving dinner with my family when we saw the crazy lineup around the block in front of the Best Buy. People had tents and were playing soccer in the parking lot on a chilly night. For the life of me I cannot figure out what I would need so badly at Best Buy that I would freeze my ass off on line most of Thankgsgiving day and all night just for a few minutes of fevered shopping with a bunch of people who would tackle you for an item:crazy:!

I still have my holiday shopping to do. The thought of local business shopping is a good one, though hard to find where I am living. My family has decided that this will be a one gift per person Christmas. We also chose to give to as many charities as we could afford and spread the word to everyone that we know about those charities like food banks, Toys for Tots and local charities that give to people who have AIDS and cancer.

[BR_Parkway]

29. Thank you for saying that - as a small town pop and pop wine shop that's trying

to make it in this turning economy - internet sales have totally died off and we're totally depending on foot traffic to carry us through the slower season here.

[fortyfeetunder]

30. And go to arts and crafts markets

Not only will I shop local, I am going to arts and crafts fairs. The local artisans always have good deals.