Haiden Widener, Campus Carrier Asst. Sports Editor
Growing up, my family didn’t ever shop at Walmart or Dollar Tree, or eat at places like McDonald’s. Instead we went to places like Ward’s, Treasures and Mann’s Grill. I would say that there is a 99 percent chance that you don’t recognize any of those places. That’s because they are all locally owned businesses in my small community in Indianapolis.
It never registered to me that my mom loved to exclusively shop locally until high school. All of my friends were always confused when I would pick Reed’s Flower Shop on Mother’s Day instead of Walmart, or wanted to eat at Mel’s Drive-In instead of Wendy’s. But to me that was normal. That was the way I had grown up.
I asked my mom why we had always shopped at different places than my friends’ families. Her response was that shopping locally was better, that it helped our community and made her feel like she wasn’t giving any power or money to huge corporations. And you know how the saying goes: moms are always right.
Shopping locally is beneficial for multiple reasons. It helps your local economy. When you buy locally, the money that business makes is more likely to help other local businesses, and support community projects, according to a 2014 Sustainable Connections study.
These businesses also help to keep your community unique. Imagine traveling to China to experience different culture and only being able to shop at Target and eat at Wendy’s the entire time.
Shopping at local businesses and eating at local places are part of the tourist experience. If these large corporations continue to shut out small businesses there will eventually be almost no cultural difference.
When you support these local businesses, you typically get much better customer service because people who own these businesses have a very good understanding of the products they are selling, and their employees do too.
They are better able to give you the help that you need, and the attention that you want than if you go to a large corporate store that is only trying to get your money and will often sell you things that you do not need.
I always loved the feeling of small shops, how welcomed you are, and how happy the employees are to see you, and I thought the food was much better. I am so thankful that my mom introduced me to shopping locally when I was young, so that now I am in the habit of finding cute, small businesses wherever I go.
Atlanta has hosted a Small Business Saturday following Black Friday since 2010, according to CBS Atlanta. They advertise small local business sales instead of corporation Black Friday sales, and also encourage people to shop locally and help their community.
Many large cities across the nation are now engaging in this event to help keep mom and pop businesses alive. You should too.
It is your community that you are helping, whether it be Rome, or your hometown.
I encourage everyone to shop, eat and do other activities locally whenever possible.
Here in Rome, there are many options for shopping and eating locally. Koman’s is a department store in downtown Rome on Broad Street. Harvest Moon is a locally owned restaurant also located on Broad Street, and Honeymoon is a local bakery. They also buy a lot of their food from other local businesses and farmers.
Broad Street seems to be the hub of small businesses in Rome, so I encourage you to shop at these retailers first before venturing to the mall or Walmart for your needs.
By doing this, you can help keep your community unique and lovable. In my opinion, if you want to get better-quality products and service, shopping locally is the way to go.