Shop local this Christmas to save time, money and jobs
HOW many times in recent years have you been disappointed to hear about the closure of a locally owned shop or cafe in your local town or village and wondered if there was anything that could have been done to prevent it?
The good news is that there is! Just continue to shop with your local businesses and support them.
The economic benefits of shopping local are many.
Consider the following: saving on the cost of fuel driving to a city or town 20 miles or more away; saving on the time involved in these ‘ time poor’ days; the hassle of waiting in long lines of traffic; the cost of parking in large urban centres; the stress of shopping centres and more long queues.
Local business owners have good reason to support other local businesses, both personally and professionally.
They spend their money locally, using local services, such as accountants, solicitors, and insurance brokers.
They also employ local people and source many of their products from local suppliers.
Bunclody now has more excellent places to shop, eat and get the big and little jobs that you need done than ever before.
There is a renewed confidence in the town, which needs to be supported if you - as someone living in the area - want a great place for both yourself and your family to shop in, eat in, go to the doctor in, get your hair cut in etc.
By choosing to walk in to your local shop, be it a menswear or ladies, or hardware shop, and not just buying online, you are contributing to your town and your community.
At a time when villages have lost their post office and shop, in some cases, the need to shop local has never been more glaringly obvious.
By shopping for food locally, for instance, you are ensuring that you are getting the freshest possible meat, fish, vegetables etc.
Also you should consider the following: Every €10 spent locally on Irish products generates €24 of benefit to the local community, and 45 cents of every euro spent is reinvested locally in comparison to only 15 cents for the foreign multiple-national companies.
According to the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) Chief Executive, Mark Fielding: ‘If every consumer switched just one tenth of their “imported shopping” to Irish produced goods it would shift the balance in favour of local producers, manufacturers and retailers and go a long way to sustaining Irish jobs.’
The longer term benefits of shopping local:
Studies have shown that there are also long-term social and economic benefits for towns and villages that are able to preserve unique businesses with distinctive character.
They help to sustain vibrant, compact town centres. They also increase housing prices.
A 2013 U.K study found that house prices near a high street full of thriving independent business rose an average of £40,000 more over the previous decade than areas with proportionately fewer independent traders.
Apart from directly helping to keep your local businesses in business, your local town unique and your local economy afloat, there are many, more selfish reasons to shop in your local businesses.
These include: - building a personal relationship with the local store and its owner and employees.
- Receiving better, more per- sonalised customer service from people who know your name and your personal tastes and interests.
- Accessing a greater variety of quirky, one-off gifts.
- Having available a wealth of locally sourced, ethically produced products from local farms, bakers, grocers etc, often with the option to sample the products before you buy.
- Receiving great advice and a better deal on products you actually need or want to buy, rather than those the multi-nationals force on you through multi-buy offers and other gimmicks.
- Being free from hidden or unaccounted for costs, such as time, as the aforementioned petrol, postage on returns, taxes and charges.
So next time you need to buy, think local, buy local.