Current Events > Why should I mainly support local small businesses again?

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There's this belief that local small businesses legitimately cares about your local economy and environment. That somehow only large corporations such as Walmart and Amazon are greedy fucks?

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Because the big corporations are evil


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I'd say just keep shopping wherever you were shopping before. You probably didn't go in to those little Mom & Pop places for a reason anyway.

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You should shop where you get the most value for your cash.

For me that means the mom and pop burrito place > taco bell

But for a lot of shit Walmart > wherever.

Honestly tho outside of like produce, takeout and clothing there's not a lot of mom and pop for shit I buy

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Smaller businesses are often just as shitty. Where are all the small restaurants offering well over minimum wage to waiters

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Big business have child slavery!!! On Saturday I went to a local corner store and they had a 12 year old working the register he said he was the son of the owner and wasn't even paid at all. They do this to save money from having to pay employees.

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El Mexicano Texano posted...

Big business have child slavery!!! On Saturday I went to a local corner store and they had a 12 year old working the register he said he was the son of the owner and wasn't even paid at all. They do this to save money from having to pay employees.

Yeah my guy who works for his uncle at a corner mart gets paid like shit.

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Rika_Furude posted...

Smaller businesses are often just as shitty.

That's the point I was getting at to. Why should I support poorly ventilated fire hazard shit shacks where they take half an hour to stumble out of the back room? I've been to these small local stores and saw literally the same exact items from Walmart and Target marked up by like 100-200%. I guess that no-name root beer that they carry makes them special huh?

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Veggeta_MAX posted...

That's the point I was getting at to. Why should I support poorly ventilated fire hazard shit shacks where they take half an hour to stumble out of the back room? I've been to these small local stores and saw literally the same exact items from Walmart and Target marked up by like 100-200%. I guess that no-name root beer that they carry makes them special huh?

The only reason I support local businesses is because I mostly walk. I prefer to go to larger ones when possible. I guess one of the grocery stores near my house is sort of a small business but its connected to a chain too. Anyway, it has good prices so I dont mind going there either.

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I just went right now to another store to buy Dawn dish soap it costs $9 for a small ass bottle that I can find at Walmart/Target for $5. Got an Arizona and costs $2 the fucking can even has 99cents on it, fuck that.

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El Mexicano Texano posted...

Got an Arizona and costs $2

This is literally blasphemy that that happened to you, wtf.

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Eh, I will buy local when I see a business that is really doing better than the big chains. But mostly, the only local things I've found worthy of my dollar tend to be food oriented places. Even if you pay a few bucks more, you either get extra quantity or the food just tastes better.

Local business would probably do better in general if big corporate stores didn't force exclusive contracts for steep discounts on mass purchases. If they had to pay more normal prices, local businesses would actually stand a better chance.

That's the real problem to fix, to be completely honest. But we know that won't happen because the corporations can hide behind freedom and their ability to be treated as a person due to that fucked up ruling in the past. Also, new/one world order is coming, etc. all that.

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El Mexicano Texano posted...

Got an Arizona and costs $2 the fucking can even has 99cents on it, fuck that.

https://youtu.be/fMUZ2sVjLfY

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Lunar_Savage posted...

Local business would probably do better in general if big corporate stores didn't force exclusive contracts for steep discounts on mass purchases. If they had to pay more normal prices, local businesses would actually stand a better chance.

That's the real problem to fix, to be completely honest. But we know that won't happen because the corporations can hide behind freedom and their ability to be treated as a person due to that fucked up ruling in the past. Also, new/one world order is coming, etc. all that.

What a fancy way of saying "it's still the greedy corporations fault!'

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Veggeta_MAX posted...

What a fancy way of saying "it's still the greedy corporations fault!'

Bin-fucking-go.

lol

Yes, small businesses could attempt to do better as is. Unfortunately, they're being run mostly by locals who don't have the greatest minds.

That make ya feel a little better?

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Naw, I think we just need to stop this narrative that we should better support local small businesses because it's some how more beneficial.

All this really is-is being a giant hipster who is anti-pop.

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Veggeta_MAX posted...

Naw, I think we just need to stop this narrative that we should better support local small businesses because it's some how more beneficial.

All this really is-is being a giant hipster who is anti-pop.

I would tend to agree with the first sentiment here. It is in no way automatically more beneficial.

But acknowledging the nuances to a problem isn't a hipster thing.

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Large firms are more productive because they can make better use of the division of labor, meaning lower prices for consumers and higher wages for workers.

You should spend your money wherever you feel it gets the most value.

i like to go to a small bookstore in vegas but sometimes they don't have the book i want so i hvae no choice but to go to barnes and noble.

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ClunkerSlim posted...

Because hopefully the money stays in your community.

People are the community.

Broseph_Stalin posted...

People are the community.

The narrative is that mom and pop shops care about their local community and will somehow contribute back into it.

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ClunkerSlim posted...

Because hopefully the money stays in your community.

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I come from a family of small business owners.

We bank local, employ locals, and keep most of the capital we make local. It gets spent local and we reinvest in our businesses in the local area. In other words, the money you spend with us gets returned directly to the local market at a higher percentage than an national or international business. Plus, the owners are likely members of the local community and have a vested interest in its particular success, as the local owners depend on the other locals for income.

Think of this way, you shop at walmart. The profits earned by the company are dispersed widely among its shareholders around the world. You shop at the locally owner corner store with the family ownership that lives directly above it. A lot of the money they make gets spent at the local business around where they live. More of the wealth generated stays within your own community.

Big business are not inherently evil nor are local business inherently good. Just keep that in mind.

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Broseph_Stalin posted...

Large firms are more productive because they can make better use of the division of labor, meaning lower prices for consumers and higher wages for workers.

You should spend your money wherever you feel it gets the most value.

Generally yes, but smaller business can respond to local concerns faster than cooperate chains. Smaller bureaucracy.

Good example of this in my real life experience. One thing my family does is own and operate an independent gas station and icecream shop. A few years ago, a horrible storm knocked electricity out everywhere in our county. And all the neighboring counties. It's the middle of July. My father hires an electrician the day off the disaster to wire a generator into his power box. We had the only gas pumps running for like 5 days in a huge radius. Locals, law enforcement, and emergency services relied on us. All of the cooperate stations were ordered to stand down and local managers did not have authority to just wire up a generator to their pumps. My father, as the guy in charge, just made the call and made it happen. It was amazing how quick and efficient he pulled it off and how much good we were able to do.

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furb posted...

Think of this way, you shop at walmart. The profits earned by the company are dispersed widely among its shareholders around the world. You shop at the locally owner corner store with the family ownership that lives directly above it. A lot of the money they make gets spent at the local business around where they live. More of the wealth generated stays within your own community.

Yeah man we should all make business owners as wealthy as possible so they spend the money locally. Or maybe we should make consumers as wealthy as possible because they spend a lot more money locally.

Give mom and pop shops a million bucks and they'll go buy a yatch the same way Elon Musk will.

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Broseph_Stalin posted...

Yeah man we should all make business owners as wealthy as possible so they spend the money locally. Or maybe we should make consumers as wealthy as possible because they spend a lot more money locally.

I tend to think there should be a balance. Like I noted in my original post, big businesses are not inherently evil. Business do typically scale efficiently. They also do a lot of things beneificial to customers too. Such as cheaper costs and better hours in a lot of cases.

But OP asked why one should support local business. I just tried to supply some reasons. They're not always going to be universally true, of course.

My gripe with smalls businesses or local businesses is many act like their owed service BECAUSE they are local. That's not an excuse for bad service, prices, or costs. Sometimes walmart beats you because it undercuts you, with unfair labor practice. However, if youe only wanted to be open a few hours a day, go on vacation all the time, and provide horrible service, you can't just blame the mart when you fail.

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