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It has become as much a part of the holiday season as counting blessings, singing carols and hearing out that drunk uncle when all we want to do is howl. As we enter the Christmas shopping stretch, the honorable mayors of many of our villages plaintively beg, cajole and guilt us into shopping local.
Before I go any further, make no mistake about it: running a local store these days is hard, a bit like holding a hellcat by the tail. Between malls and the Internet, you have competition coming at you from all quarters—from down the street to out there in the ether.
But does it accomplish anything for our public officials to effectively turn local retailers in the public mind into charity cases or, worse, scold us for not shopping there?
Real estate might be about local, but retailing is about merchandising. If it’s good, people will come. If it’s not--well, no amount of badgering will get us there.
To press the point this shopping season, my mayor even sent out a crib sheet in the form of a listing of local stores. As if we didn’t know. Should the mayors of our villages be spending time producing local shopping Cliff Notes when the only effort that can help improve local store sales is attracting corporations? More workers during the day mean newfound business, at the time when most village streets are nearly empty.
The implication of this mayoral bullying is clear: help out the little guy. Of course, the implication overlooks the fact that many of us little guys would rather buy something on Amazon than a 20 percent mark-up in town.
That subtlety seems lost on our local politicians. When a controversial Walgreen’s was approved recently to take the place of three local businesses, Hartley Connett, the mayor of Dobbs Ferry, nearly sent the citizens of his village to detention. He issued a letter, telling the good citizens of Dobbs Ferry that they brought the chain store upon themselves.
Wrote the mayor, with all the charm of a claw hammer: “It was also noted that the most important thing any of us can do as residents is to support our local businesses. If residents don’t support these businesses, then we only have ourselves to blame when they go away.” Ouch.
Do we, in fact, have a deep-seated obligation to support a business, just because it’s local? Or does the obligation cut the other way—don’t the stores have the obligation to woo us with either merchandising or pricing?
Framed as merely a responsibility, the concept of shopping local comes across as drab. But a good local store with good prices? Well, that’s something I’d shop at without the seasonal browbeating. You?
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Marek Fuchs is the author of "A Cold-Blooded Business," the true story of a murderer, from Westchester, who almost got away with it. His upcoming book on volunteer firefighting across America, “Local Heroes,” is due out in 2012. He wrote The New York Times' "County Lines" column about life in Westchester for six years and teaches non-fiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College, in Bronxville. He also serves as a volunteer firefighter. You can contact Marek through his website: www.marekfuchs.com or on Twitter: @MarekFuchs.
Comments (8)
How can we shop locally with so many town businesses closing?
Hello Marek:
Welcome to the community. Please walk our streets, browse our shops, attend a local high school sports event, worship at one of our many local houses of worship, visit the library, join a softball team, watch the sun go down at the waterfront park on the Hudson, march in the Road to Freedom event run by the local historical society, visit the hospital, ride the community bus, get a haircut, have a slice of pizza, watch the fireworks on the 4th of July, take your family out to dinner, get your car serviced, fill a prescription, join the Chamber of Commerce and the PTA, swim in the community pool, watch a free concert at the riverfront, attend a Board of Trustees meeting or one of the many volunteer community boards. Get involved in the dozens of local charities that operate here. Plant your roots here. I promise - you'll change your mind.
Howard Pobiner
I'm in my second decade here and about as involved as anyone, but thanks. All I'm saying is that the practice of mayors guilting and browbeating residents into shopping local helps no one. They should instead be concentrating on something beyond hollow (perhaps counterproductive) gestures. They should do thing like 1) try to attract corporations that throw off tax money and provide daytime shoppers or 2) find a way to lift metering/heavy ticketing, which destroys local shops. They all but admit this by turning the meters off during the shopping season. Mayors should not, in the limited time their part-time status provides, be producing long-lists of local shops or letting a big chain in then writing residents a letter saying it was their fault for not frequenting the old places enough. Best, Marek
I really have to question the necessity of this particular piece. It cuts a wide swath; too wide. . I'm not aware--in my village, or anywhere else--of any local 'charity cases' relying on guilt trips to lure customers into their establishments. And if you do come in because you feel sorry (?!) for us (I'm a local shopkeeper), then please save yourself the trip. In our business community, I see gutsy, innovative, customer-focused proprietors whose minds are always a beehive of activity; the focus being their shops, their customers, their community.
As for cheerleading officials, well, good! A good mayor, the '1st citizen' of his community, will do anything and everything to promote and put his/her village in a positive light. Isn't that part of the job? In fact, I hope our respective mayors never stop promoting your hometown, or mine, or anyone else's. If they're not, then shame on them! (And I'm quite sure no one's ever been 'bullied' or had their doors busted down by the 'shop police' in the process !) You do want your community to thrive and succeed, don't you?
Our local, small shops are the heart and soul of America--always were, and, while under severe pressure, they always will be. Our guts and focus will make damned sure of that.
Lastly, judging from the title of your column, you have children. Look at your Little League sponsors, look at the names of your various school event patrons. Please let us know if Amazon.com is one of them.
Thanks for your thoughts, even if we might disagree a touch. I didn't say that local stores were charity cases--only that they were being treated as such. And that probably does as much bad as good. As for cheerleading officials--well, most of our mayors are part-timers, with a lot of full-fledged fiscal trouble on their hands. Should they really be frittering away time writing crib sheets listing local stores like my mayor and a bunch of others? I'm not so certain. Best Wishes, Marek
Well, I wasn't quite saying not to shop local. I'm just not certain that this blind obligation, foisted upon us by local mayors, does anyone any good. It doesn't recognize the reality of the citizens, especially in a crummy economy, who often have to go for the lower price. And might lull local retailers into a false sense of security. Instead of sprucing up their stores, they think they can rely on the obligation of the buy-local guilt trip. You can definitely point out some great stores in Westchester and Connecticut. I frequent a few of them myself. But too many are tried and frayed. Thinking they'll be held aloft because we feel sorry for them ain't doing anyone--from retailer to citizen to that mayor flapping his gums to no real end--any good. Best Wishes, Marek
Well, I wasn't quite saying not to shop local. I'm just not certain that this blind obligation, foisted upon us by local mayors, does anyone any good. It doesn't recognize the reality of the citizens, especially in a crummy economy, who often have to go for the lower price. And might lull local retailers into a false sense of security. Instead of sprucing up their stores, they think they can rely on the obligation of the buy-local guilt trip. You can definitely point out some great stores in Westchester and Connecticut. I frequent a few of them myself. But too many are tried and frayed. Thinking they'll be held aloft because we feel sorry for them ain't doing anyone--from retailer to citizen to that mayor flapping his gums to no real end--any good. Best Wishes, Marek
Wow. Marek Fuchs really needs to live somewhere else. He so misses the point of shopping locally...continue to shop for your deals online, Mr. Fuchs, and miss out on the opportunity to find really special gifts beautifully wrapped, meet and share ideas with exceptional shop owners, support local charities and school events, and know what it really means to be part of the community. That 20% discount is hardly worth missing out on the exceptional service from Barry Mishkin at Family Britches, laughing with Yvonne and Roy at Pleasantville's Village Book Store, or knowing part of my purchase will go to Neighbors Link from Holbrook Cottage in Briarcliff Manor. Westchester's communities are vital interesting places to live in large measure because of the depth and breadth of our local commerce. To encourage the patronization of our local shops is to encourage the continued growth of our communities. These business men and women give back to our towns everyday in ways large and small. By suggesting that the merchandise and/or financial incentives fall short, does a huge disservice to all those who work so hard to provide truly remarkable shopping experiences. Me? No one needs to browbeat me to shop locally, nor do I expect them to take money out of their pocket to get me in the door. Their level of service, exceptional products, and warmth are all I need.
Susie De Felice