Economy: An argument for shopping locally

Respondents to a poll sponsored by islandsweekly.net and sanjuanjournal.com show no surprises regarding where islanders plan on doing their holiday shopping.

The news websites asked, “Do you plan to do more than half of your holiday shopping on the islands?”

Of the respondents, 21 said “yes,” 20 said “no.”

In the following, Columnist Howard Schonberger tells of the virtues of shopping locally:

Neighbors, not Costco, builds community

If you had spent over half a century dealing with retailers large and small, you would understand how I feel when I hear the phrase “We’re going on a Costco run” or “I got the neatest doodad from my Staples catalog last week” or “You oughta see the golf balls I got on sale from Amazon.com.”

I understand the urge to save a buck, but since the newspaper industry depends on advertising for more than two-thirds of its revenue, I have a vested interest in promoting local merchants who invest their lives and money to provide goods and services for you, our readers.

Pretty blatant? You bet your sweet wallet it is. But it goes beyond the fact that our shops and services work for a living. Consider the fact that every sale made on these islands provides sorely needed tax dollars to provide vital government services to enhance our quality of life in this paradise county.

Sure, you might pay a few cents more for a turkey here than on the mainland, but look at what Kings and Island Market have to pay for turkeys compared to the giants. It’s a fact of life that volume buying brings volume discount to the big outfits. The government used to enforce the Robinson-Patman Act and other fair trade legislation, but loss leaders are so common in retailing now that the government doesn’t have time to fool with it.

Personally, it turns my stomach to see Costco Boulevard in Burlington facing a bank of empty buildings across Burlington Road which used to carry competitive merchandise.

The only thing that saves our local firms is the fact that the local market is not big enough to attract the big chains like Costco and Wal-Mart ... yet. Also, the fact that most of our local islanders are close enough to the friends and neighbors who stick their necks out by buying inventory after the tourist season on the gamble that it is of sufficient taste, quality and use to attract your attention. They know it is better in the long run to deal with people you know.

On Nov. 20, I went to Kings Clothing to see about repairing a piece of luggage I had purchased earlier in the year. I had finally decided, due to the long waits at airports, that I should have wheeled luggage. Sure enough, when we were getting off the airplane at trip’s end, one of the wheels came off. Since I was blocking the aisle, half the passengers were looking for the wheel. Luckily, I found it.

The wheel did a disappearing act several other times, but I always spotted it, until the day I departed on my honeymoon from Vancouver. The wheel was lost. Getting off the plane coming home two weeks later, the luggage recess which held the wheel was smashed by another piece.

Manager Theresa Chevalier heard my sad tale, picked up the phone to call the manufacturer and I was told I could pick out another piece and get full credit for what I had paid.

Try that on Amazon, Costco or Staples. Not only that, I had no ferry hassle and was able to get a senior discount on the original purchase on sale ...

Years ago, people used to write letters about the fact that oil dealers were gouging them because of lack of competition. I remember Bob Nieman and Dave Moorhouse both being quoted as saying that they never failed to fill up their own cars when they were driving on the mainland in order to save money — and they were the competitive owners of Island Petroleum Service and Petro San Juan. But they knew that the cost of delivering gas by ferry was an implacable obstacle to equalling mainland prices.

In short, what’s good for our business community by and large is good for all of us, tax-wise, pricewise and lifewise. And yes, newspaper-wise. I’ve yet to see a strong community with a weak newspaper. There’s a lot of truth in Jefferson’s saying: “If I had a choice of a government without a free press or free press without government, I’d take the latter.”

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read.