Shop Local Goes Both Ways

“Shop local.”

We hear those words all the time, especially in small communities. And for the most part, it’s good advice. Local businesses can create jobs, sponsor community events, support local organizations, donate prizes, pay local taxes and help keep a town vibrant.

But somewhere along the way, “shop local” has sometimes taken on a different meaning. It can start sounding less like an invitation and more like an obligation.

If a business is struggling, suddenly the community is told it needs to rally around it. People need to eat there more often, shop there more often or spend money they otherwise wouldn’t spend because, if they don’t, the business might close.

But is that really what supporting local means? I don’t think it is.

Supporting local should be a relationship between businesses and the community they serve. Residents support businesses, and businesses support their community. It works both ways.

There’s also an important distinction between a genuinely independent local business and a location belonging to a much larger franchise or corporation. That doesn’t mean a franchise shouldn’t be supported. A franchise can employ local people, purchase goods and services locally, sponsor a hockey team, donate to a fundraiser and become an active member of the community.

If it does those things, there are plenty of good reasons to support it.

But putting a storefront in a small town doesn’t automatically make a business “local” in the same sense as an independent business that was created, owned and operated within that community. And simply being located in town doesn’t create an automatic obligation for residents to keep that business profitable.

This becomes particularly important when a business opens and later announces that it may not survive because it isn’t getting enough customers.

Naturally, people want to help. In a small town, nobody wants to see another empty storefront. But there is another side to that conversation.

Before opening any business, there should be serious consideration given to whether enough demand exists to sustain it. How many people live within the realistic customer base? How many competitors already serve those customers? What makes this business different? How often will residents realistically purchase the product? Will customers come from surrounding communities? Is there a reason for someone from a larger nearby centre to make the trip?

Those aren’t questions the community should be expected to answer after the doors open. They’re questions that should be answered before the doors open.

Restaurants are an especially good example.

A small community can only support so many places to eat. Every additional restaurant is competing for a piece of a relatively small pie. Unless a restaurant can attract customers from outside the immediate area, its potential market has a natural ceiling.

And if the same franchise already operates in a nearby city and in numerous other locations, people from that city aren’t necessarily going to drive to a smaller community specifically to visit another location of the same restaurant.

That should be part of the original market analysis.

We’ve also seen the opposite happen. Some small-town businesses manage to attract customers well beyond their town limits. They market themselves outside the community. They develop something distinctive. They create an experience, product, atmosphere or reputation that gives people a reason to make the drive.

That expands their market beyond the town’s population. And that matters.

A small town can certainly support businesses that appear, on paper, to outnumber what its population should sustain. But those businesses can’t all depend exclusively on the same residents spending more and more money. Somebody has to bring new dollars into town.

That’s where marketing, reputation, quality, customer service, community involvement and good old-fashioned business planning enter the picture.

There’s another part of “shop local” that doesn’t get discussed nearly enough.

Businesses should practice it themselves.

If a business asks residents to spend their money locally, does that business hire local contractors when practical? Does it advertise with local media? Does it support community events? Does it donate occasionally to local organizations? Does it participate in community initiatives? Does it work with other businesses in town?

Nobody expects a business to give away its profits or purchase everything locally regardless of price or quality. But there should be some reciprocity.

It’s difficult to continually tell residents, “You need to support us because we’re local,” while contributing very little to the community you’re asking to support you.

None of this means we should shrug when a local business struggles. Quite the opposite.

If you enjoy a business, use it. Tell people about it. Leave a positive review. Recommend it to visitors. Share its posts. Bring friends. Buy gift certificates. Supporting businesses you value helps keep them around.

But people shouldn’t feel personally responsible for rescuing a business simply because it opened within the town limits.

Customers still have budgets. They still have preferences. Businesses still have competition.

If residents aren’t buying enough of a particular product or service, the answer can’t always be, “Residents need to support local better.”

Sometimes the business needs to ask why people aren’t coming.

Is it price? Quality? Service? Hours? Location? Marketing? Too much competition? Not enough demand? Or was the potential customer base simply overestimated from the beginning?

Those can be uncomfortable questions, but they’re important ones.

Maybe we need to stop treating “shop local” as a command and start treating it as a partnership.

Residents should recognize the value of businesses that invest in their community. Businesses should recognize that community support isn’t guaranteed simply because they have a local address.

Support the businesses that employ your neighbours. Support the ones contributing to community life. Support businesses offering good products, good service and fair value. Support entrepreneurs taking risks and creating something worthwhile.

And businesses, in return, should support the people, organizations and community that they’re asking to support them.

Because the healthiest version of “shop local” isn’t, “You owe us your business because we’re here.”

It’s, “We support this community, this community supports us, and together we give people a reason to keep their dollars close to home.” That's what shopping local should really mean.