Business
LOCAL… Please… LOCAL
In our little mountain town, I am sure I have mentioned that stores and vital services like banking and medical offices have closed .It seems our once-taken-for-granted conveniences seem to be drifting away, one by one. Our local hardware store needs our local support. Our grocery stores and service stations need our support. Is everybody lined up at the major retailers in search of that saved buck? Well, yes you will find some super deals to lure you in the door, but they are banking that you will stack up some of their higher priced offerings too.
A local person I know, who had long owned a computer headset she found at Lassen True Value in Westwood for $9.99, suddenly needed another. She had recently seen them still offered at the downtown retailer for $9.99, so she called to make sure they had one in stock. Turns out they did not. They had just sold out and were waiting for a new shipment. So this gal runs off to the big retailer, where national TV commercials had told her she should expect a much lower price. She was astounded when the exact same product cost her $17.99. On her way to the cash register, she admired a little patio set with a giant sign: $119 – 5 piece patio set. She resisted, though she KNEW this just had to be a great deal.
She could not resist stopping in at her local hardware store though, to show them the price she’d had to pay for the same computer headset. On the way in, she noticed an even nicer 5 pc. patio table set, made of anodized steel and powder-coated in a toasty mocha color. Almost afraid to look, she wandered over to the small price tag that hung from this True Value weekly special item. Astounded again, she read $99.99! Owner Alex comes out to tell her, “If you want another model, we can always give you free shipping from True Value to our store and”, he ponders, “we can have these by the weekend.”
If you are not a regular at visiting the small mom and pop’s that make up our unique communities, we urge you, as you stock up for the summer season, to visit your local small businesses like your Hometown Sears stores in Susanville and Red Bluff. Check out your local Billington Ace Hardware and venture into a lovely little boutique like Ayoob’s in downtown Quincy or the all new Hello Beautiful in Chico to see what they have to offer. Shop your local grocers like Young’s Market and Susaville Supermarket or the one right in your neighborhood. I think you will be surprised at the values you will find, while making a difference, a BIG DIFFERENCE, in your local community.
