“Buy Local” Helps Main Street Merchants and Other Independents Survive Recession

Date: 1 Aug 2009 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Note: The article was originally published in the Forum Journal, a publication of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. 

A growing body of evidence suggests that public enthusiasm for all things local and independent is on the rise, providing locally owned businesses with a measure of insulation from the worst effects of the recession, even as some of their biggest competitors teeter and collapse.

In January 2009, a national survey conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, in partnership with several organizations, found that, in an extremely challenging economic climate, independent retailers as a group are outperforming many chains.  Anecdotal reports from around the country provide further evidence that these grassroots efforts to build support for local businesses are indeed changing people’s shopping habits.

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Stacy Mitchell

Stacy Mitchell is co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and directs its Independent Business Initiative, which produces research and designs policy to counter concentrated corporate power and strengthen local economies.