7 Ways Shopping Small Can Improve Your Life

By: Elizabeth Redhead Kriston

When I first drove into my current hometown, I didn’t know what to expect. Prior to ever laying eyes on the main street, I had spent years romanticizing life in idyllic small-town America. I envisioned myself living in a close-knit community of quaint, tidy homes lined up close but not too close to one another on tree lined streets. The streets would be arranged around the heart of the town, main street.

Main street would comprise of small businesses, restaurants, city hall, banks, a library and art galleries. In my fantasy, I would live in an older home with a big yard and front porch just a few blocks from the heart of the town. I would be able to walk to the town center to enjoy an evening meal, cash my paycheck, or borrow a new novel from the library. I would be able to easily access the parades and festivals that brought the locals together in annual celebrations. Locals would mingle with tourists and the town center would thrive.

As I traversed the curving roadways ascending from my relatively flat hometown in Northeast Ohio to the edge of the Laurel Highlands in Western Pennsylvania, I was awed by the verdant hillsides and brilliant blue skies. When I descended into the town of Indiana Pa, the main street did not disappoint. The brick buildings harkened from a different century with their Victorian details. The old courthouse gleamed with its golden shiny domed clock tower topped with a spire. City hall’s front yard showcased two icons, the American flag and a gangly statue of the hometown hero, Jimmy Stewart.

Upon closer look, parts of the town were in disrepair and could definitely use with a facelift, but the bones were there. Many shop fronts were vacant and the debris from the college students littered the streets. Despite its shortcomings, I fell in love with what I imagined the town to be.

I did move into town and one of its older homes which had the yard and porch I dreamt of. Eventually, the town rehabbed its shabby exterior erecting retro lamp posts and red paver sidewalks. New park benches and trees lined to wide walkways. More businesses moved into the vacant spaces and people began to return to town to spend their money at the local shops and restaurants. New festivals and annual traditions like a Folk Fest, a Beer Fest and an expanded Christmas celebration have drawn more tourists and even more revenue to our once ailing small town, my home of 24 years.

Like many small towns in this part of the country, much of the money is spent on the outskirts at box super stores like Lowes or Walmart. People stream out of town to buy coffee at Starbucks and eat at chain restaurants like Ruby Tuesdays. Residents choose to bypass main street for shopping because of convenience and cost. The big free parking lots and deep discount prices are undeniably tempting forces.

I argue that we cannot afford to take all of our business away from main street. Patronizing the shops and restaurants owned by our neighbors has more advantages than disadvantages.

The 7 Reasons to Shop and Eat Small:

1. Health: Chain restaurants tend to use poor quality food products, more salt and higher fat foods. Walking to main street is adding more exercise into your day

2. Trickle-down Effect: Local businesses are more likely to source local farmers and artisans. The income that is generated by local business owners results in more local taxes benefiting the community. This means better maintenance of our roads and infrastructures and better funding for our schools. Better educated citizens mean more income coming back into the community. Better roads results in fewer flat tires and costly alignments.

3. Decreased Pollution: Walking to shops means fewer cars put toxic fumes into the air. Shopping in-person with reusable bags decreases the number of packages being shipped which decreases the need for boxes, bags and packing peanuts as well as trucks and planes used to transport items.

4. Improved Self-Esteem: Your improved health, thanks to eating better and walking, is bolstered by the warm fuzzy feeling you get by purchasing products from your neighbors.

5. Improve Your Social Life: Aside from bumping into neighbors, you will meet new folks you have things in common with. This improves your sense of community as well as gives you more people to chat with at the local coffee shop.

6. Less Waste: Items purchased at local boutiques and galleries are often much better quality than the cheaper items you find at a dollar or box store. While you may spend more at first, you won’t have to replace it. You can buy one beautiful piece of artwork that will be a cherished gift rather than buying numerous small junky things for the people on your gift list.

7. A Happier Thanksgiving: If you shop Small Business Saturday you won’t spend your Thanksgiving clipping coupons and mapping an attack plan, or worse actually shopping. You’ll be able to sleep in on Black Friday knowing you will go out at a reasonable hour on Saturday to buy goods from your neighbors on main street sipping delicious coffee made at the local café realizing that Starbucks coffee kind of sucks.

Whether you live in a small town or one of the countless neighborhoods that comprise big cities like Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cleveland or New York, find your version of main street and take some time to peruse the shops' shelves. Relax in a local eatery. Talk to a neighbor. Give a tourist directions. Immerse yourself in the culture of where you live.