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Across British Columbia, small businesses form the backbone of our communities. They are neighbours helping neighbours, friends providing valuable community services. Without them, our towns and villages would lose their unique charm.
It’s often referenced that for every $100 we spend at a local small business, approximately $70 stays within our local economy. This money supports local employment and benefits our communities in several concrete ways. Here are 5 benefits of shopping local.
Improve Your Local Economy
As we referenced above, shopping local ensures most of the money you spend remains within your local economy. Supporting these businesses also works to support the local economy in another, less obvious manner. The more successful local businesses are, the stronger the tax base in your community. This translates to more money for public services like schools, transportation and recreation.
As this great graphic from LOCOBC demonstrates on the right ->
Each small business owner has poured countless hours of effort into growing their business. Each customer they serve provides a validation for this effort, and they’re going to go the extra mile to ensure you return. The smaller size of local businesses allows them to devote extra time to each customer. They care about you, and they are invested in playing their part in the wellbeing of their local community.
<- Photo from Hot Shots Cafe in Cranbrook.
When you shop at a large chain store, the products you buy are likely uniform across Canada. Local businesses carry unique products and services you won’t find anywhere else. These products are stocked based on the interest and needs of the local community the business serves. Often, these products are created by local artists, makers, or other small businesses.
-> photo from Raven Reads – who send curated collections of indigenous literature and giftware.
Whether it’s a farmer’s market or local grocery store, the produce and food on sale locally will be more wholesome and nutritious than a big box store. When possible, it will have been sourced locally. And, in a lot of cases, it will even be organic.
<- Photo by Popov Leather – are one of the few leather goods businesses in the world that still sow things by hand. Everything is 100% Canadian.
We’re all looking for ways to get our steps in each day, right? You are far more likely to walk to your local shops than a larger chain store. Not only is it healthier for your body, it’s also healthier for the environment.
Especially if you’re planning on buying something active like Backpack Tennis – a great idea by a small business from Port Moody ->
Kari Morgan is one of the foremost young Indigenous artists working in BC. She has displayed artwork across the Northwest, Vancouver, and Seattle, showcasing her distinctive minimalist style that blends traditional First Nations art with contemporary influences.
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We respectfully acknowledge our place of work is within the ancestral, traditional and unceded territories of the Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ/sel̓ílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and that we serve the Peoples of the many Nations throughout British Columbia.