PSA OF THE WEEK

public-service-announcement-581This is normally the spot where we post some very clever and thought-provoking Public Service Announcement, often created on Madison Avenue, bringing to light a problem that needs our united efforts to defeat or minimize.

This one is just like that, except it’s not from Madison Avenue. It’s a hometown PSA. But it applies everywhere, and I hope you’ll take the time to read it.

The topic might sound boring – support local businesses – but you know what’s really boring? That would be a world where, no matter where you go, the restaurants are all the same; the only retailer of note in town is WalMart; the unique mom & pop pharmacies, bookstores, hardware stores, and shops are all gone.

True, we all may eat a meal at a chain restaurant from time to time, take advantage of the savings offered at some mega-chain store, or enjoy the convenience of ordering something online from home in our pajamas after store hours.

Even so, nobody seems to like it when unique local stores fold up and close their doors.
The question is, what can you and I do about it?
Three words: support local businesses.
“Even if they’re more expensive?” you ask.

Good question. You can answer that one on your own. But here’s some food for thought to help you decide.

Picture a world where convenience and the lowest price drives every buying decision. In that world, the WalMarts, the Applebees, and other companies of the nationwide variety would probably win most sales. Pretty soon there would be no Wild Wing Cafe or French Market Grill, no The Boardroom or Kitchen 1454, no Scrubs of Evans or International Uniform, no Andy Jordan’s, no Sunshine Bakery or Sconyers or Wife Saver.

The jobs that go along with all the locally owned businesses would also dry up and blow away, along with the attendant income taxes. Since many online sales don’t levy sales tax, the monies that help build our schools and pay for teachers and police and firefighters, for roads and bridges and for a million other things would dwindle drastically too. That’s not healthful; it isn’t salubrious.

Do you like it when you travel thousands of miles to a distant city, only to find the very same stores and restaurants you have within a mile of home?

That’s the type of community we create for ourselves when chain store and online purchases predominate. The Medical Examiner has been guilty of running “Please support our advertisers” filler ads so often that readers have actually written in saying “Enough already!”

Yes, we’re in this too: this newspaper so many people say they enjoy would not be possible without our advertisers. More accurately, it would not be possible without your support of our advertisers.

So please: buy local whenever possible. Support our supporters. We all win when we support each other. We lose when we don’t.

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