I try to not buy from chains, try to support local businesses and local artists, etc. But unfortunately, a lot of the local independent arts & crafts boutiques are too expensive, especially when I want to buy a lot of little things. Enter Etsy. Magpie suggested I visit MightyGoods, and Maggie often links to Etsy. I found some really nice little things for my brother, who’s impossible to shop for, and I also have started doing my christmas shopping– it makes it so easy to patronize a bunch of little crafters and artists whom I might never otherwise encounter. You can pay with PayPal, and some of the vendors will let you send them checks. So far I’ve been happy with the quality of the stuff and the responsiveness of the vendors. My only complaint is that the website is kind of slow, and it runs a heck of a lot faster first thing in the morning (or 3 am for my fellow insomniacs) than in the afternoons and evenings– so if you’re browsing, it can be frustrating– I’ve even timed out a few times. But it’s still worth it.
An anti-chain update…
Doing pretty well on the food shopping and present-buying and book-buying front, ergo:
1. I bought HP7 at an independent bookstore, and paid, yikes! full price.
2. I am going to let my Borders and B & N discount cards lapse, and shift my allegiance to New England Mobile Book Fair, even though it’s less convenient for “I feel like buying a trashy book” shopping.
3. 80% of my mother-in-law’s birthday presents came from one-off shops.
4. We bought flowers for a brunch the other day at the independent flower shop in Watertown, and not at a KaBloom!
I’ve had a few occasions where I’ve exhausted my options or not had a real option:
1. Those “Famous Chocolate Wafers” you use to make Icebox Cake? Not available anywhere around my house except the Stop & Shop.
2. Wedding showers? Yeah, I hate registries, but I also don’t like the idea of rejecting them, either. It’s their wedding, and if they want to tell you what they want and need, why get all hissy and force something they didn’t ask for on them? (When I do, though, gift receipts, people!) I ended up buying a bunch of the smaller things from the Crate & Barrel registry.
The grocery shopping part is going pretty well– I am sticking to Mass-owned businesses and the local food co-op so far. But… I have to buy mother’s day presents and a birthday present for my brother-in-law. Urgh. Must … avoid … mall. However, the only other havens for independent stores nearby, i.e., Coolidge Corner, Newbury Street, Charles Street or Harvard Square et environs? Ugh. They’re gonna be chock full o’ yuppies, especially if the weather is nice. Bad. I’d better just get up early and get in and out between 10 and 11, while everyone else is still at brunch– or Trader Joe’s. Or, I could just buy them Trader Joe’s gift certificates, since they’re my exception to the no multinational corporate chain rules. (Fine, you try to find me good frozen wild salmon at the regular supermarket!).
It’s very hard to avoid corporate stores, and very hard to make sure money goes back to the community and supports other local businesses, farms, etc. I like to save money as much as the next person, so buying my detergent and toilet paper and plastic ziploc bags at Target or Wal-Mart is tempting. But… aside from the fact that the mobs of people at these stores crush my soul, they’re not local. Yeah, they’re employing people, but at minimum wage.
So, a mid-year resolution. I will shop at the nearby family-owned E. Mass. grocery store chain, and I will shop at the co-op supermarket near my house, and I will shop at the local, E. Mass. family-owned fruit and vegetable stand chain. But no more Stop & Shop, Shaw’s, Target, or Wal-Mart. I will also try to buy books and music for full price from independent stores, if they have what I am looking for. It’s an arbitrary line, but it’s better than nothing, I think. Although, it’s hard to find trashy sci-fi I haven’t read already at the smaller stores, which is why I have member discount cards at Border’s and Barnes & Noble. Sigh.
