What does "buy local" mean to you?

this year, but I did a lot of it last year at University Mall.  Cameron's was good for some knick knacks.  Got my husband some interestingly designed cuff links there last year.  I may be making a trip to phydeaux for some holiday shopping, not sure yet. 

Log on to the Buy Local Web site created by the chamber in Chapel Hill and you will find Walmart and Costco among the listings

I agree that doesn't sound like buying local to me.   Although, if I'm being honest I'll probably also make a trip to Target or Southpoint before all my holiday shopping is done.  I know my mother wants a specific type of dust buster, or I know that my brother likes ECU college sports stuff since he went to grad school there.  I know there is a sports shop in Southpoint Mall, I don't know where I could find ECU memorabilia in Chapel Hill.  So in the end my holiday shopping will probably include a balancing of local purchases, and things I can't find in a 5 mile radius but I can in a 15 mile one.  But at the least Wal Mart wont be on the list.

I have to give Pat Evans a plug.  At the last Friends of Downtown meeting, she gave out "door prizes" from downtown businesses and used those as a promotion of downtown shopping.  I was amazed at the stuff she got from downtown merchants.  I found out that there a lot of things I can buy downtown that I never realized.  it was a powerful message for those of us who were there, and I applaud her for doing that.  

will not be just local because of reality, not choice but even here the line has become blurred over the years. Our once local Well Spring morphed into Whole Foods (out of Texas) and has started stocking their own brands, some of which I buy because of cost savings. I confess, I feel a bit conflicted when I do that, but it's cheaper! Then what do we do when a product stocked at Whole Foods such as Myers Clean Day or Seventh Generation are picked up by non-local Harris Teeter? Me? I applaud the move. BTW, Bravo to Flyleaf Books for opening up next to Fosters. Let us not forget the mail order catalogues that allow smaller eco friendly businesses to market to larger audiences without the cost of maintaining a real store in every locality. Here I'm thinking of something such as Real Goods or Deva clothing. The fact of the matter is that we need everyone, big and small. Yes, I avoid WalMart, but I don't think we should out of hand proclaim that they can't be part of the local Chamber. BTW, I frequent Staples near Whole Foods for printer & paper supplies and I don't feel too bad about that either. And finally, "As evidenced in the recent Town Council election, there are some who seem to believe that traditional businessmen (and occasional women) are the only ones qualified to shepherd our local economy." That's misrepresents their position as I understand it. What some were looking for in the last election was balance on the town council. No one point of view should be the only point of view. Happy holidays. 

Everyone is "pro-business" in the same way that everyone is "pro-food". Profits-first activists like to throw around the "anti-business" label to make it sound like some dimwits around here are so out of touch that they don't even understand that "business" is important. It distracts from their real message which is that they prefer a certain type of business model, usually one that provides the easiest conduit from our money to their bank accounts which are generally out-of-town.People who appreciate the community strength and self reliance that derives from a network of quality local businesses are "pro-business" in the same way that people who eschew crappy processed food made by agri-business corporation in favor of fresh, nutritious local food are "pro-food".The Chamber sets the bar low for their definition of "local". They say that if you spend your money in Orange County, we get the sales tax. They say that "local" people work at the businesses.They agree with the new Orwellian marketing campaigns of the big retail stores that "local" means that their buildings are physically nearby. They get a lot more members this way - businesses like Blue Cross - Blue Shield,  Progress Energy, Duke Energy, Harris Teeter, Costco, etc.I shop at Harris Teeter sometimes, but I certainly don't feel like I'm shopping locally when I do. When I'm at the Farmer's Market, Weaver St. Market, or my neighbor's farm, I know I'm in the fertile area of our economy. I know the money is not getting siphoned out of town (at least until somebody uses it to pay their electric bill) and I often know the seller, which means I feel good about helping with their livelihood. I feel a sense of interdependence and common purpose.Community members who understand real community economics have a more refined sense of how to express their "pro-business" sentiments.

This is an interesting discussion.  Some of my own thoughts:How do we know truly what is a "locally owned" business?  Aren't we more interested in  how the  business is demonstrating and documenting and being held accountable for its commitment to the local community?  How do we assume that a "locally owned" business operates in a morally local way?For example,  I used to work in staffing and recruitment.  I worked with a lot of "local" business--that is to say,  businesses that were owned or majority owned by people who lived in the local area.   There  was no real consistent pattern to their  local commitment.  They ran the same gamut as many businesses that were not locally owned---some were very locally invested,  many others were not.   Some of their employees were well paid, others were not.   Some did not offer health insurance, some did not treat their employees very well.  Some made strong efforts to shop local, hire local, and invest local,  others could have cared less.    One of the locally owned businesses I worked with did not have a single local client,  the last several hires they made were people they relocated to the area,   their owners had most of their substantial assets invested out of the community,  their professional support services were contracted to the lowest bidder, period, no matter where they were located,    and their philanthropic efforts were primarily directed towards out of state entities--places where the employees had grown up or gone to college or had remaining family.  The business was entirely locally owned,  which meant that the owners lived here, sent their kids to school here,  bought groceries here.  Maybe got their cars worked on here.   But was that a local business?    So I would challenge the notion that you can automatically assume certain things about "locally owned" businesses.    I think a company  where you can publicly track the status of their local purchases, philanthopic efforts, and community engagement has some advantages over one that simply trades on the "local ownership" mantra while keeping the specifics of their organizational operations out of the public eye.   How many "local businesses" are doing most of their purchasing on the internet, sending money to the U of Somewhere' Else's  sports program,  and investing their excess cash in mutual funds and other investments  that you might find morally repugnant?  YOU DON"T KNOW.   that's my point.  I'd be very interested in knowing what businesses people consider "local."  Some of the ones I've heard people mention have no local ownership at all--people just call them local because they aren't part of a chain(that anyone knows of), or they have Chapel Hill or Carrboro or Franklin or UNC in their name, or the primary shareholder lives--or is believed to live--- in Orange County.   Yet I don't think that's what people mean when they talk about local.   I have my own criteria that I use to decide where I will shop, and I think the best way we can  build a local economy is to educate consumers to decide what is important to them and make sure they know that the businesses they patronize support those things.     I don't think the address of the owners tells us very much.     Even in the example Ruby stated in her original post—the Franklin Street Artist’s co-op---their own press release states that the co-op will include regional and national artists and I assume because it is a “co-op” that these non-local artists will participate beyond simply having their artwork for sale there.        So here we have participants who are not local, yet we are touting the co-op as a “local entity.”  That’s just an example of how difficult it is to decide what’s local and how well meaning people can have different definitions.   (lest I am misunderstood here,  I am very enthusiastic and supportive of this co-op). 

And shop as much as we can in University Mall. The real key is where the profits go. Donald Hense, the Executive Director of Friendship House DC, once had this discussion when he chastised me for buying a foreign car. I said: "It was made in America." He said, "It's where the profits go that count."Which is why I hope we will do more to encourage local options for shopping and get Carolina North going, so the profits stay in the area. 

Just started a quick list - what else should be included?1)      Sell locally made products?2)      Pay a living wage (other benefits?)3)      Invest in community?4)      Owner lives locally?5)      Has local clientele?6)      Energy-efficient?7)      Minimizes waste generation?      

Incorporating the nuances is the next step toward formulating useful "grading".

I still think it is more effective to educate consumers than to use governmental regulations to achieve this goal.  For a small business to document the things you've outlined would take time and money, not to mention (in the case of wages) maybe violating an employee's privacy, and giving competitors an advantage if you hire people who are in short supply and have specialized skills.  Nothing like knowing what your competition is paying and then raiding their staff with more money.  The power is at the consumer level.  When consumers decide to value certain things and  adjust their purchasing accordingly,  businesses respond.      

It would be useful for consumers who want to educate themselves to have an understandable set of information on businesses. I realize that money & income are a big taboo - most people would rather tell you about their sex lives than how much money they make.

This story about ESPN pushing for more "local" sports coverage is an excellent example of how the desire to support local businesses/services is being exploited by some. It's a business decision that benefits local sports writers by creating job opportunities, but at what price to the rest of the community? http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/12/21/pm-espn-q/

Bogus beyond rebuttal, but it's a new trend.

How much do specific retailers pay their employees?

Dan wrote a great summary of the local shopping "decision tree" in today's Carrboro Citizen. It's not on-line yet, but the paper is out. 

I bought a filet mignon the other day at WSM, grass-fed, organic - I assumed it came from one of the local farms that raises beef cattle. To my astonishment, the fine print revealed that it came from Australia.