Took my visiting family to a very upscale locally owned and run restaurant this weekend and the food was awesome! The music was too loud and they wouldn’t turn it down so we could talk and we had to be seated inside instead of outside when it was such a pretty day, but otherwise great service too. But I’ll check this off now because we are doing local shopping regularly and any time we possibly can. 2 years ago

Our company, Studiothought LLC, is launching a new website after Easter called Hometown Freebies™ ( http://hometown-freebies.com ). We are focusing first in our hometown of Roanoke, VA but want to expand nationwide. The site is unique in the way it allows local businesses the tools to promote special offers or discounts online. It is free for businesses and the general public to use. We make our money through Google Ads and a sponsorship page.

We have registered with The 3/50 Project ( http://the350project.net ) and want Hometown Freebies to be a help to local businesses while also providing cost savings to the consumer.

We would love for local businesses all over the nation to start using Hometown Freebies™ to promote their offers. Register today if you own a business ( http://hometown-freebies.com/bus_tools/ )! 3 years ago

On our date nights we have been eating at locally owned resturants. Very worth it and great food! 3 years ago

I always try to find the awesome little places in a city that exist nowhere else. They’re almost always worthwhile, especially when they’re affordable! (My hometown is suffering an explosion of horrendously expensive clothing boutiques that have displaced some great stores for reasonably priced clothes.) Whenever possible, I go to used bookstores—cheaper, and sometimes they buy back! I avoid chain restaurants because the best places to eat (especially for ethnic food) tend to be little holes in the wall. When my brother and I made our road trip, we made a point of visiting a lot of tiny little places along the way. No regrets :) 3 years ago

This is something I am over the top supportive of.Being a small business owner myself and selling locally made product, I can truly say I work on this every day!
Right now we are in the planning stages of launching the National Paper your Windows Day in Canada.
On March 20th, 2010.we are asking every small independent local business to paper their windows for one day to show solidarity for small business in Canada. We are aiming for visual impact. What will your hometown main street look like when all those unique community based businesses are closed. On the papered up windows will come a message of hope. How to save our local businesses and keep our communities vibrant.
I’ll keep you all informed. 3 years ago

I will dedicate my efforts to spend every penny at a local business if it is possible. Large corporations are ruining our working small business based capitalist culture- which may have it’s flaws, but the monster monopolies are simply horrible to the working class. For example: I do not have a choice of phone providers where I live. AT&T is the ONLY company available. Also I spend at least 3 hours once a month on the phone with them straightening out some inconsistency on my bill- a waste of my time and proof they don’t have a good system, hire competent people, or at least bother to train them on how to use their own systems. I’m over it. If I could, I’d BEG everybody to support local businesses everywhere and take back what made each town in the US unique instead of carbon copies of each other. Open businesses in your town and use this as the ad campaign. An amazing amount of the public DO care about this, it’s just to time consuming to do research- they are trying to make a living too. Advertising is easy. Rebuilding community business isn’t. Good luck all. Town councils need to step in on this one too, and to push local environmental care as well… that’s where success will come from. Local works because the people talk about it and it becomes familiar. 3 years ago

I got a $50 Powells Books gift card for Christmas. I already buy 99% of my books there, but this will make it easier! Yay shopping local! 3 years ago

I enjoy the uniqueness of the businesses in our downtown area, so I feel good about supporting local businesses and try to do so. But I’m not very good about buying local food. We have a fabulous farmer’s market that’s just a quick bike ride away, and I never go. Shame on me. Maybe this weekend. 3 years ago

I highly recommend going to local businesses! it’s a little awkward at first but then you meet the people there and you want to keep going back! not to mention customer service is still alive and well in local places. :) 4 years ago

dunkin donuts franchise count? the guy who owns it is sooooo nice. 5 years ago

Hubby and I go to order a pizza tonight for dinner. We generally order from Papa John’s or Dominoes, since they do online ordering and we hate, hate, hate ordering things over the phone. (We prefer not to interact with anyone unless we have to.) I got some balls though and called Ralphie’s, about a mile up the road. They had their menu online and get this—they deliver until 3:30 am on fri/sat. How great is that!? (Very great.) Anyhow, pizza will be here soon and very soon, and we didn’t order disgusting franchise/chain pizza which is gross and over-priced anyhow.

Viva Ralphie’s!
http://www.ralphiespizzaandsubs.com/ 5 years ago

never will buy at a big chain. i hear they’re murder for the small presses. tonight, browsed my local independent used bookstore. will go sell some books to them and browse some more tomorrow.

i got some amazing books!

now that i work for a local business, i am going to do my best whenever possible, to spend my dollars supporting local businesses rather than big chains. stick together! 5 years ago

this isn’t feasible for me. Living in the country with 4 children and only a local farm shop means that I have to travel to get all the shopping I need. I’ll continue to support the local shops when I can, but am never going to be able to live from them! 6 years ago

Mostly for food service. I eat at the local diner if I eat in town. For breakfast I stop at a local bagel shop instead of the Dunkin Doughnuts down the street. For pizza I deliver from a local pizzeria and not Dominos when I can.

Better food, and the satisfaction of knowing you are keeping the little guy alive. 6 years ago

It’s a little bit of a pain in the ass but worth doing. I already have a local cow sitting in my freezer. The rest of my carnivore needs will come from the meat market up the street. All my fruits and veggies from the farmers markets. And screw all those kids in third world countries working for 12 cents an hour. I won’t support that. I put my little shits to work for free! 6 years ago

There is a website specifically built to empower local businesses.

I am one of the co-founder and would like to invite you guys to our communities at www.2locals.com 7 years ago

We had the BEST dinner at little Italian place that puts Olive Garden and Carabba’s to shame. And they gave me enough food to feed a small army; we’re set for tomorrow! 7 years ago

We’re going to our non-chain, local movie theatre tonight to see a brand new movie for only $8 for the two of us. So there’s a financial benefit to avoiding chains as well! :)

My big guilt in this category though- WAL-MART. Ever seen that SouthPark episode? The falling prices are like a magnet. Hahahaha 7 years ago

Had some yummy lunch- two days in a row- at two different local places 8 years ago

I have several good, small shops locally – including a great farm shop – so why do I often drive 15 miles to the nearest city to buy things? I woudl liek to buy more local produce from local shops and support my village. 8 years ago