No matter where you live in the USA, chain stores are everywhere, providing a shopping experience for which there are many negatives:
- Homogeneous shopping experience that doesn't reflect the character of the local community
- Low variety of products, while giving the illusion of high variety due to physical store size
- Money leaves the community and goes to a corporation somewhere whose only motivation is to maximize shareholder value
- Difficult for local businesses to compete, especially due to municipalities giving subsidies and tax breaks to large national chains due to their more predictable revenue stream for property and sales taxes
- Stores commonly understaffed with people that lack knowledge and motivation, usually due to low pay and poor benefits
- Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz (bookstore)
- Chefworks, Santa Cruz (kitchen supplies)
- Common Ground Organic Garden Supply, Palo Alto (nursery, gardening)
- Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto (grocery, health/beauty)
- Eco Design Resources, Redwood City (home building supplies and resources, household products, home furnishings)
- Eco Goods, Santa Cruz (clothing, home furnishings, household products)
- First Republic Bank, Bay Area (banking, brokerage, home loans)
- For Other Living Things, Sunnyvale (pet supplies)
- The Garden Company, Santa Cruz (nursery, gardening)
- Greenspace, Santa Cruz (home building supplies and resources, household products, home furnishings, clothing, etc)
- Illuminée, Santa Cruz (lighting)
- Kitchen & Lighting of Scotts Valley, Scotts Valley, CA (The name says it all)
- Maximart Pharmacy, Palo Alto (pharmacy)
- New Leaf Community Market, Santa Cruz (grocery and health/beauty)
- Palo Alto Hardware, Palo Alto (hardware)
- Plumbed Elegance, Santa Cruz, CA (plumbing fixtures and supplies)
- Pottery Planet, Santa Cruz (pots!)
- Roger Reynolds Nursery, Menlo Park (nursery, gardening)
- Staff of Life, Santa Cruz (grocery)
- The Nickelodeon and Del Mar Theatres, Santa Cruz (movie theaters)
- Teamworks, Los Altos (housecleaning services)
- AMC Theaters, Century Cinemas
- Bank of America, Washington Mutual, US Bank
- Barnes and Noble, Borders
- Home Depot
- Longs, Rite-Aid, Walgreens
- Merry Maids
- Petco, Petsmart
- Safeway, Whole Foods
- Target, Wal-Mart
3 comments:
Merry Maids is a franchise and most of them are localy owned and operated. I know the one in mine area is owned and run by a family not corporate.
It's a good point to make, but it's still not the same as a truly locally owned and operated business. The corporation (ServiceMaster, in the Fortune 500) enforces uniformity in their franchisees and the franchisees buy supplies, equipment, and pay fees directly to ServiceMaster that would be spent in a local community instead.
Having said that, a franchise is a low-risk way for someone to start owning a small business and I'm not opposed to them, but since I've found alternatives (and there may be some in your area, too), it's better to go with a fully locally-owned business (if they're good, of course).
Plucky Tree:
Thanks very much for your comments about shopping at locally-owned, independent businesses. We certainly agree with you and applaud your comments. Further, we thank you for including Roger Reynolds Nursery, Menlo Park, in your line-up of recommended locals. Happy Gardening from Roger Reynolds.
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