I never understood why it’s looked down upon to purchase goods from online retailers and big department stores, especially if it’s significantly cheaper. Local businesses up charge their goods like crazy to stay afloat, but I’m not a rich man. Why in the world should I pay more from my own pocket to help support your local business?
If you own a bookstore, coffee shop (and sell an $8 cold brew because it’s “organic and home made”), record store, clothing store (selling name brands) and you decide to up charge because you need to stay afloat, I am 100% without shame going to find the best price, and if it’s Amazon, then praise Amazon. Your business can go out of business for all I care. Owning a local business for the sake of having a local business when there are department stores and online retailers selling for nearly half of the price you’re selling, that is an incredibly stupid investment.
Bookstores especially are the absolute worst. I’m not paying 39.99 full cover price of the latest Stephen King book at your local business when Amazon is selling it for 18.99.
I have a slightly different but adjacent issue with small businesses in my area, and I’ll give one specific example: There’s a local coffee place near me that has good quality coffee, interesting roasts, etc. that they clearly labor over. Prices are a little more than normal, but that’s fine with me given the product.
What’s beyond frustrating are the hours: Thursday to Saturday from 8 or 9am to 1pm. I can get maybe one coffee a week. I’d love to support you, but I need some hours that you’re actually fucking open.
There’s an amazing bakery near me that’s like that. People have just kind of adapted, and it seems to work well for the business. They start at like 4 in the morning to bake everything they’re going to sell for the day, open at 7, and are pretty much always sold out by 10:30 or 11.
If I recall, I think they do a lot of catering, so the part of the shop that’s open to the public is kind of an afterthought. I’m never able to get there when they have the good stuff, but it’s an amazing treat when someone from the office stops by early in the morning and brings a box of something.