A few very good reasons to shop local

BY ISABELLE SOUTHCOTT isabelle@prliving.ca

Try it before you buy it.

You can’t try on a bra or bathing suit online. Think you’re a B? Oops, the girls are squished because you gained a few pounds and now you’re a C. What will you do with that bra you can’t return? Better shop at Intimate Secrets or Simply Bronze next time.

Customer service

Having trouble with your photo copier? Good thing you bought your photo copier from Westview Office Equipment because Cris Pavel and his daughter Romina can fix it. If you’re not handy, it’s a good idea to buy a service contract so if you have a problem, you don’t have to put up the closed sign on your business while waiting for someone from an offshore call centre to get back to you.

Get it today

You can’t get a new fridge or new washing machine online in a matter of hours but you can get one locally.

Did your washing machine give up the ghost in the middle of a load? Did your 20-year-old fridge die on Friday night? Go to RONA when it opens Saturday morning and have your new fridge home, plugged in and a cold one chilling within hours. That beats waiting for Amazon.

Experts to the rescue

Some things you just can’t do yourself. Like a full body massage or a chiropractic adjustment. Luckily, Powell River has excellent practitioners to choose from.

No DIY errors

It’s hard to pluck your own eyebrows when you can’t see without your reading glasses. If you’ve ever dyed your hair orange by mistake, you know that there are some things best left to the experts at a beauty salon. Powell River beauty experts will be happy to help with your perms, foils and gel nails.

They give back

Bricks and mortar financial institutions like First Credit Union are more than just a business. They’re a part of our community. They employ people, provide services and give back. Although

online banking only services such as Tangerine might waive monthly fees, you can’t do wire transfers, there’s no branch service (tellers) and limited foreign currency service. Besides, they don’t support Powell River minor hockey or baseball teams – and they’re nowhere to be seen when our community is raising money to help someone with their expenses when they are fighting cancer.

Local jobs

When you buy from local businesses, you support the people who live and work in your community. Shop local, be local.

When Sun Life (my extended health provider through the Canadian Federation of Independent Business) changed their preferred pharmacy network to Express Scripts Canada “to help keep drug costs low,” I felt another nail hammered in the shop local movement.

Even though using Express Scripts is optional, Sun Life’s letter says those who do not make the switch may find an increase in out-of-pocket expenses. It’s a catch 22. You don’t want locals who work in local pharmacies to have their hours cut or lose their jobs because your health care insurer has aligned itself with an out-of-town pharmacy, but you don’t want to pay more out of pocket.

Shop local, be local

Think before you shop out-of-town online. Can you get the same product in Powell River? If you prefer to shop online, ask yourself: Can you buy what you want online from a Powell River business? What you choose to do today will impact the future of Powell River.

The same business that sponsors your child’s sports team that is owned by the man who lives two blocks over is a local business – not an out of town business. Without your support, your child’s sports team wouldn’t be able to buy new hockey jerseys.

When you spend your money in your home community you support the community you live in. You conserve energy and resources and your dollars go towards creating and sustaining local jobs.

So stop and think about exactly where you’re spending and sending your money when you shop.