Chair's Chat - September

This article may sound like I am totally against “online shopping.”  I’m not.  But as a community, especially a community of business people, we may need to re-think our online shopping choices.

Nearly every major city in America has lost about half its bookstores because people are downloading from the web, buying from the web or having it shipped because of convenience, and just not doing that kind of shopping locally.  No business for local bookstores and they shut down, neighbors lose their jobs and they don’t have the money to shop at local businesses themselves.  That has happened in so many sectors of our local economies that many businesses have closed their doors and small businesses are getting even smaller, there are fewer people earning incomes to spend at your business.  And how many tax dollars do you suppose are evaded, which may impact salaries of police, fire and other local government employees who may shop at your business?

All of that is just one collective reason we suggest you “Shop Chamber First.”  I’ve heard some say, “If the local businesses can’t lower their prices and compete, they should go out of business.”  Except so many times I’ve talked with people who are “internet savvy,” and learn that by the time they get done with “shipping and handling” which is a profit center for many online businesses, the buyer pays close to the amount he would have paid locally--maybe not always, but frequently.   I’m just asking you to consider the impact of “online shopping” on your friends and neighbors.  A few years back I heard a member of another chamber brag that he bought EVERYTHING on the web.  I asked, “Do you think I would do better buying your products on the web?”  He flushed just a bit, and then said, “It’s a free country.”

That it is, “a free country.”    Will it also remain a prosperous country?  Please understand that many of those web shopping sites are shadows of companies off shore.  So that could mean there is no profit realized in this country, let alone this town.

Last month I had to get a circuit board for the taillight on my Chevy Tahoe.  I did shop the web and found an off brand replacement for half the price at Chevy.  But the part I got from Brad Sowers at Jim Butler Chevrolet is genuine GM.  I got great service.   I do business with Brad and he does business with us.  It’s a relationship you’ll never find online.

I know you’ll probably shop online for things, and I probably will, too.  Maybe you won’t agree with my article today, but let’s at least agree on one thing-- to, “Shop Chamber First.”