Our country is filled with small local business. They make up three quarters of business in our country equaling 28.2 million in number.

The success of small local business is incredibly important to the strength of a town.

Imagine the scope from the dollar’s point of view.

A man walks into Pete’s Hardware, a small local business…

He buys a hammer for $26.99

• Pete buys his hammers from Vaughan Manufacturing, an American corporation. Vaughan is located in Hebron, Illinois where they employee Americans and pay taxes.

 The man leaves Pete’s Hardware and goes home to hang a picture for his wife.

• Pete employs 10 people who live in his town. He pays property taxes, employment taxes and gross receipts taxes on sales at his store. He gets some tax breaks but not many. Pete spends his income locally at businesses who also provide employment for residents of his community.

Now… say the man had gone to a “Big Box” business.

He buys the same hammer for $24.96.

• A portion of the money does go to the American owned business in Hebron, IL.
• The “Big Box” store also has interests in other countries. They may invest money to sponsor sporting events that allow them to advertise, so they can make more money.
• They are a publicly traded company, so many (millions of) people have an interest in making sure this company profits.
• The “Big Box” company employs many and pays taxes, but gets huge tax breaks. I was unable to find exactly who is collecting the overall profits, or where they spend them.
• The “Big Box” companies, can offer you slightly lower prices because they order in tremendous bulk and are able to make a significantly higher profit on each item.

I am not saying that the big stores are bad, but consider where your money goes. If you have a chance, buy from your neighbor instead of some millionaire who you’ll never see.

Support your Small Local Business.

R&R Containers is a small local business in Georgia.