The "Going Out of Town" 1 Mar Daily World LTE from Larry Wakefield again brings back the plea we frequently hear to do our shopping locally rather than going "out of town" to make our purchases.

I'm wondering just how much the concept applies to our local businesses themselves? Is anyone aware of whether some, most or all of them purchase their needs from other local businesses? Does anyone refrain from using a local business because that business does not make their business purchases locally?

Then there's the city and county governments. Do they make their purchases locally? Do they give preference to awarding contracts to local businesses? I heard the county is awarding a large road construction/cementing project to a contractor located from outside the local area. I'm sure the reason is because their proposal was at a lower price or a better quality or some other such preference than that available from our local contractors here on the harbor. And, of course, that's mostly why our local people do much of their shopping outside of our local area. Better quality, increased choices or lower prices will continue to lure local potential customers away from our local businesses just as those same preferences lured our local commissioners away from awarding their road contract to our local contractors.

We all want the best deals, and much of the time those best deals are just not available locally.

I know that Five-Star can meet any Ford Company deal. But, for some reason, the specs were always a tad off for what was needed and we couldn't do the pass through with them. It always irked me.



The law does require accepting the "lowest, qualified bid". Sometimes "local" doesn't compete. Sometimes they do. It is next to impossible for public entity to give a "local preference".

*On a personal note*

I remember about 12 years ago walking it to a local furniture/appliance store in downtown Aberdeen that we had patronized many times. I talked to the sales rep and pointed at a particular tv. "This exact same tv is $200 less in Olympia. Can you do anything for us? We'd like to shop here."

He said, "We can't beat that."

I said, "I'm not asking you to beat it. I'm asking if you can do something for me on the price so I don't drive to Olympia and give them my money."


He said he'd talk to the owner and came back in 3 minutes saying, "He said 'If you can get it up there for that, go get it.' He's not coming down."

We drove to Olympia and bought it and never set foot back in that store (until the "going out of business sale... and even then the prices weren't low enough to make me want to shop there).

We'll shop locally anytime and everytime they don't spit in your eye.

I just bought a new truck from Five Star and they did a solid job for me. I shopped all over and they won on price as well as eliminating the standard car sales BS process.

The local business owners I know shop local when it makes sense. Making sense can be defined in many ways time/dollars/pre-sales support/post-sales support etc…. The local business’s need to support the local customers as well – so it is a two way street.

I've heard some good things about Five Star before, and buying a car usually seems to include some degree of hassle. I wonder if local businesses are purchasing their vehicle needs from Five Star? The PUD for example? The local police departments? Local city owned vehicles, etc?

"I remember about 12 years ago walking it to a local furniture/appliance store in downtown Aberdeen that we had patronized many times. I talked to the sales rep and pointed at a particular tv. "This exact same tv is $200 less in Olympia. Can you do anything for us? We'd like to shop here."

He said, "We can't beat that."

I said, "I'm not asking you to beat it. I'm asking if you can do something for me on the price so I don't drive to Olympia and give them my money."


He said he'd talk to the owner and came back in 3 minutes saying, "He said 'If you can get it up there for that, go get it.' He's not coming down."



Interesting. I've heard this same interaction before about some local businesses. Of course they each are faced with the same dilemma...to keep costs down by finding the best price for their equipment, etc. I'm thinking a lot of local businesses buy their needs out of town, too.

I agree we should all try to shop locally. That includes both large and small businesses. From WalMart to the smallest speciality store as ALL contribute to the local employment and local sales tax, etc. Sometimes we are forced to shop out of the area but doing all we can does help (disclaimer - I have no control over my wife's clothes shopping or other shopping ventures).

But local merchants need to practice what they preach. And I need to point out most do.

But with that said I can take you to a least one downtown Aberdeen business with an owner who has been one of those screaming the loudest in their criticism of the city and show you some of their supplies, which to my knowledge are available locally, that come from Costco. Made me say, hmmmmm. And also made me take a step back and start noticing exactly where each business is purchasing their supplies, products, etc.

Fully agree. (It is difficult to control wives' shopping habits.)
Some of our local businesses do require large purchases. Take trucks for example. All those log trucks around here come from somewhere. Are they coming from local truck sales? And what about all the requirements of large construction contractors such as Quigg Brothers? They must have huge purchases on a frequent basis.

Well, the only thing this wife has bought out of town in several years was my mother-of-the-groom dress last summer. I tried to find something locally. It just wasn't happening. I actually felt guilty.

I will gladly pay a bit more to shop in town. That bit is variable depending on how bad I want the item, when I need it by, and how big it is, i.e. can I load it in my car? We're at a point in our lives where we don't buy much unless something breaks down so the issue rarely comes up. Which also means we really don't buy much in town either just because, well, we just don't buy much. Which means while we support local businesses with our purchasing dollars as much as possible, those dollars don't amount to much.

I always feel bad when a retail shop or restaurant goes out of business but I probably rarely or never went there anyway just cause I don't buy much. And I hate to shop and only shop when I'm buying so this means I probably never even went into the store.

Question...how can you tell where other businesses buy their stuff? Like how could I tell if it came from Costco or a local distributor, for example? Hershey bars bought from Costco don't look different, do they?

It's too bad local governments can't opt to buy local even if it costs a bit more. I think there should be some leeway for that, particularly in areas with higher unemployment. The leeway should be within a certain limit like, maybe, no more than 10% higher or even just 5%. But I think the advantages of buying local outweigh the higher cost. But, unfortunately, they are not allowed to do this.

Mr. Funky was at a meeting recently where someone had done something special for the organization and the board wanted to give that person a gift certificate for a nice dinner as a thank you. All well and good, right? But they proposed buying a gift certificate for a restaurant in Olympia! Mind you, this is a local organization devoted to promoting local businesses. The motion and second came from local business owners. Huh? Go figure. Mr. Funky was not happy about it, that's for sure.

"Question...how can you tell where other businesses buy their stuff? Like how could I tell if it came from Costco or a local distributor, for example? Hershey bars bought from Costco don't look different, do they?"


I can't, but I'm sure those inside the local business community certainly know who does and who doesn't buy locally. It's even possible that some business owners hadn't even given it a thought.

I bought a new truck at Whitney's. They killed all the competitors with the deal i got. Capital Auto Mall couldn't even get close. Local businesses can compete if they want to.