Are You Shopping Locally?

Summer is the time when most retail stores, both large and small, set about to have sales to clear out the "left over" merchandise to make space for all the new merchandise we have ordered at the Gift Market.
We have a banner which we used to put up on the windows in the front of our store.  It said something like "Really Big Sale".  Over the years we were asked if that banner meant we were going out of business.  Of course all we were doing was attempting to attract passersby to stop and visit our store, assuming that "Really Big" would get them inside.
That banner did work, but it also provoked people to ask if we were going out of business!!  So much for our marketing strategy.
Small businesses like ours would love to spend all sorts of money on ads.  Unfortunately we simply can't afford to do as much advertising as we would like to.  It comes down to deciding between an ad or paying the electric bill, rent, wages or purchasing more goodies to sell in the store.
I noticed a banner on a shoe store in Tulsa the other day.  The wording went all around the 3 sides of the banner and on one side it said "Shop Locally".  It is surprising that many folks don't think about how their shopping dollars spent in local stores benefit the entire city.  And perhaps it is up to us local retailers to shout it out, just like our banner did and get people to start thinking about how the money they spend locally goes around and around in our city.
Another issue now being debated in the U.S. Congress is the question of whether to raise the minimum wage to $9.00 a hour.  Those opposed to this legislation use local retailers as an argument against raising wages.  They say that small business would be ruined if wages were raised.
Surprising the data does not always support that argument.  Many small businesses already pay their employees more than the current minimum wage and some pay as much as $9.00 an hour or more right now. Small business understands that the wage money they and others pay circulates through the entire city.  Hourly wage personnel will generally spend their wages locally.
I am hopeful that more and more people will think about buying most of their needs and wants through local retailers.  In turn local retailers will have money to spend on advertising locally and purchasing supplies locally.  Sales tax will increase and go toward local enhancements of our city...schools, roads, parks, attracting more businesses, etc. etc.
Don't you just love the ETC part?