"Locally Owned Business"

[Dave]

Just to step out of my locally owned business as an independent framer for a second and make a few observations ...

It is true that the BB's are not "locally owned" unless you consider that some folks in your community may own stock in them. Also, please be aware that many chain stores that are not BB's are also not "locally owned" and if you have several stores, as even some of our fellow Grumblers do, unless they are in the community you actually live in ...they aren't "locally owned" either.

Non "locally owned" businesses do have some similarities however to those that are owned by people who do live in the same community as their store.

1.) They have made an investment in bricks and mortar or support a landlord who has made such investment and thus support the building trades.

2.) They make an investment in advertising locally.

3.) They hire your neighbors ..unless they are bussing in employees daily!

4.) They pay local taxes.

5.) Some even are quite active in giving back to the communities they are located in through various charities.

This list could continue on, but we shouldn't forget that the maybe the distinction we want to make isn't the "locally owned" one, but the "locally owned and operated" ...as in the owner is normally on the premises and not in some corporate office crunching numbers instead of pounding nails ...you can actually talk to him or her and quite often know them personally.

Just my two bits...

Dave Makielski

 

[ScottK]

The distinction between a BB and a franchise are completely different so I don't quite understand the correlation here. BB is corporately owned and a franchise is an independent, locally owned business beholden to corporate contracts.
The only thing in common I can see is their corporate buying agreements with their suppliers.

 

[Baer Charlton]

One gets pimped, the other has a pimp that takes all the money, but doesn't live in the city.

A better example is Farmer's Market (Saturday 7-3), Kroger's, local grocery that provides local produce.

Our farmers market is down the street 27 blocks in the Hollywood District of Portland, OR. The closest farm is 7 miles... some farmers come from Albany 73 miles away.... There is nothing "local" or "neighborhood" about them.... and they charge the same price as Kroger's.

Kroger's [DBA Fred Meyer's here] is owned by some jerks "in the east" and have started shipping in all the things that they used to by locally. And the profits go East.

Beaumont Market.. usually the prices are the same as Kroger's, and sometimes less on local produce. Rich and his partner live six doors down the street, and his business partner lives a mile away. Both shop in the neighborhood.

Nothing is B&W.... just a palate of greys and browns.

 

[Dave]

Scott ...I didn't mean to imply that franchises were not locally owned. Some franchises have both independently owned and company owned stores.

I'll give my definition of a "chain store" ...three or more with common ownership.

Dave Makielski