The Old Adage, Think Globally, Act Locally has many possible applications. The global recession has hit Buffalo hard and it has become a struggle for many small businesses to stay open. For the people of the city of Buffalo and all of Western New York, one of the best possible ways to help preserve the things that make Buffalo great is by supporting them now more than ever. The Allentown Shop Krudmart had many fans and supporters but still was not able to keep its doors open due to more pats on the back and heaps of verbal support than actual purchases in the shop. One of a kind places like New World Record are sorely missed by local fans but CDs are still being bought at Target and online.
This holiday season, supporting unique local businesses could be the best way to preserve and enhance Buffalo’s niche markets and support what makes this city livable and exciting. One such still vital unique shop is Hero Boutique on Allen Street. This world renowned design studio which doubles as a printshop showroom for their posters also is the sole regional outlet for the highly collectible Kid Robot designer toys. Incidentally this Friday is a great chance to get an amazing deal and stock up on gifts with “Scratch & Dent” hand printed artwork at $5 a pop! Posters printed in editions of 100 or less for $5. It doesn’t get cheaper. Other one of a kind local art galleries and shops have locally produced art, books, clothes, jewelry. A community that supports its own, thrives.
Sure you could shop on Amazon or Ebay and buy just about anything. But consider the next time you see a boarded up shop you that thought: “wow, too bad they couldn’t stay open…but this is Buffalo” think that if perhaps you stopped in and bought the thing you though was so cool, and let other people know, you could help maintain these things that make Buffalo so endearing to locals and surprising to out of town visitors. Buying locally produced items keeps the money in Western New York and recirculates to other local businesses and keeps jobs and eventually creates new jobs. Acting even a little bit locally has large potential ripple effects. Use Amazon as a last resort only, get out to a real local shop and don’t leave until you find something local to buy–Perhaps a housewarming gift for your old high school friends moving back from North Carolina?