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Support Local Business? You Bet!
As the economy slowly picks up, many Blue Mountains business are still struggling. And most importantly, many of them are doing OK but still losing customers to Penrith and beyond.
So what? Does that affect anyone else? Well, it would be a different matter if people from the Mountains shopped in Sydney and people from there shopped here, but apart from one or two industries - hospitality for example - that does not happen. So, the answer is, you bet it matters. It affects everyone. Here are some of the things we can lose.
Employment Businesses that don't grow don't employ more people. For parents in the Blue Mountains, even if they themselves have jobs, that may mean "your children must go as soon as they grow" - or else hang around on the dole. Either way, you lose.
Multiplier effect Business people, like everyone else, spend as well as earn. And businesses provide business for other business - the lolly shop is a customer of the carpet shop, the carpet shop is a customer of the electrical contractors and so on. It all circulates. The money that drains out of the Mountains would be worth ten times as much if it stayed here.
Service Your local small business may or may not always be able to match the price offered by the big chain store in Penrith, but will probably beat them hands down on service and know how. They're in it because they love that particular field, perhaps it's a family business with a proud tradition to uphold, perhaps the business is not going well so they know they can't afford to be rude, ignorant or indifferent: there are many reasons. But above all, customers in a small community become friends and you want to be helpful to your friends.
Price Very often the fact is that the local price is as good or better than the Penrith price. If it isn't, consider the hidden costs of the out-of-district purchase: driving there for instance. It costs more than just the petrol.
Friendship Let's not harp on this friendship thing; let's not get sentimental. But there's a world of difference between the hypermarket experience and the community shopping centre experience. It's the difference between being Citizen JL167783-966 and being a member of a community.
With all of these benefits, it's amazing that people continue to shop in Penrith. It shows the power of advertising and the attraction of glamour and glitz. There's nothing wrong with that. I go down there occasionally for the buzz, but I'm careful not to spend too much.
The value of the Mountains dollar to the Penrith shops is very easy to gauge. Just look at the amount of advertising they do in our area.
Village Views urges local residents and business alike to shop locally wherever possible. The quality products and service, and the general expertise that's available right here are too good to miss.
To contact uhe Village Views, send us an e-mail to: bmvv@hermes.net.au