Brandon Buckalew, East Grand Forks, letter: Shop local, where your dollar does more

EAST GRAND FORKS — For the past 20-plus years, Hardware Hank has provided goods and services to the fine people of the Greater Grand Forks area. We are proud to be a part of our community.

But like many other local businesses, we have been impacted by the presence of mass merchants. We wanted to let our local residents know what shopping at these merchants instead of local businesses really means to our community.

The movement Independent We Stand tells us that for every $100 spent at a locally owned store, $68 stays in the community; but if the $100 is spent in one of the national chains, only $43 stays here.

Each day, we hear about cutbacks of government services in communities across the country due to our hard-earned money not staying here to benefit our local needs such as schools, emergency services and roads. We believe that it’s time to take this issue into our own hands.

If we all make a conscious decision to shift just a few of our locally earned dollars right here in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, we can make a significant impact on the economic health of our community.

Residents can use a calculator on the Independent We Stand website, www.independentwestand.org/spend_local, to see just how much goes back to our community by making this decision.

We want to thank all our friends and neighbors who care about our community and continue to support it by shopping at local businesses. Let’s all make the decision to keep the Greater Grand Forks area thriving.

Brandon Buckalew

Buckalew is owner of Hardware Hank.

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