Local Businesses Are The Key

More often than not, I run to the big chain stores thinking I have better odds of finding what I need and the prices will be better. Lately, I've decided to stick to the "support local businesses" mentality, and find its really to every one's benefit. My latest experience involved locks and keys. I always thought going to a locksmith would be pricey, and I would be better off going to Home Depot or Lowe's. I had gone with the latter option previous occasions, so I know what to expect price wise, and wanted to see how a local locksmith compared. Finding something very specific tends to be hit or miss at the larger stores, and the last time I was in search of something similar, all I basically walked out with was a "sorry, we don't have those".

Walking into the store, I found it refreshing that it was a family business. A couple worked the business, and their children had just gotten off the bus after school, went straight into the shop and started their homework. It was really cute to see one of the girls getting a customer to help check her homework, and see the kids enjoying their Halloween surpluses as they unloaded their backpacks.

For starters, the locksmith is just around the corner, and that in itself might be worth an extra dollar or two for saving me the trouble of having to contend with all the traffic lights along Broadway and having to deal with busy parking lots and lines you expect to find at Home Depot or Lowe's. The prices were right on par, and I actually made out better, since the locksmith was able to advise me on less expensive options. Another thing about the local business is the variety of merchandise they had. Their displays were geared more towards the styles you'd expect the buildings in the area to have had years ago, whereas the bigger stores always tend to have the same generic styles you see everywhere. I don't remember the last time I saw those crystal-sort of door knobs, but when I saw them on display, it took me back to days when I was little and would pretend they were diamonds.

Whether its locks, food, hobbies, etc., don't overlook what's right next door. If not to "support local businesses", try going to one just to make your own life a little simpler- do you really want to go all the way to Home Depot, when in the time it takes you just to get there, you could have your entire job complete?