Local Shopping Quiz

We all think we are doing a decent job of supporting our local businesses, but are we really? Here is a quiz to help you decide if you could be shopping locally more.

For quite a while now I’ve thought that I was pretty good at shopping locally. Ever since I created this website I’ve tried to be a bit of a role model and made an effort to make my purchases at local merchants. But today I stumbled upon an online quiz that ranked my efforts to shop locally and, man, did I do poorly.

Instead of making you endure the shame of filling out the quiz and seeing your results, I thought I’d just distill it down into the relevant topics. Then you can evaluate your shopping habits and hopefully you can identify the places where you can do better.

1) Finance and professional services:

• Do you bank at a local bank or trust company?
• Do you use a local accountant
• Is your financial advisory working by him/her self or with a small regional company?
• Do you purchase your insurance thru a broker or a call center?

2) Home repairs and furnishings:

• Do you buy your furniture from a local store?
• Do you buy your hardware and building supplies from an independent retailer?
• Is your housekeeper self employed?
• Do you avoid hiring contractors through the large chain retailers?

3) Groceries and restaurants:

• Do you go to your farmers market?
• Do you purchase prepared foods from local producers?
• Do you go to indie coffee shops and restaurants more than the chains?
• Have you looked into the local produce co-ops?

4) Personal services:

• Is your preferred pharmacy independently owned?
• Do you go to a locally owned gym?
• Do you avoid the mall when shopping for clothes, gifts and sundries?

5) Entertainment and travel:

• Do you book your travel with a local travel agent?
• Do you go to indie movie houses?
• Do you stay at locally owned hotels/motels/B&Bs instead of national chains?

It’s so easy to overlook some of the segments of your local business community. I hope you find this list as thought provoking as I.

Cheers, Tim

• Posted On: October 7, 2013

Tim... Hi, I'm one of the people who make's Shop-Local Canada hum. I'm a designer, programmer, editor, contributor and a support person. Cheers!

Send us your feedback: