New Year's Resolution
I've made a New Year's resolution not to shop at Meijer stores. (Meijer is a chain of retail and grocery supercenters in the MidWest, based in West Michigan.) The basic idea behind my resolution is a desire to "Shop Outside the Box," to quote the slogan of Grand Rapids' Neighborhood Business Association. My bumper sticker says "Buy Local" and I intend to do as much of that as possible in the coming year.
However, as I talked this resolution over with my spouse and friends, the daunting nature of it set in. Where does one find staplers, Rubbermaid bins, and curling irons if not at a Box? Perhaps the lesson, is that one can get through life without these things...or maybe that I just need to look a little harder for them. But, if such a necessity should arise, would it not be better to support Meijer (a local business that invests in our community through Sculpture Gardens and Heart Hospitals) than to buy from Wal*Mart or Target?
I've decided that the answer is to pay close attention to how my money is spent this year, and where that money goes...so, without further ado, here begins my consumer's confessional for 2007:
On New Year's Day-
$12 for breakfast at the Red Geranium, a local diner. Well worth it.
$40.05 at Family Fare where we bought some groceries and a lot of other random items including: toilet paper, stain stick, paper clips, and a purple stapler.
I don't really know a whole lot about Family Fare, except that it is less widespread that Meijer and has more limited retail options (we couldn't find a calculator and the only stapler was purple). But is it any better to do our shopping there than at the next place? Perhaps I'll do some research on the place and report back. It is much closer to our home than Meijer is though.
Today-
$5.28 at Panera for a greek salad that was mostly lettuce and was not all too filling (at least it wasn't iceberg!)
It was an office outing, so I didn't have a whole lot of say in the matter...when I do, I will choose a local restaurant over a chain.
However, as I talked this resolution over with my spouse and friends, the daunting nature of it set in. Where does one find staplers, Rubbermaid bins, and curling irons if not at a Box? Perhaps the lesson, is that one can get through life without these things...or maybe that I just need to look a little harder for them. But, if such a necessity should arise, would it not be better to support Meijer (a local business that invests in our community through Sculpture Gardens and Heart Hospitals) than to buy from Wal*Mart or Target?
I've decided that the answer is to pay close attention to how my money is spent this year, and where that money goes...so, without further ado, here begins my consumer's confessional for 2007:
On New Year's Day-
$12 for breakfast at the Red Geranium, a local diner. Well worth it.
$40.05 at Family Fare where we bought some groceries and a lot of other random items including: toilet paper, stain stick, paper clips, and a purple stapler.
I don't really know a whole lot about Family Fare, except that it is less widespread that Meijer and has more limited retail options (we couldn't find a calculator and the only stapler was purple). But is it any better to do our shopping there than at the next place? Perhaps I'll do some research on the place and report back. It is much closer to our home than Meijer is though.
Today-
$5.28 at Panera for a greek salad that was mostly lettuce and was not all too filling (at least it wasn't iceberg!)
It was an office outing, so I didn't have a whole lot of say in the matter...when I do, I will choose a local restaurant over a chain.
posted by Noah at 2:09 PM
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