All Things ASE
Why Buy More from your Neighborhood Store?
Lucas Barroso Gonçalves, an alum from this semester’s iF&M first-year programme, was asked to write an Op-ed piece as part of his ‘Conceptualizing Community’ seminar class.
He chose to write about ‘buying local’ and found Camden, London, a compelling case study.
According to the United Kingdom Federation of Small Businesses, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for three-fifths of the employment and around half of the turnover in the UK private sector. They have a crucial role in the economy, employing millions of people and generating billions of pounds. In addition, they reflect the communities they are inserted into, shaping people’s social interactions. Whether you buy at the local shop around the corner or not, you can probably see that the shop reflects your neighborhood's tastes and expectations of consumption. They reflect your local culture.
Nonetheless, in the face of soaring inflation and rising interest costs, small businesses are struggling to maintain themselves in their respective markets. Bloomberg reported that sales at Britain’s small businesses “collapsed” by more than 20% over the first semester of 2023. Many people started buying at big businesses due to their capacity to produce more with lower costs, also known as economies of scale, and therefore offer cheaper prices. The attractiveness of small businesses lies not in their prices but in their positive impacts on the communities they serve, and that is why you should consider buying more often at the shop around your corner.
When I first went to Camden Town, I was amazed by the colors and music. The place has unique traits that set it apart from other neighborhoods in London. By just walking around, you notice the cultural revolution from the 1960s and 1970s happening there with all the graffiti on the walls of stores, tattoo and piercing shops, food from a variety of places, and people playing music from Punk to Pop.
Studying Camden’s history more deeply, I found that was not always the case. During the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century, it was a place where both the upper and working classes lived, split into two areas. Small businesses started to grow in the area and reflect the social interactions that used to happen there. Among others, piano manufacturers, wine merchants, gin distillers, and soft-drink masters settled down in Camden. The neighborhood was not so distinct from other parts of London, even with the overcrowded conditions that the railways brought. It was not until the 1960s that the distinguished Camden Town we know today started to rise. The Roundhouse was chosen as the place where youths from all over the UK could get together and play Punk and Rock music that reflected their discontentment with society. They created a venue of culture, music, and political discussion, most of the time against society’s main views. The UK’s biggest Punk and Rock bands started in Camden and became part of what sets Camden apart.
To serve their new-growing local culture, Camden shops became vibrant and colorful and began selling what their new consumers wanted to buy (guitars, tattoos, piercings, etc). They were supporting Camden’s new cultural movement and fueling its business growth. This is not unlike what happens elsewhere. Chinatowns (historical Chinese communities that developed as a response to racist residential segregation policies and practices that limited Chinese immigrants’ access to housing elsewhere) supported their culture, as well as ‘Gayborhoods’ (residential communities established to protect LGBTQI+ people against wider forces of discrimination) or any other neighborhood, especially those at the center of big cities. Your neighborhood has unique stores that support your culture and beliefs, but those stores also need your support to continue positively impacting you.
Although it might sometimes be unrealistic to buy from your neighborhood stores with the cost of living rising, you should seriously consider buying more from them. A single day more of the week that you choose to purchase from those stores can have a huge impact on their revenue and, therefore, their capacity to grow, employ more people, and continue assisting your community. Think of that as a commitment to your neighborhood’s future. After all, these establishments are not mere economic entities; they are custodians of our culture and contributors to our collective identity. Our commitment today echoes in the vibrant streets, diverse cultures, and thriving businesses that make our communities truly unique tomorrow.