Trend To Buy Local Gaining Popularity
Five years ago, Claudia Perez wouldn’t give a local label a second glance. Now the 26-year-old San Antonio resident checks the origin of her food, choosing regional items for their freshness and to “support local farmers and to know where my food came from.”
Her spending habits are part of a growing national trend to buy regional products, according to an American Express survey. The findings show 51 percent of small retailers think that a sentiment to buy regional items is growing in the country.
January 2011 survey, dubbed the American Express OPEN Retail Economic Pulse, is based on a national sample of 600 retailers who own or manage small businesses with fewer than 100 employees.
The American Express survey said small retailers still are concerned about the state of the economy, and just 38 percent think the economic outlook will improve over the next 12 to 18 months.
But Alice Bredin, small-business adviser to American Express OPEN, said the recent turmoil might actually be fueling an interest in local products.
“I think there’s sort of an understanding that we all need to stick together,” Bredin said. “With so many businesses going under, people are realizing that if they want the local stores that they value to be around, then they really have to get active.”
