The Price of Local
There's a whole new retail area just behind my house. Unfortunately, it's not that easy to walk to (although we do) because there are fences and railroad tracks and other obstacles that cover the 1/4 mile route that we COULD take straight from our back yard. As it is, we walk AROUND.
We've tried to make the "grand openings" of every business and so far, we've made it to all but the Pet Supply store. That is, we've hit the organic burger place (Elevation Burger), the Restaurant/bar (Busboys and Poets), the nail spa and the Yogi Castle yogurt shop, the Chipotle and the Organic Market (Yes!) all on opening day! Currently, we're eagerly awaiting the opening of the new Thai place and early next year, an India place!
How lucky we are to have all of these fantastic new place so close to us and so convenient! I was very curious about the Yes! Organic Market and then disappointed when I discovered that it is quite a bit more expensive for some of my regular Glut Food Coop and My Organic Market items. For example, a box of granola bars (for lunchboxes) is $2/more per box than at MOM. I told Big Girl Monster as we left on opening day that, sadly, we would not be able to make Yes! our regular grocery stop as I'd hoped, but that I was glad it was close by.
Well, the joke's on me. As it turns out, "right in my backyard" trumps "cheaper." In the last few weeks, we've stopped in to the Yes! just about every other night to pick up a thing or two for dinner, a missing item- or dinner itself. Likewise, the Busboys and Poets, the eagerly awaited Left-wing bar/restaurant/bookstore is finally open and I find it too expensive to consider it a regular hang out ($12 Margaritas?). We've gone a few times for dinner or brunch, but I've gone even several more times to meet people for a quick drink- because it's sooooo close!
So that, I've realized, is the price of local. These places (don't even get me started on the pet supply store!) are a lot more expensive than I'd like to be paying, but the convenience can't be beat! And in the end, I've decided that I'm happy to pay a little more to support their presence in my community (and in my back yard).
We've tried to make the "grand openings" of every business and so far, we've made it to all but the Pet Supply store. That is, we've hit the organic burger place (Elevation Burger), the Restaurant/bar (Busboys and Poets), the nail spa and the Yogi Castle yogurt shop, the Chipotle and the Organic Market (Yes!) all on opening day! Currently, we're eagerly awaiting the opening of the new Thai place and early next year, an India place!
How lucky we are to have all of these fantastic new place so close to us and so convenient! I was very curious about the Yes! Organic Market and then disappointed when I discovered that it is quite a bit more expensive for some of my regular Glut Food Coop and My Organic Market items. For example, a box of granola bars (for lunchboxes) is $2/more per box than at MOM. I told Big Girl Monster as we left on opening day that, sadly, we would not be able to make Yes! our regular grocery stop as I'd hoped, but that I was glad it was close by.
Well, the joke's on me. As it turns out, "right in my backyard" trumps "cheaper." In the last few weeks, we've stopped in to the Yes! just about every other night to pick up a thing or two for dinner, a missing item- or dinner itself. Likewise, the Busboys and Poets, the eagerly awaited Left-wing bar/restaurant/bookstore is finally open and I find it too expensive to consider it a regular hang out ($12 Margaritas?). We've gone a few times for dinner or brunch, but I've gone even several more times to meet people for a quick drink- because it's sooooo close!
So that, I've realized, is the price of local. These places (don't even get me started on the pet supply store!) are a lot more expensive than I'd like to be paying, but the convenience can't be beat! And in the end, I've decided that I'm happy to pay a little more to support their presence in my community (and in my back yard).
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1 comments:
I hear ya on this. It is an interesting dilemma, particularly as these are all chains. For the most part local chains, though, so I do feel good about that. I wish the abundance coming to our 'hood was mirrored in my own family but at least we have more gathering spots - which should be particularly nice this winter. More on that soon.
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