Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Small, local businesses on notice
Do good or get what you want?
Farmer's market plus fashionable hat
Dear Hipster:
As a rule, I prefer to patronize small, local businesses over big box stores. I try to go to independent restaurants instead of eating at TGI Friday’s. If it was 2001 and video stores were still a reasonable thing, I’d go to my local store instead of Blockbuster. I think you get the picture. Recently, I have had some downright awful customer-service experiences from small businesses, especially restaurants. Sometimes I go, and things are just not up to standards. Other times, I get the goods and services I want. Now, I am in a quandary, at what point does my desire to use my consumer powers for good give way to my desire for getting what I want, without excess rudeness, incompetence, or inconvenience?
— Sandy
Nobody knows better than us hipsters the importance of confronting corporate oligarchy by shopping at farmers’ markets and independent coffee boutiques. We practically invented this! But patronizing a business that has the sole virtue of not being Target is like subsisting on a steady diet of grass clippings just so you can stick it to Monsanto. The “local for local’s sake” movement was a great idea a decade ago, and it still is, but small-business people have an equal obligation to earn and keep your custom. Don’t fear to take your business elsewhere, even if it means giving up on a local shop that’s lost your trust. It doesn’t mean you have to run straight for the Walmart, since there are plenty of independently owned alternatives. Find the ones that offer you a competitive product and agreeable ethics.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Small, local businesses on notice
Do good or get what you want?
Small, local businesses on notice
Do good or get what you want?
Farmer's market plus fashionable hat
Dear Hipster:
As a rule, I prefer to patronize small, local businesses over big box stores. I try to go to independent restaurants instead of eating at TGI Friday’s. If it was 2001 and video stores were still a reasonable thing, I’d go to my local store instead of Blockbuster. I think you get the picture. Recently, I have had some downright awful customer-service experiences from small businesses, especially restaurants. Sometimes I go, and things are just not up to standards. Other times, I get the goods and services I want. Now, I am in a quandary, at what point does my desire to use my consumer powers for good give way to my desire for getting what I want, without excess rudeness, incompetence, or inconvenience?
— Sandy
Nobody knows better than us hipsters the importance of confronting corporate oligarchy by shopping at farmers’ markets and independent coffee boutiques. We practically invented this! But patronizing a business that has the sole virtue of not being Target is like subsisting on a steady diet of grass clippings just so you can stick it to Monsanto. The “local for local’s sake” movement was a great idea a decade ago, and it still is, but small-business people have an equal obligation to earn and keep your custom. Don’t fear to take your business elsewhere, even if it means giving up on a local shop that’s lost your trust. It doesn’t mean you have to run straight for the Walmart, since there are plenty of independently owned alternatives. Find the ones that offer you a competitive product and agreeable ethics.
Comments