Today, shopping isn’t limited to your local stores.
Thanks to the internet, we can now shop from stores that are cities and even oceans away. Despite this, we know that shopping local and buying from local stores is one of the best ways to make more sustainable, conscious purchases.
Shopping local doesn’t mean you’re limiting your shopping experience or closing yourself off from the international market or better options.
Instead, it means you’re nurturing the local market and locally owned business, all while strengthening the community around you to become more self-sufficient manufacturers and buyers.
But that’s not all! Here are seven reasons why you should shop from your local clothing store.
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1. Try it before you buy it
Online ordering and shipping have made us closer to manufacturers around the world, but there’s nothing safer than trying on your clothes before buying them.
This is the experience you enjoy when you step into a local store. As a shopper, you can take your time to browse leisurely, try on your favorites, and check the quality of each product—advantages that just aren’t possible when you shop online.
This way, you can avoid wardrobe mishaps and say goodbye to ill-fitting outfits. Instead, you can buy a piece with the confidence that it meets your expectations and can become a wardrobe staple.
2. Get high-quality products
Another benefit of shopping locally is getting your hands on high-quality products.
The aim of local industries is to build a strong brand for themselves, which means they invest in fabrics, materials, and skills of the highest quality and standards.
Localizing their operations also means that they can afford to make their products in small batches to retain quality, and can invest more in other areas of quality assurance.
You can shop with the assurance that you’re buying products that are going to be worth your investment.
3. Experience better customer service
When you shop locally, the store personnel are part of your own community, which means you get a team of easily accessible experts on local products.
You may even be familiar with the faces you meet at your local clothing store, either because you’ve already met or because you’ve made several visits to the store. Relying on someone who knows you personally to help you with your shopping can take your experience from good to great.
What’s more, local employees are well versed in everything you need to know about locally made products.
Want to know more about the meaning of a t-shirt that carries your city name? Or find the perfect token to gift someone who’s visiting your city? You won’t find a better fit for the job than someone who knows the area.
4. Boost the local economy
Several studies have shown that buying local has a positive impact on the local economy and boosts community wealth.
When you buy locally, you’re making a transaction within your state or city, which means the revenue contributes to local communities and infrastructure.
Since local businesses tend to hire locally, supporting them also creates more job opportunities for the local population.
5. Improve your neighborhood
Local businesses are often the heart of community events, taking it upon themselves to sponsor local festivals and organize community gatherings. When local infrastructure and events are supported, it’ll inevitably boost the development of your area as well.
Shopping from a local clothing store that supports community events also boosts local connections; locals will have more opportunities to gather together and build meaningful relationships over shared interests and a sense of community.
6. Shop green
Due to the escalating climate crisis, shopping green has become the responsibility of all modern shoppers.
Shopping from a local clothing store is one of the many ways you can aid this mission and have a lower impact on the environment when you buy your favorite products.
For example, when you buy locally, the distance between you and your purchase is small, which means your product travels shorter distances to reach you. This cuts down on the use of planes, trucks, trains, and other delivery routes—all sources of carbon emissions.
7. Represent your local culture
Buying from local stores means you have a selection of locally produced goods that represent local craftsmanship and skill—you’re not just buying from a store nearby, you’re buying something that represents your local culture and values.
What’s more, in local stores, you’ll find a range of personalized items that let you display your love for your city or country. When you shop from a local clothing store, you get to wear that local pride fashionably and sustainably.
Shopping from a local clothing store—it’s a win-win!
Shopping locally means you’re supporting your community and helping to improve economic stability in your area, but the benefits you generate don’t end locally, you’re also supporting a global cause by doing your part to combat the climate crisis.
You get to enjoy benefits too—shop to your heart’s content and get products that are worth your money, all while embodying your local pride!
Read also: 5 Uses for High Visibility Clothing