Jim: I'd like to present a different view.

While I support independent merchants, I also do business at chains. My discretionary spending is about 50-50 at both places. The reason I don't do more spending at independents is because their ownership status is not the only consideration. (All thing being equal, I'd support the local merchant. And sometimes I'm willing to pay more for a local merchant's product if I dislike a competing chain's corporate policies.) But if what I need is at a chain, that's where I'll go. I don't believe in a cult of independents. For one thing, I've often been disappointed by independent merchants (as I have at chains).

Also, I find it hypocritical to discriminate against chains simply because they're chains. After all, I believe most independents would jump at the chance to become super successful chains. Example: Is Yats, with two satellite locations and two others in the planning stages, now an evil chain?

I understand the buy-local concept, but it's not a by-rote mantra.

Well said JL Kato. "I believe most independents would jump at the chance to become super successful chains." I believe this too. Besides... isn't a chain simply an independent who has realized the American Dream?

I see your point. But talking about four Yats restaurants is a lot different than talking about the big discount retail chains. If we spend our money at a local hardware store or record store or clothing store instead of discount chains we are supporting somebody other than the multiple-billionaire Walton family that does nothing to support our community. They underpay workers, offer them little or no health insurance options and burden the the government by not paying a living wage. And, in their hunt for the cheapest products, these discount retailers pushed America away from manufacturing because nobody here will work for pennies like they do in China. They haven't made it cheaper for us to live in America. They have contributed to the destruction of our economy. We are a nation of sellers and buyers. But we don't make anything that we sell. And we throw away just about everything we buy so we can go buy it again. It's really sad. Another issue here is examining why we do things. Do we go to Applebee's or Wendy's because it is better than a locally owned restaurant or because we are pushed into it (consciously or unconsciously) by the onslaught of advertisements? Personally, I want to choose to do what I do because it is what I want to do, not because the TV told me to do it. That may sound a little paranoid but if that wasn't how TV advertising worked, why else would these companies spend so much money on TV ads instead of on quality, healthy food?

i have to say that i'm not a big visitor of the smaller establishments - and i should be. i mean to be... but i never make it there. thats one of the plans for this year. i've seen how the larger chains are taking away the culture and individuality of larger cities, which give a take a few landmarks and transportation types are all beginning to look the same. cookie cuttered. thats sad. some of the mom and pops have been hoppin' for years and because the landlords know the chains will pay for the location, they're upping the rent by a lot, knowing mom and pop can't pay.... so visit the independent merchants establishments i shall.

Jolene asked: "Are people who seek out new, out-of-the-way local restaurants and shops better people because they like to try new things?"

I would answer: um, yes. Sorry to sound elitist here, but it's pretty clear that trying and learning new things is a smarter approach to life than always doing what is familiar, easy and piped into you on TV. Of course, I wouldn't say you can't ever go to a chain. But most people don't ever go to an independent restaurant. Just look at the size of these chain places, the size of their lots and the lines out the door all of the time. We take our 5 and 7 year old kids (one is super picky too) to non-chains all of the time -- Thai Spice, Iaria's, India Garden, lots of pizza places, etc. After a while, even an independent restaurant can become familiar. It's not just the same kind of familiar as a place that's at every offramp and crummy strip mall in every city in America.

My business is right betwenn 2 independant restaurants. Both have been open way longer than I have. It is all about someone's comfort level. The business on one side of me does a fantastic job keeping people coming in the door. It's what they know and like. It is tough, to get those people to take a look at me because I'm new and different. On the other side of me is a bar that has been long established, and as long as they have a liquor license, they will come, because that is what they know.

I'll have to admit I agree with almost everything said in the above quote. Probably the greatest agreement I have concerns the items from China. It doesn't bother me in the least to ultimately add to the billions of the American Walton family estate (nor the Ford, Penney, Hershey, etc.). On the other hand it's bothering me more and more to support Un-American/unfair labor practices in China! Yet if I go to a big box retail establishment, searching for something made in America is becoming more and more a needle-in--the-haystack situation.

I can't find fault in a company becoming so successful that it becomes a mega-chain. At the same time I do enjoy locally owned businesses (BTW, favorite Italian restaurant: Papa Joe's Jr. in Avon). Consequently I'm searching for a balance. My balancing act has started with a concentrated effort to avoid things made in China. I find this a daunting task. For example, just after exiting the Christmas season, I have to ask are there ANY Christmas decorations NOT made in China? For that matter what about St. Pat's Day and even the 4th of July? It seems our holidays alone keep the Chinese economy healthier than our own!

Sorry if I may have gotten off topic an little. At the same time thanks for the vent space.

This is an excellent discussion. I'd like to clarify some of the comments I made in an earlier post. I am not, as some people are labeling me, anti-local. I'm just taking the attitude that being local doesn't automatically confer sainthood status. Plenty of quality local establishments exist (and yes, Yats is one of them). Plenty of socially-conscious chains exist that provide quality products and service. To truly be an independent thinker means to dig deeper and ask how best to spend your money, rather than making automatic assumptions.

Totally concur Essex, you can't fault a local business that succeeds and grows big enough to not seem local.

Starbucks was once ONE corner coffee shop.

Budweiser at one point in time used to be a microbrew.

I am all about my local paycheck staying local, but when Mom and Pops corner grocery has diapers that are $3.00 more a package than what I can get at Target, I am all about the hypermarkets.

On the other side of the coin, when it comes to my art, my music and my cuisine...MAKE MINE INDY!

s.h.

Going back to something JL wrote, I don't think anybody who shops or eats at corporate-owned chains is anti-local. I don't know anybody who would be against local businesses. And I don't blame people for going to chains -- it's hard to pass up saving money and chains do some things better. That's one of the reasons why they're successful. I just hope people think about why they choose the places they go to spend their money. In a free-market economy like ours, the purchases of others really effect all of us. If enough people decide to stop buying goods made in China and seek American-made products and happily pay a little more for them, the market will shift. We've seen this with organic food. They even have it at Wal-Mart now (I hear).

Very well said.

s.h.

When all things are equal, I'll always go local. Heck, I'm even willing to give the local guy a little bit of a break just to support independent businesses. And I HATE hate HATE Wal-Mart. I really won't shop there for about any reason, no matter how cheap things are (and I wouldn't even know because I don't go), but sometimes things really are cheaper at a chain. And yes, it's important to point out that lots of chains started as independents. But I'd much rather give my dollar to a neighbor than "the man."

We've got some really good options around here too. And I have to say, believe it or not, Indy is much more indy conscious than places I've lived before. At least, the circles I run in are.

Then again, Greenwood and Fishers contradict that with all the strip malls and chain gangs. I do have the friend who would always rather go to Applebee's than the mom and pop place next door. Go figure.