Rethink Shopping
You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need. ~Vernon Howard
In the retailing world, June sales reflect consumer shopping attitudes as they head into the second most important selling season of the year….Back-to-school. As stores clearance out the last of the summer merchandise, retail selling space is quickly turned over to a new color palet, long sleeves and hopefully, some profitable sales.
Retailers are optimistic this year as June sales were good, reflecting consumer confidence despite high gas prices and a weakening housing market. The back-to-school season is expected to generate $19 billion in sales for retailers and families with school-age children are expected to spend $560 on back-to-school merchandise, up nearly 7% from last year, according to the National Retail Federation.
I’ve spent a great deal of time over the last couple of years examining my shopping habits. My goals were to minimize my purchases (save money), support local businesses, and to make more Earth conscience choices when I needed to shop at a national retailer. I need to feel good about my purchases.
I worked in retail management for 7 years before moving to Rochester. I’m a picky shopper and I still remember the good ol’ days of small department stores where the customer was king. During my days in retail, customer service was truely our number one priority. In a short amount of time (10 years?), this has given way to the era of one-stop shopping and big box stores. The customer has been left to fend for themselves as retailers have moved towards centralized cash-wraps and fewer employees on the sales floor.
None of this has set well with this former retail manager. So, I decided that I would minimize my shopping to the stores that provided me with the best experiences & choices. Well, that’s a very short list. I quickly was running out of places to shop for even the necessities.
I quickly learned that by eliminating one certain big-box retailer from my shopping routine, I was saving a lot of money! By making a shopping list, my purchases were confined to what I really needed, not what I wanted. 
Large retailers merchandise their stores with “seed items”. These items are located on the aisles and are used to lure the customer into the store, and to spend more money. The thrill of saving money leads to unnecessary purchases. I no longer shop at the retailer that I feel is the best at this. It’s amazing how much money I have saved by shopping elsewhere for only those items that I need. Goal one, accomplished.
My second goal was to support local businesses. This was perhaps the easiest of my goals and has been accomplished by buying fresh, local food from the Farmer’s Market, finding local sources for meat and dairy, supporting local restaurants & retailers. As easy as this has been, one thing that Rochester is truely lacking is locally owned restaurants and retailers. I wish there were more choices.
The last goal was that I had to feel good about my purchases. Which brings me to the next, and perhaps the most difficult, leg of my journey to rethink my shopping habits.
In 2006, the US exported $55 billion in goods to China. The Chinese in turn exported nearly $290 billion in goods to our country (US Census Bureau). We’ve all heard about the trade deficit with China. It is pretty hard to avoid purchasing products that are made there, nor do I really intend to.
A close friend of mine is going to China. No, not on vacation or to see the Olympics next summer. He is going for business. He works as a buyer for a major US retailer. (China serves as the example for this article.)
My friend is going to China to negotiate prices on goods for this retailer. The Chinese government is imposing larger fines on manufacturers who’s carbon emissions are increasing. Those fines are growing so large that those manufacturers are now having to pass this on to the retailers that purchase those goods.
Perhaps I am a bit naive, but I have never thought about my purchases to this degree before. So, the Chinese government is imposing fines on maunfacturers who pollute, who in turn pass this cost onto the retailers that purchase their goods, who in turn will pass this additional cost on to the US consumer. In the end, the manufacturers have no need to stop their polluting ways because the hungry US consumer will pay for it in the end.
I am now looking at what I purchase in a whole new light. I understand that an all out boycott on anything made in China is not possible, nor do I want that. We live in a global economy and the US demand for cheaply made goods is very high.
The questions that I am now asking myself before I make a purchase are these:
1) Can the item be purchased from a local source? I recently made a large purchase and chose to buy from a Minnesota company.
2) Do I need or want the item? For most purchases, I wait a few days. In most cases, I find that I don’t need the item. I usually already own something that can be repurposed or reused.
3) Is there an eco-friendly alternative? A quick Google search can often lead you to fresh, new ideas. Purchasing items made from organic cotton, hemp, or wool are nice alternatives. Renewable products made from bamboo, are also becoming more popular.
Feeling good about the purchases I make is important to me. I am concerned about what I bring into my home. How is that product packaged? Can I buy a similar product with less packaging? What is that product made from? Is there an organic version available? By putting a little bit of thought into what I buy, I am now carefully examining the difference between my wants and my needs. I am rethinking my shopping.
Lisa Peterson, of The Footprint, worked in retail merchandise management for national retailers for 7 years before changing careers and moving to Rochester six years ago.