Buying Local - The Good Stuff!

[AngryScientist]

So the Amazon thread got us thinking about the changes going on full throttle in the world we live in.

What are some of the great things that you still buy locally?

Local craftsmen/women, artisans, merchants, etc?

Bonus points if you are specific and maybe turn other forum members on to a great shop they may not have known about.

[AngryScientist]

I'll start.

I'm a coffee junkie, and definitely notice a huge difference if i buy my beans locally from a shop that i know roasts them in-house.

so much fresher and full of flavor. plus - i get to try new blends and things.

i dont think i will ever go for buying beans regularly over the internet. local wins every time for this one.

https://cdn6.dissolve.com/p/D1089_178_020/D1089_178_020_1200.jpg

[Spaghetti Legs]

Baguettes - Marie Bette bakery and Market St Market are easy winners over the chain grocery stores. Disagreement in the family over which of those two better, but the bakery has the added benefit of multiple tasty treats to pick out as well. Both are also easy bike ride away.

Hardware store - Martin Hardware - bike ride away and there’s always someone within 20 feet to give advice. If they don’t have it, they can direct you to another local supplier.

Lotsa good breweries in my town, but Random Row has 1/2 price growlers on Mondays and ... wait for it .... easy bike ride away!

[FlashUNC]

Inside Line Equipment. Best bags in the biz. And local to the East Bay.

[pdonk]

I try to shop local when I can. Here is my list of great things I have lcoal to me that I use regularily.

Velocolour is local to me - drive by them every day on the way to work, Noah actually lives about a block from my house. Their tool rolls work well, and can't say anything that has not been said about their paint that has not already been said before.

We shop at a butcher that sources its meat from local farms, nice to know where the farm is and what the animals ate.

Our vegetables in the summer come from a CSA program run by a friend's brother. Another nice to know what you are eating.

My suits are bought from a local shop that sources from Coppley - a shop in Hamilton - about 45 minutes away. My other suits are from Samuelsohn - in Montreal so kind of local in the fashion world. Nice to get high quality made to measure for less than off the rack "designer".

Wines - we have started drinking a significant amount of local wines - Prince Edward County (2 hrs away) and Niagara (1.5 hrs away). Fun to explore and meet the people who make the wine and learn about what they are trying to do.

My hardware store, while part of a chain (Home Hardware) is actually a dealer co-op and is great, they don't have the best selection, but they will have what you need - or you can order what you want on line from them and have it delivered to the store and they get "credit" for the order. Best of both worlds.

Saving up for a pair of Peter Feeney shoes, a local shoemaker.

[MattTuck]

Simon Pearce (https://www.simonpearce.com/) makes some excellent glass ware, and are located on one of my favorite routes. Lately they've branched into more house ware stuff, which I understand is a business decision, but feels a bit like selling out.

King Arthur Flour (https://www.kingarthurflour.com/) is one of the oldest companies in the US and produces some great products.

Pompanoosuc Mills (https://www.pompy.com/) produces high end solid wood furniture. Some really great stuff.

And a shout out to a local artist, Matt Brown (https://ooloopress.com/index6/) who makes Japanese style wood block prints.

https://oldprintgallery.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/89842.jpg

[bigbill]

Kingman, AZ has good booze. Probably the best rum I've had since I was stationed in Italy and could buy Havana Club.

https://www.desertdiamonddistillery.com/

Flagstaff is only two hours away, I have two Coconino bikes.

[colker]

Kingman, AZ has good booze. Probably the best rum I've had since I was stationed in Italy and could buy Havana Club.

https://www.desertdiamonddistillery.com/

Flagstaff is only two hours away, I have two Coconino bikes.

Let´s see those 2 bikes: ;)

[Andy sti]

Abby tools
Spurcycle
Cushcore
Earth Cruiser

I really want to sell my Sprinter and get an Earth Cruiser but I may need to wait about 5 years when the kids are done with high school. That and sell my house.

There is a pretty good “ buy local” vibe here.

[nooneline]

King Arthur Flour (https://www.kingarthurflour.com/) is one of the oldest companies in the US and produces some great products.

...and is worker-owned!

[Blown Reek]

I only patronize my local dog food store (no PetSmart or Petco) and only send my dogs to my local veterinarian (instead of Banfield).

[572cv]

Very local to me ! Just across the street from the post office and bank in Hinesburg. Pick some up if you can find it, or are coming to the area....

[2LeftCleats]

Local farmers market for produce. Local breweries. Local wineries. Local dispensaries. Neighborhood bike, bakery, and book stores. One baker that delivers to the house. Local home improvement center, Jerry’s, with better selection and service than Lowe’s or Home Depot.

[XXtwindad]

Good thread! Arizmendi Bakery in Oakland. Worker owned.

[dustyrider]

Let's see...from west to east it goes something like this:

Palisade, CO peaches and too many wineries to pick just one to brag about. They also make some good Gin: Jackelope Gin being my favorite(Spirits (https://www.peachstreetdistillers.com/spirits#gin))! There's a local brewery that makes some good beers and pretty good food to boot. They also have the only local marijuana dispensary. The owners do make an effort to grow some of their product locally and invest a lot of energy into the town(never mind the tax revenue they've contributed to the town.) Also Rapid Creek Cycles (https://rapidcreekcycles.com/) has invested a huge amount of energy in the local riding scene and river rafting adventures! They pretty much single-handedly developed and will build the palisade plunge (https://www.copmoba.org/power-the-plunge/), a trail that should rival The Whole Enchilada in terms of epic gravity assisted mtbiking trails. COPMOBA (https://www.copmoba.org/) is pretty important when it comes to local trail building and public land access. Whether it's drumming up volunteers to turn a shovel for an old trail or a new one, or organizing and hosting fundraisers they're pretty awesome.

Grand Junction, CO has more manufacturing and is home to places like
MRP (https://mrpbike.com/) (formerly known as White Brothers, still making Kreitler Rollers (https://www.kreitler.com/a85bkscawdc6utw8j0hjx4mw8nj1uj)) A lot of stuff is still manufactured in their shop, or at the very least engineered and assembled in house.
DT Swiss (https://www.dtswiss.com/en/) does make spokes here and assembles quite a lot wheels. Along with amazing customer service and tons of support for local riding and racing events.
There are amazing local bike shops in town whether it's suspension service (https://rubycanyoncycles.com/), same day service (https://thebikeshopgj.com/), an eclectic selection (https://browncycles.com/bc/), or folks that like to get rowdy (https://www.grassroots-cycles.com/) they're all worth a visit.
Wiggy's (https://www.wiggys.com/) makes some really great cold weather gear.
I haven't bought one yet, but Vintage Overland (https://www.vintageoverland.com/) makes some awesome teardrop campers.
One day soon I plan to spend loads of money at Hill People Gear (http://hillpeoplegear.com/).
I have had a few pieces of Loki (https://www.lokiusa.com/) gear(mainly their head-ware) and loads of people rock their stuff around these part.
I don't eat sweets often, but it smells nice by Enstroms (https://www.enstrom.com/).

Fruita, CO is home to Over the Edge (https://otesports.com/locations/fruita/) who put the valley on the map with their love of riding trails back before Mountain Biking was even a thing. The Copper Club (https://www.copperclubbrew.com/) is a great place to hang with some amazing pizza around the corner at The Hot Tomato (https://www.hottomatopizza.com/).

There's loads more, but these are the ones that came to mind this morning.

[Mzilliox]

wagyu beef fr0m Pacific R0gue Wagyu.
Turkey fr thanksgiving
Blue Cheese fr0m R0gue Creamery
kitchen supplies fr0m l0cal kitchen st0re
Picture frames
Beer
Fly Sh0p

[oldpotatoe]

Rapha-Rapha store
Moots-Vecchio's
ammunition-Gunsport Colorado
guns-same as above
greeting cards-Bloomin, Two Hands Paperie
hardware-McGuckins

Yes, I know all the above stuff made somewhere else but....

[tuscanyswe]

My biggest local merchant is my "neighbours"

I buy a lot of used stuff. Barely indistinguishable from new for a fraction of the price and there is no need to take more resources to make them or ship them as they are allrdy here. Win win.

[donevwil]

Wine from Adobe Road (https://www.adoberoadwines.com/).

Spirits from Stillwater (http://stillwaterspirits.squarespace.com/), Griffo (https://www.griffodistillery.com/) or Spirit Works (https://www.spiritworksdistillery.com/).

No good local beer, or I should say no good local stouts, best two were from breweries that went out of business this year.

Meat from Beffa Springs (https://beffaspringsranch.com/).

Chocolate covered apricots from DeBrito's (http://www.debritochocolate.com/gourmet-boxed-chocolate-covered-whole-california-apricots/) (from my youth).

... and always worthy of being on my Xmas list, a gift certificate to Black Mountain Cycles.

[peanutgallery]

The commonwealth of PA has archaic booze laws and the PA Preferred rules have made for some great local options. Breweries, distilleries pubs etc that all float a bit outside of distribution monopolies. All kinds of choices, straight from the source

[cash05458]

Via Vermont: Darn Tough on socks...they have a yearly factory sale...think it just ended actually...but I go over there every 4 or 5 years and spend a hundred bucks or so...the socks I wear that run 25 a pair in stores I get for 8 bucks a pair...buy a bunch and good to go for another half decade...

Maple Syrup...of course it's everywhere here it being Vermont...a buddy of mine does his trees...25 a gallon!

Bag Balm...about 20 years ago I bought a 5 pound bucket of it at a tractor supply store here for 20 bucks...it never goes bad...can be used on ANY part of the body...maybe even cooking!...bucket still going strong and maybe a third gone...if I had kids or grandkids would leave it to them and they could prolly pass it down as well...but alas...

Speaking of local: cured my bee sting allergy by listening to my doctor for once...he told me to try to find a beekeeper as close as possible...found one a few houses down...anyhow, the idea being these same bees hit all the plants in your hood...and you develop an immunity...so been buying this fellow's honey for 6 bucks a quart for years now...and it actually worked! No more epi pens in my saddle bag for me...

Eggs...another neighbor has chickens...so 2 bucks a carton...of course they taste much better than the store ones...and at 2 bucks per as much as I like chickens I figure he can do the work and I can relax on that one...

[unterhausen]

I'm not that big on shopping, and this area doesn't have too many stores that are to my taste, but here are a few.
W.C. Clarke's coffee. They roast their own beans.
Freeze Thaw Cycles.
Wiscoy pets.

[OldCrank]

Let's see...
Lots of local brews but I loves me a Boom Sauce, from Lord Hobo, a couple towns south.
Grillo Pickles, several towns away but starting to sell right in town.
A few towns east, in Beverly, is where Bob P makes some of my favorite toys.

[cgolvin]

Every ski trip to Mammoth includes a stop for jerky at Mahogany Smoked Meats (https://smokedmeats.com/) in Bishop. Everything's good but particularly love their elk and boar jerkies.

Many good bakeries in LA, I always have loaves from Lodge Bread in Culver City.

And the best pastrami in the country (yep, I said it) is at Langer's. Must try if you're a fan of the salted cured meats.

[DarkStar]

Via Vermont: Darn Tough on socks...they have a yearly factory sale...think it just ended actually...but I go over there every 4 or 5 years and spend a hundred bucks or so...the socks I wear that run 25 a pair in stores I get for 8 bucks a pair...buy a bunch and good to go for another half decade...

Maple Syrup...of course it's everywhere here it being Vermont...a buddy of mine does his trees...25 a gallon!

Bag Balm...about 20 years ago I bought a 5 pound bucket of it at a tractor supply store here for 20 bucks...it never goes bad...can be used on ANY part of the body...maybe even cooking!...bucket still going strong and maybe a third gone...if I had kids or grandkids would leave it to them and they could prolly pass it down as well...but alas...

Speaking of local: cured my bee sting allergy by listening to my doctor for once...he told me to try to find a beekeeper as close as possible...found one a few houses down...anyhow, the idea being these same bees hit all the plants in your hood...and you develop an immunity...so been buying this fellow's honey for 6 bucks a quart for years now...and it actually worked! No more epi pens in my saddle bag for me...

Eggs...another neighbor has chickens...so 2 bucks a carton...of course they taste much better than the store ones...and at 2 bucks per as much as I like chickens I figure he can do the work and I can relax on that one...
2nd that on Bag Balm, all round useful product, not sure about cooking with it:)

[tbike4]

Speaking of bread, there was a bike shop next door not too many years ago, Bike Religion is now gone and the yeasty smell of fresh baked bread was too much to resist. Great pastries.
http://www.cestsibonnb.com/

I like to go to Adrenaline to buy an inner tube just to look at the steel Colnago for sale or all the Ti frames on the wall. One of the few, or only local place I trust to do anything to my steel frames. They speak Campagnolo as well.
https://www.adrenalinebikes.com/store.cfm?do=Browseproducts&CategoryID=2121

[zap]

What are some of the great things that you still buy locally?


Now that we live in NC, furniture and it is made in NC. We are about to order custom pieces from https://www.charlestonforge.com/. We toured the factory.....everything sourced in NC.

Oooops, our bedroom furniture was crafted by the Amish in OH. But we did purchase from a local retailer.

God, I hope no one posts a link about abuses at NC furniture manufacturers.

[jkbrwn]

Bit of a dredge, but man, supporting local businesses can be expensive. Gotta do it though! I just paid $176 after tax for two GP5000s. Feel like a total fool paying that much knowing how much I can get them for online, but I had a blow out and needed something before the weekend. They're also sold out most places in 28c, but Velo Pasadena had loads of them.

In an effort to support other local businesses, we recently cancelled Amazon Prime as we rarely used it. We also became members at our fantastic local DVD/Blu-Ray rental shop, Vidéothèque (http://www.vidtheque.com/). Movie rentals are purchased in packages. We started off with ten for $35. Which actually ends up being cheaper than Amazon film rentals and much better quality.

[JAGI410]

3dfuel.com is local to me, and a great bunch of folks work there to make quality 3D printer filament here in the US.

[kppolich]

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a0279d6fe54eff88a55c013/1609883059764-CHLRJ4UNF3IYRB8008TM/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kJKo3YTR7zgUvInmXMbZ6zZ7gQa3H7 8H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLf rh8O1z4YTzHvnKhyp6Da-NYroOW3ZGjoBKy3azqku80C789l0geeCvn1f36QDdcifB7yxGj Tk-SMFplgtEhJ5kBshkhu5q5viBDDnY2i_eu2ZnquSA/200131-It-Just-Does-Weird-Things-3.jpg?format=750w

[schwa86]

Simon Pearce (https://www.simonpearce.com/) makes some excellent glass ware, and are located on one of my favorite routes. Lately they've branched into more house ware stuff, which I understand is a business decision, but feels a bit like selling out.

King Arthur Flour (https://www.kingarthurflour.com/) is one of the oldest companies in the US and produces some great products.

Pompanoosuc Mills (https://www.pompy.com/) produces high end solid wood furniture. Some really great stuff.

And a shout out to a local artist, Matt Brown (https://ooloopress.com/index6/) who makes Japanese style wood block prints.

https://oldprintgallery.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/89842.jpg

There’s a beautiful Matt Brown print hanging in Senator Shaheens office in DC. I’ve always admired it, and now I know where to find him!

[2000m2]

When possible, I definitely prefer to support the local shops & restaurants. It’s what makes it nice to live in my neighborhood. The greater Bay Area is huge, so there is someone “local” it seems for just about everything.
I’ve also grown to like buying my bikes locally (2 so far!): http://www.rocklobstercycles.com/

As mentioned earlier in this thread, I also like buying gently used items from folks locally. Feels like good recycling.

[oldpotatoe]

This...ooops, 'zombie' thread. 15 months old...

[Wattvagen]

Bit of a dredge, but man, supporting local businesses can be expensive. Gotta do it though! I just paid $176 after tax for two GP5000s. Feel like a total fool paying that much knowing how much I can get them for online,.

ouch. i'm definitely in favor of supporting local business, but 88 bucks per tire for a conti is pretty painful. how do they manage to sell any tires at that price? do the customers not have the magic of the internet?

note: keep a spare set of tires on the shelf so you dont need to make any emergency purchases!

[glepore]

Cider. The Virginia cider industry is as old as the colonists. And one of the best-Potters-is made right on the farm where I board my horse. Don't think Angry Orchard or some other sweet concoction, this is dry and excellent, even more so when paired with food.

[jkbrwn]

ouch. i'm definitely in favor of supporting local business, but 88 bucks per tire for a conti is pretty painful. how do they manage to sell any tires at that price? do the customers not have the magic of the internet?

note: keep a spare set of tires on the shelf so you dont need to make any emergency purchases!

Tell me about it. Lesson learned!

$79.95 is retail. After tax both came to $176. Gross!

I promptly did the irresponsible thing and ordered some spares online.

I suspect they don't sell many tyres unless they're going on full builds. They has stacks and stacks and stacks of the entire Corsa, turbo cotton and gp5000 range.

[buddybikes]

I buy local fish that are delivered almost weekly to our house. Add to that fresh bread delivery (and he is a cyclist) and Fri/Sat nights are great.

Add to that 2 (of the 3) bikes I own are made within 50 miles of my house and my kayak 75 miles.

Our living room major piece of furniture made nearby along with 4 of the 6 antique clocks. Artwork in living room also within 50 miles. (I don't think I can find a fine knotted rug made here so had to go to a direct importer that designs the rugs here and has tribes to knot it)

[paredown]

It's not like we work at it--but we buy a fair amount of our groceries--produce especially--at a local family-run store, Matter of Health. They had stiff competition until the hedgefund dudes killed Fairway, so now it is doing really well. (And we will likely never see a Trader Joes or Whole Foods because of the demographics.)

I've also started buying more from our local ACE Hardware--the family that runs it have one store in Manhattan and the second store in Suffern--they are a buying group but are typically self-owned--and the prices are competitive with Lowes/Home Depot. Plus they actually carry a decent selection of small stuff--which the big box guys have mostly dropped...

[buddybikes]

It's not like we work at it--but we buy a fair amount of our groceries--produce especially--at a local family-run store, Matter of Health. They had stiff competition until the hedgefund dudes killed Fairway, so now it is doing really well. (And we will likely never see a Trader Joes or Whole Foods because of the demographics.)

I've also started buying more from our local ACE Hardware--the family that runs it have one store in Manhattan and the second store in Suffern--they are a buying group but are typically self-owned--and the prices are competitive with Lowes/Home Depot. Plus they actually carry a decent selection of small stuff--which the big box guys have mostly dropped...

And they provide wonderful service!

[bigbill]

I work for a large corporation as a chief engineer. As a company, we have preferred vendors, but as a facility in BFE, Arizona, I have leeway to purchase locally. We use local Ace and True Value hardware and a local electrical supply shop that stocks the drives and motors I need.

As mentioned 18 months ago, I have two Coconino bikes from Flagstaff, about two hours away. Coconino county is just a few miles east of my house.

[Likes2ridefar]

Nearly all my food is locally sourced, price be damned, it just tastes better. I’m spoiled to have them all within less than five minute bike ride or a few minutes by car.

Local butcher (even besting my NYC past haunts) https://www.arcadiameatmarket.com/

Scottsdale farmers market for veggies and other local stuff like sauerkraut and breads, Indian food, and pasta and sauces.

And beer and wine: https://arcadiapremium.com/

Everything else I unfortunately live through Amazon. Tried to support the local bike shop, but they are not making it safe for customers so I scratched them off the list most likely for good...shame as they sell all the brands I like and usually stock it.

[texbike]

In Austin, we're fortunate to have a long list of local brewers, distillers, roasters, bakers, etc.

A few of my favorites:

-Anderson's Coffee (around since the early 70s) - www.andersonscoffee.com
-Easy Tiger Bakery (more than just a bakery) - www.easytigerusa.com
-Adelbert's Brewery (great Belgian-style beers) - www.adelbertsbeer.com
-Treaty Oak Distillery (great bourbons and rye) - www.treatyoakdistilling.com
-Smithville Locker Plant (butcher about 60 miles East of Austin - the best sausage in the State!) - www.smithvillefoodlockers.com

And of course, our local food scene (especially from a BBQ and TexMex perspective) is off the charts. There isn't any need to set foot in a chain restaurant.

Texbike

[d_douglas]

I hate Amazon!!!

Two things for me:

My wife has pretty much perfected sourdough bread through this pandemic. In the last month, she’s turned out loaves of bread that are worthy of being sold for $8 at a high end bakery. Totally simple, totally organic, perfectly baked.
This is unfortunate, as I now weigh 10lbs more than I did a year ago ;).

I hardly drink beer, but when I do, I cannot imagine buying a dozen Bud or whatever. There are so many good local craft beers and there is never a reason to drink crap beer again.

No idea why the photo is turned.... I rotated it!