Buying Local - The Good Stuff!

[schwa86]

Originally Posted by MattTuck

Simon Pearce 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 is one of the oldest companies in the US and produces some great products.

Pompanoosuc Mills produces high end solid wood furniture. Some really great stuff.

And a shout out to a local artist, Matt Brown who makes Japanese style wood block prints.

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]

Originally Posted by 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,.

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]

Originally Posted by Wattvagen

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]

Originally Posted by 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...

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!