It was my fifth day of "living independently" and I was in a panic: I had run out of toilet paper.
It was easy to buy coffee, do laundry or grab a few vegetables at independent businesses. But where would I buy soft and squishy processed paper for my bum? Publix, CVS and Family Dollar were all off limits, but I was in dire need of something approximating a 24-pack of Charmin.
So I called Carla Jimenez, president of the Tampa Independent Business Alliance (TIBA), a local umbrella organization for independent businesses in the Tampa Bay area. Before I began my weeklong experiment to shop only at locally owned independent businesses, she told me I shouldn't have any difficulty finding what I need. Lunch? Try Mel's Hot Dogs. A new CD? Vinyl Fever, of course. Office supplies? Hyde Park Paper. But we hadn't discussed toilet paper.
After a few moments of silence, Jimenez suggested trying Nature's Harvest grocery store. Nature's Harvest? I had purposely avoided the Macdill Avenue health food store, afraid that "independent grocery store" meant $5.99 heads of lettuce. What would they charge for my most private of needs?
The toilet paper dilemma was just one of many interesting experiences during my week of shopping exclusively at independent stores. Prompted by America Unchained, a national awareness event on Nov. 18 that asks citizens to refrain from shopping at corporate chains for one day, I attempted to satisfy all of my needs (and a few wants) by shopping only at locally owned independent businesses. Why shop locally? Proponents cite everything from better service to positive impacts on the economy. According to statistics compiled by TIBA, if all Hillsborough County residents shopped locally for just one November day, it would make a $20 million difference to our local economy. Not to mention the impact local businesses have on the cultural landscape.
"No one goes on vacation and comes back and says, 'I had the best Big Mac in Tampa,'" says TIBA co-founder Jimenez, who has owned Inkwood Books in Tampa for 15 years. "It's not what we appreciate, it's not what we remember, and it's not what gives us an experience that is part of the richness of life."
To get some advice on how to cut my greenback-lined umbilical cord, I met with TIBA members Jimenez and Mary Ann Ferenc of Mise en Place for guidelines on what makes a local business "independent": private ownership by area resident(s) with full decision-making powers for the business and any other bases of operation within Florida. Franchises do not fall under this definition, for example. And under no circumstances was I to enter a Wal-Mart.
For myself, I wanted to test the conventional wisdom that independent businesses are prohibitively expensive and that it's impossible to fill all your shopping needs at them.
Frankly, I expected to starve. I prepared to be broke for the rest of the month. I imagined running out of gas looking for some tiny shack selling laundry detergent.
But I didn't expect it would be so easy, especially in Tampa Bay, land of the corporate chain test market.
Take coffee, for instance. I tried a different independent coffee purveyor every day of the week, from St. Pete's Bohemia Café to Tampa's Bean There. I even found a little-known free trade, organic coffee shop in Davis Islands called At Sip that serves up a cup of gourmet coffee better than any Starbucks. After a week of quick service, friendly baristas and cheap coffee, I decided there is absolutely no reason why anyone should patronize the corporate coffee slingers.
I had an equally stress-free time finding food. Whether it was grabbing take-out lunch at Ali's Mexican-American Café in St. Pete's Midtown area or spending a morning with my grandmother at the St. Pete Diner, I was served quicker and with less sighs than any mega-chain. Plus, when I took into account the lunch specials independents use to get you in the door, most meals ended up being cheaper than any fast-food value meal.
I thought for sure I couldn't find an independent liquor store until I stumbled upon American Spirits. Co-owner Richard Roy opened the store three years ago in the Publix shopping center off Third Street S. in St. Petersburg with the idea of bringing an upscale liquor and wine store to the fast-growing downtown area. A former barkeep, he knows his alcohol, which has helped the store carve out a niche in a market saturated with supermarket beer sales and ABC liquor.
By the middle of the week, I expanded my search. What about live brine shrimp to feed my fish? Animal House has three locations in Pinellas County. Video rentals? Unique Video in Tampa. Flat-screen TVs? Tampa's Audio Visions South. I even decided to buy my Sunday newspaper from one of the men hawking papers in the median, instead of a gas station or grocery store.
On the whole, I found food in independent grocery stores to be more expensive than the chains, and I found myself going to ethnic supermarkets to make up the difference in price. [Editor's Note: See this week's food section for more on comparison shopping at area groceries.] For gas, I had to ask clerks if their store was family-owned. Many were, even though they sold branded gasoline. Stations like Racetrac and Rally did not fit the independent definition.
The hardest commodities to buy locally seemed to be the ones I normally buy from Wal-Mart: cleaning supplies, paper products (like toilet paper) and hardware. Independent hardware stores used to thrive in communities; now in Tampa, there is only one. St. Pete Beach has the only other one I found in the region.
"Before Home Depot this was a good business to be in," says Eric Jacobson, who bought Bay to Bay Hardware in 1973.
New big-box retailers dropped prices below items' actual cost, a strategy Jacobson says they use in every market to drive out the small businesses.
"When there are no more hardware stores, they rape people," he says, by raising prices.
Despite the challenges, Jacobson says his store offers something the chains cannot: personalized, quick service. And it's true — he cut a key for me in less than 30 seconds. I'd still be waiting today if that were Wal-Mart.
Which brings me back to toilet paper.
When I stepped into Nature's Harvest, I skirted the displays of colorful veggies, the $2.99 cans of soup and $3.99 packages of macaroni and cheese until I faced my prize — a four-pack of Seventh Generation, a brand of biodegradable, non-allergenic toilet paper. Its price? $2.99. It was more than I'd ever paid for TP, but it wasn't completely outrageous. At least not for a man in serious need of two-ply. And even though I paid a few quarters more than I would have at some chain, my need was satisfied. And in the process, I found a grocery store that sold spicy Thai baked potato chips.
And those were well worth it.
Find out more about buying independently from author Stacy Mitchell.
This article appears in Nov 15-21, 2006.