YACK on: Buy Local
Grant Sanders
Hello, Strollers. Welcome to Nantucket in the offseason. Or, at least what most people who don't live here call the off season. Truth is, any time 40,000 or more people show up on the island, it's the season. Pretty much. When 40,000 wallets come to Nantucket, it really does not matter whether the sun is hot or the water temperature is 68 or the surf is good or not, it's the season and you my friends are what is in season. You are the big game that the merchants and restaurants and everyone else is working very hard to bag in an attempt to maintain a sometimes tenuous grasp on life here. You are the whales we

seek to harpoon. You are the golden goose. You are our sugar daddies and mommies.

Thanks.

People will say "thank you" to you a number of times this weekend. They will say "Thanks for stopping in." Or, "Thanks for your purchase." Or the waitress at the Brotherhood will write "Thank You! And have a great day! - Shellie," and dot the exclamation points and the "i" in her name with little hearts. But I really, really mean it. Thank you for spending your money here. On Nantucket. Locally. People will complain about the Stroll and its invasion of expensive SUVs and fluffy fur coats made out of place and impractical by global warming, but not me. No, sir. My thanks are sincere.

I'm not sure if you realize it, or even think about such things, but economic studies have shown that a dollar spent at local businesses like those on Nantucket returns, on average, $0.45 to the local economy. It goes into the owner's bank account. And the employee's account. And it pays the rent to the local landlord. And it pays for ads in the local paper (this one). It has a kind of multiplier effect where a dollar actually goes a long, long way here - bouncing around from local person to local person. On the other hand, a dollar spent at a chain store like a KMart or Barnes & Noble returns only $0.11 to the local economy. Some of it goes to the local employees, but the rest goes to some great big chain store headquarters in Illinois or Florida or some such place. And from that point on, that $0.89 has zero benefit to us on Nantucket.

Now, we do have chains here on Nantucket. We've got supermarkets. There are a handful of recognized brands on shops around the downtown area. We've got nationally branded gas stations. Both our banks are part of mind-bogglingly large financial concerns with worldwide holdings. Even one of our "local" TV channels is a chain, headquartered in New York City and the competing newspaper is owned by Rupert Murdock.

But we also have little jewels of local retail. Both bookstores in town are locally owned. A number of great clothing places. Several gift shops are owned by people who make their home here and who hire local people to work the cash registers or re-stock the shelves. We've got a local supermarket of sorts out at Bartlett Farm where the food is always good. We've got local meat markets and local drug stores and local health food stores. Even a great little produce place on Amelia Drive where everything is fresh and of good quality.

I'm sure it would be simpler just to give each merchant a little "Buy Local" sticker to put in their window that shows you that they are a local merchant. But I'm guessing that the other merchants wouldn't like that. There are more than a few shops in town that seem to be funky little local businesses but are actually headquartered elsewhere.

And I'm willing to bet that the guy who owns most of Nantucket's downtown commercial real estate, who is not a local guy, but is based in one of those massive, overbuilt towns outside of Boston that people refer to as "suburbs," but are far more "urb" than "sub," wouldn't like the sticker idea either. He's a guy named Steve Karp. Stickers are probably a sore point with him. You might see his name on some bumpers around town. That sticker won't make any sense to you unless you have already seen the sticker that says, "Gut fish, not houses." And then the one that says "Fish rot, so do houses." And even then, it might not make much sense. But you'll get the basic sentiment behind the sticker. And it's not very friendly toward Mr. Karp, I'm afraid.

Mr. Karp, who owns and manages shopping malls for a living, is here for the same reason a lot of people come to Nantucket. To get your money, or a part of it. The rest of us are here to raise our kids and work two or three jobs (I have two paying jobs and two largely nonpaying jobs) and enjoy the island and lifestyle we love. If you want to be assured of supporting the latter group and thereby protecting the island you've come to enjoy, then please buy local.

That goes for you locals as well.

YACKon.

Grant Sanders is the Host of YACK, The Nantucket Online Community at yackon.com which is currently offering free ads to all local businesses through the holidays. See what he means by nonpaying jobs? His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance on The Nantucket Independent. Or his wife.