Page 6 - Harnett Life Winter 2019

Christmas

Shopping

So, another holiday shopping season is upon us and this the products you
is when we all get to exercise our buying power. I realize want to buy.
I may be “the pot calling the kettle black” because I am as Many times, re-
guilty as anyone for taking the easy way out and just going modeling has
on Amazon. I mean it’s so convenient and I don’t even have occurred just to
to leave my recliner to do it. I can shop anytime I want to. make it more
Even up to the theoretical last minute. Or at least 2-day appealing to the
prime shipping. But am I really helping anyone other than a consumer. And
billion-dollar company that is essentially ruining the world you can never re-
one package delivery at a time? I mean sure, it seems like place the person- By Jason Carpenter
a great arrangement but is it really? You see, I, like many al feel of asking
of my friends in Dunn, own a small business. We all spend a real person a
a great deal of time trying to guess what the consumer will question and actually getting an answer...immediately.
want so that we can have it in stock at just the right time
if and when they actually walk through our door. Or worse And by someone that actually knows what they are talking
yet, a customer may decide to do a little in-store shopping about because guess what...this is what they do for a living.
so they can touch and feel a product only to sometimes not I realize I may sound a little jaded, but it’s only because I
even have enough respect to leave the premises before they am. So, we, as a nation, as a region, as a state, as a com-
order the same product online. And yes, there are many munity, should realize that by saving a couple of bucks, we
instances that you can find a similar, or even the same prod- may be costing ourselves everything.
uct, cheaper online than in a brick-and-mortar store.
The destruction of our town and local businesses. I mean
But what are you really saving? Let’s explore a couple of Redbox is great deal, but by doing that, are you saying you
scenarios, shall we? never want to sit in a movie theater again? I may be going
a little over the top, but it may not be that big of a stretch.
You order a bathroom faucet on Amazon and save over It could happen. So, the next time you pick up your iPhone
$20. When it arrives, you realize there is a plastic drain. Or to order something online, instead, google a local business
worse yet, no drain at all. Sometimes it even comes in dam- within driving distance that probably has exactly what
aged or missing parts. If you had bought it locally, most of you’re looking for on the shelf. So put the phone down
the time your local dealer is more than happy to make things and actually open the door to a real person this season. You
right and take it up with the manufacturer themselves. The might get a good deal and make a new friend.
point I’m trying to make is this, NOTHING comes for free.
The local store you should visit has spent hundreds, if not Merry Christmas from all the local business owners in
thousands of dollars, ordering, planning, and displaying Dunn and surrounding areas.

Page 6 Harnett Life ~ Winter 2019