Why did I stop shopping at chain stores? The reason is simple. Because my wife, Lisa, asked me to.
Actually, it wasn’t quite that simple. At the beginning of January, Lisa asked if I’d be interested in doing an experiment: spend a year not shopping at chain stores or eating at chain restaurants. For me, giving up chain restaurants would be easy because neither Lisa nor I liked chain restaurants and hardly ever went to them. Giving up chain stores, though, I wasn’t so sure about.
But when I told Lisa I wasn’t sure I wanted to participate, she informed me that she had already begun the experiment! Great. Well, gradually, I came around and agreed. However, I told her that before I began I wanted to do a “farewell tour” of my favorite chain stores and restaurants. She thought my idea was dumb and I actually never got around to having my good-bye tour.
So why did I decide to give up shopping at chains stores? First, I prefer to patronize locally owned stores and restaurants anyway. Second, I was curious to see if I could actually go for a year without buying anything at a chain store. Third, I’m extremely interested in the history of consumerism — how we developed into a nation of people who need to constantly buy things. I thought the experiment would help me see just how intimately chain stores and restaurants are involved in our everyday lives.
Now that I’ve stopped shopping at chain stores, I’m glad jumped into the experiment. The experience has been a real eye-opener for me. I knew that chains stores were all over the place, but I never realized until now just how ubiquitous they are. Or how scarce individually owned, nonchain stores and restaurants are. Try finding a nonchain burger joint or coffee house. Or try buying groceries at a grocery store that’s not a chain. Or, if you’re a man, try finding a men’s clothing store that’s not a chain. Good luck!
Now that I don’t shop at chain stores anymore, I’ve begun to realize just how tightly they’re woven into our lives– all within the past hundred years. I’m coming to realize too that, in addition to being harmful, chain stores and restaurants also serve useful purposes.
In my blog, I’ll be sharing my experiences of going “unchained in America” with you. But I’ll also do more, such as:
- Discuss how we developed into a “chained” society
- Identify some of the links in the chain that keep us bound
- Explain how industrialized agriculture fits into the chain
- Review nonchain restaurants and stores
- Recommend books dealing with being “chained” and “unchained” in America
So please come back.
I blew it yesterday. (May, 13, 2009) I went to a chain store for my taxable items. Our area has almost all chain stores, so this will be very hard to do. I did go to an independent scrapbook store. (We are friends of the owner and hang out there all the time.)