Big, little guys get a chance if we balance our buying

by Neal St. Anthony
StarTribune.com

Cinda Baxter has gotten tons of support since the veteran consultant and onetime retailer launched a March offensive in support of locally owned merchants.

Baxter and her cohorts at the 3/50 Project urge us at www.the350project.org to pick three independent retailers and spend $50 apiece on them for starters. Times are tough.

Consumer spending amounts to about 70 percent of our economic output. If you spend a buck on local ducks, 70 cents stays in town, compared with 43 cents at a big-box, chain-store giant, according to Baxter.

I'll hit Welna Hardware or Fat Lorenzo's any day for a hammer or a pizza before heading to chain-owned Home Depot or Olive Garden.

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