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Why Buy Local?

I never thought I'd be hitting the trail in a pair of pink hiking shoes. Let me explain. (And tell you what that has to do with buying local.) Late this fall I was at the New River Gorge, hiking and taking photos for the second edition of Hiking West Virginia (FalconGuides, on the shelves in 2013). I stopped in at Water Stone Outdoors to buy a new pair of hiking shoes that I hoped would see me through the next two years of writing HWV and then the second edition of Hiking Ohio. All told, I plan to put well over 1,000 miles on these shoes. I selected the stiffest pair of hikers I could find, a pair of 5.10 brand Camp Four women's approach shoes.

Soon the trouble started. At first, the shoes weren't comfortable, but hey, I needed to break them in, right? Then my left foot started hurting when I wore them. Then my left foot started hurting when I wasn't wearing them. Turns out, there was a small crevasse (okay, maybe a quarter inch doesn't count as a crevasse) in the ball area of the left shoe. Next problem? I'm traveling all winter with no permanent address. Once I nested with a friend for a couple of weeks, I sent the shoes back to 5.10. To their credit, they replaced them in a day. Next problem? The replacement shoes didn't quite fit. I thought they had sent a half size smaller, but no.

So I decided to call Maura at Water Stone and see if she could help. I had a new pair of shoes, the receipt (at home!) and, most importantly, a longstanding relationship as a customer at Water Stone. "This is where the rubber meets the road," Maura told me, explaining that a destination shop like hers can't compete with the big guys ... except by being local and having real relationships with their customers. As we talked on the phone, Maura perused her inventory and found three options for exchange. After I selected my new shoe, I offered to have a friend scan the receipt (not necessary) and mail them right away so she could mail out my new ones as soon as she received them. She did one better: she mailed them to me straight away, trusting that I had, in fact, purchased the shoes there and that I had, in fact, mailed them. Which I did. So now I have a pair of hiking shoes. End of story.

Except for one thing: buying local goes both ways. More than once I stood in front of a $200 climbing rope or $65 cam and thought, "I'll just order it online when there's a sale." But I didn't. You know why? Because I want to support a local store so that it will be there when I shred my rope and need a new one today; when forget my helmet and need to rent one; when I want some beta on a climb, a hike, a restaurant; when I get a bum pair of new shoes and need a replacement when I'm across the country.

That's why I buy local. And why you should, too. And those pink shoes? They're really gray with a bit of pink trim. If you see me on the trail, I'll be wearing them.

Comments

ksabbir said…
Normally I don’t learn article on blogs, but I would like to say that this write-up very pressured me to take a look at and do it! Your writing style has been surprised me. Thanks, very nice article.
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January 29, 2012 at 7:26 AM
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