Stinky Birthday Gifts with Economic Benefits

By Joe Sheeran, Communications Director, July 15, 2011 at 9:30 am

I hate buying my wife birthday gifts. This isn’t a reflection on my affection for her or my frugality. Well, maybe a little on frugality. No, I can’t stand shopping. Other than grocery or hardware stores, I get cold sweats inside most shopping establishment. I don’t do online, except for airline tickets.

On a good day, I can stomach a sporting goods store. So I found myself this weekend at REI, the co-op outdoors store, buying her practical footwear. After seven years, one tends to aim for function not romance.

I prepared myself for the sticker shock of a pair of Keens but instead learned about the sizable dividend I had accrued as a co-op member. “Fifty bucks? Are you kidding me,” I shouted with a little relief. “Yep,” the clerk said. “Those dividends tend to add up.”

It’s not about the discount—I was going to put down the cash before I knew about it. In fact over the course of the year, it would probably cost a family much more to shop at such a store than one of the other major sporting goods chains.

It’s about consuming goods and services in a more sustainable manner. It’s about being conscious of how a company treats its employees, and how much good a company returns to the community as a whole versus just a few at the top.

Not all coops are perfect, and some private companies do a better job at fulfilling the responsible corporate citizen role. But, generally cooperatives will return a greater good to their community than most traditional companies because it’s part of the coop’s mission in the first place.

A recent Minnesota 2020 report highlights Minnesota-based cooperatives’ value to the state economy. They account for 42,000 jobs and $1.5 billion in wages. While REI is a national company, most co-ops are locally owned and operated, providing small entrepreneurs with advantages to compete against large nationwide chains.

Here’s the point. Most of the time, we’re putting down hard-earned money for goods and services; so make sure you’re dollars are doing the most good for society as a whole, even if it sometimes means paying more. Ask yourself: Does this company take more in taxes and public services out of my community than it reinvests?

Posted in Economic Development | Related Topics: Co-ops  Buy Local