redghost999
29323
1106
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Aug 2, 2026 1:25 PM
redghost999
29323
1106
23
geraltofriva
My friend was a regular at his local kebab place and the owner always said he financed his BMW.
thedill2000
*boy gets his dance lessons, and the girl gets a jersey too
dashers
We used to buy from the local independent butcher. But got fed up with the quality of the meat and bad sales practices. Now we get it from the supermarket where you know exactly what you're getting before you cough up. I want to buy more local, I want to avoid Amazon, the quality those is so hit and miss when you do.
freshthrowaway1138
Let's not glorify them too much as small business owners are also very likely to be GOP, which means that money spent there goes to candidates and political parties that are actively working to harm you. Those business owners usually end up with a large amount of local political influence so they can mold the local political environment to support their ability to make profits rather than the workers ability to get paid a fair wage.
Also, small businesses have higher wage theft rates.
Zeddicuszull
While true this isn't universal. Small business owners can also be evil and do stuff like wage theft and code violations and their owners being fascist supporting dipshits.
satanicblackmagic
ive worked in 30+ restaurants over the course of my life and with a couple exceptions, every one of them was owned by a cheap ass corner-cutting REPUBLICAN. theyll make you bag and weigh french fry portions to save 20 cents a week. some of the biggest bastards on the earth are small business owners.
Lokster
I would love to, but given how prices have gone up dramatically, and wages have not, we no longer have the luxury of choice.
khaoselement
I work for a small local joint. Boss lives well. We don't. Local businesses are just as fucking corrupt, they're just smaller.
ThrowAwayAcct0000
Exactly. They don't want to fight big business CEOs. They want to become them. It's gross.
GarrisonFjord
As a small business owner I couldn't agree more. We're growing though, we have our first real employee, I had to figure out payroll and everything. On that note, FUCK TAXES! Holy shit it's expensive to just pay someone apart from their hourly wage, the taxes you have to pay on top of that should be criminal. They're being taxed on the income, I'm being taxed for paying them, plus the taxes I pay to operate the business. Shit it ludicrous.
DinkyDoinky
Any sort of fanboyism towards any company is just weird
CorgiBaron
My town killed all the small business for "progress" now there's only fast food, unused condos, and dentists here.
SpringZzz
The only problem is the local business here is usually much more expensive than from big store. I would like to help but I need help too. :(
tokenhooker
I want to buy books from my little local shop... but I can pay $12 online instead of $30 at their store. I just can't afford to shop small.
AphendBigBen
My own daughter's dancing classes are more important to me.
Ivalicenyan
Local business? What's that? Do you mean the local Walmart 2.1 miles north of my house? The local Walmart 1.8 miles south of my house? The local Walmart 3.2 miles east of my house?nor the local Walmart 2.4 miles west of my house?
Not kidding, there are literally 4 Walmarts within a 4 or 5 mile radius where I live and each one of them has a McDonald's and a competing department store like a target or Kohl's nearby. There are no local businesses in Fort Worth Tx of use to me anymore
duktayp
*** sad billionaire noises ***
MeestowKitty
Remember that not all "local businesses" are "small businesses." Around me we have a thing where guys will create a chain of linked but not overtly related "small local businesses" where one dude is making millions and being a piece of shit to his employees, but playing off of the sentiment in the post.
Lexgeddon
Pretty sure most of the pizza places in Acton, Ontario are this, now.
mohavewolfpup
And not all are worthy of your money. Oddly niche store focusing on one product? Good luck. Scream all you want from the rafters and spend time guilt shaming on Facebook reposting this image over and over, won't change that 90% aren't going to walk in and empty their wallet out. Glutted market also? (Coffee, pizza, cupcakes?) yeah no. Doesn't entitle them to money again. I'm skipping the $10+ elitist cupcake place and making a tray of them at home instead, the rest saved goes to actual food
MeestowKitty
Local game stores are guilty of this. Huge mark-up, often meh inventory option, difficult owners (this isn't always the case but when it is it IS), and a generally negative attitude towards people who want to buy online because they just don't have the money to support local.
DeepFriedAndSanctified
Not to mention that studies show that in most places Walmart is competing with other big box companies like Target and BJ's , and not local Mom and Pops. So it's billionaires competing against billionaires.
GlutenFreeCocaineWaffles
Yep. There's plenty of local contractors owned by guys who refuse to give anyone a raise after years because "it'll make me go bankrupt"... and then vacation in hawaii 3 times a year and wonder why all their best workers keep quitting. Restaurants in particular don't get the benefit of the doubt; even your average mom and pop bakery often has a disorganized kitchen with badly paid employees.
MeestowKitty
I worked for a company like that. Gave us the SHITTIEST health insurance they legally could, and then went on vacation 5-6 times per-year, bought super nice cars, and ate lunch out every single day while paying themselves piles.
GlutenFreeCocaineWaffles
I'm from southcentral Alaska; I swear sometimes it seems like this is the standard for any local business with more than 3 employees.
mmckee44
This can actually be hard to do. But my wife and I have been trying to do this for the last 20 years.
nelllybellly1
Strongly agree. I use my local pharmacy instead of the mail order pharmacy that my HMO pushes. Might be a bit less convenient and cost slightly more but I being familiar with the people with whom I do business.
Jandegrote
Yeah but i am not gonna buy stuff i don't need or want just because "shop local", my local tech store has pc parts for ancient junk at best and when i need a new phone i don't want second hand 15 year old blackberry.
seanmccorkle
Exactly
beaubrent
Sometimes the girl wants a team jersey and the boy the dance lessons.
toomanytoons
Oh yeah, small businesses... the kind that keep their wages low? The kind that don't provide affordable healthcare, if they provide any at all? Don't even ask for Dental or Vision, not happening. Maternity? Noooo. Paid Vacation? Maybe... a week every year? Maybe. I worked for small businesses for too many years. Propaganda all around.
RomanValkre
Right up until that shop had a big make america great sign out front... then it's back to the soulless capitalist monsters I know will dive off that ship like rats as soon as it starts to sink.
ILoveThiPlatform
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/closer-look-small-business-owners-reveals-their-political-preferences
Margrave9000
So important to keep in mind.
Fuck the petty bourgeoisie.
ThrowAwayAcct0000
I've worked in a number of small businesses. About half of them were run by decent people, usually the family-run ones. But about half of them were white people acting as managers over a team of Mexicans or teenagers, using them for cheap labor and making themselves wealthy. Shitty people vote for shitty things.
zigbigidorlu
So what's I'm getting from that is that people who are able to get their hands on enough money to open a business tend to lean right? That seems like it match the trend of the wealthy disregarding everyone else.
metalmario667
Anecdotal, but ive watched a fair amount of friends go this direction as we enter our 40s, and we start to realize the fruits of our labor. Losing a lot of friends over it. Depressing. Its like they saw the class warfare, got a taste of resources, and steered hard in the wrong direction, believing he's their man now. I wonder what the story will be in 5 years.
zFUBARz
It's a lot of fear and propaganda. Same as the generations before. Weird that people I know didn't have hateful bone in their body for decades are susceptible to it. But I guess we all are if the conditions are right.
ILoveThiPlatform
Fear is a big part of it. When I’m feeling charitable I tell myself that a lot of bigots are just afraid of people who are different often because they haven’t been exposed to other kinds of people.
But when they freak out because brown people are in the odyssey (a story that also includes magic) then I feel less charitable about it. Shits exhausting.
crazyspelling
I've seen some of this too, from SMART people, and I just don't get how they can be so DUMB. They crow about some thousand-dollar-a-year tax credit the GOP gave them, and then in the same breath bitch about how insurance costs are up, property values are down, gas is up, utilities are all up. Then they point at the stock market like the GOP has even the slightest fucking influence on their FANG investments. Maddening.
wylkyn
A reminder that small businesses all want to become big businesses. All those huge corporations were once mom and pop stores. So patronize small businesses, but not too much, I guess? I'm sure that there are some exceptions, but the issue is late-stage capitalism, not you buying your cat litter from Amazon. Boycotts mean nothing when there are hundreds of millions or even billions of potential customers.
SarcasticComment
Win on price, quality, or service instead of guilt. That's how you build fiercely loyal customers. I'm not paying more so your kid can have dance classes when I could send my own. You need to find your competitive edge.
blaghart
When you buy from a small business you're helping a CEO that abuses his workers get rich while he pays his employees sub-minimum wage and thinks he can get away with it. Wage theft is the single largest type of theft in the US, more than all other theft combined, and the overwhelming majority of wage theft cases come from small businesses.
Small Businesses are living proof that profit is theft of the value of labor and having both profit and employees is morally impossible
VodkaReindeer
It doesn't matter what size the business is or whether it's local if you're buying an iPhone from them.
ILoveThiPlatform
But why do so many small biz owners vote maga? I know they hate taxes but they're helping CEOs just as much
jackal696
Yeah they still stock from major suppliers .... making those CEO's make money, but at lest the business gets to keep profits
ThrowAwayAcct0000
Because they want to be like the CEOs of big companies. Their goal is to be those people, not to fight against them.
ILoveThiPlatform
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/closer-look-small-business-owners-reveals-their-political-preferences
couldyounot123
Unfortunately lots of people are almost entirely politically illiterate and are too busy struggling to survive to spend the time to really understand the impacts of their votes. As intended :/ What's that quote, "we are in danger of creating an educated proletariat, that's dynamite"
youngfarty
This says a lot, honestly, about how people ignore good things and only focus on what they see as bad. The survey asks a cohort of people who got money from the govt to save their businesses (PPP recipients), but they still vote against the kind of govt that offers help, because they hate regulation, especially around employment. And they don't blame regulation on the unscrupulous business owners who have done harm, but see it as a way the govt hurts them specifically.
youngfarty
It's so disheartening. Being the beneficiary of a govt program that arguably saved my business would make me think more finally of the govt, I hope. Like, it might make me think they are trying to do good things, and maybe it's all a little more complicated than I had thought.
This feels like peak ladder-puller energy, IMHO.
I'm not shocked, but I'm still always horrified by it.
RabbitRevenge
i hate to be devils advocate, but aren't there some dads and moms working at the local Walmart or w/e.
andexer
But their pay isn't dependent on your patronage
RabbitRevenge
i mean if enough people stop shoping there peps get layed off so zero pay is not good
Jarjarthejedi
After all that has happened in the last decade you think they'll keep their jobs if people keep shopping there and not /also/ be laid off in favor of some crappy robot that doesn't work?
Lexgeddon
Lots of them don't get laid off, either. They just get their hours cut until there's no point in staying.
ThatRaccoonGuy
If enough people stop shopping at walmart that Walmart dies off, maybe nature would heal a bit
LookingLikeASnack
Not every unethical business needs to be sustained indefinitely just because its closure would result in someone losing their job.
andexer
Losing, but also hopefully changing to another, perhaps better, job. At a local shop, more connected with the community.
DontAskMeAboutMyUsernameOkay
My family used to go to a restaurant that was family owned. We watched as their teen grew up, got braces, and so on. And the family even told us straight up we were helping pay for that kind of thing by eating there. Felt nice.
Wolfshead009
There is a local sushi place I go to. It has gone from having the little girl and boy coloring or doing homework to having them working and serving. The owner knows my name and recognizes me and my wife. Always asks how the wife is doing if I go in alone.
zFUBARz
Sushi place I used to go (since moved) knew us so well, one of the servers who now manages the place stayed at my uncle's cottage a few times. Good dude, good restaurant.
SupernaturalReactions
... And never asks about my wife when I *don't* go alone.... https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1MGw1aTliMHE0cGsxcXloNTF5Zmc5dnhxaXlrMHdxNjZ5cWpxejdpZiZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/82TLA702plDhu/200w.webp
satanicblackmagic
mister soprano, we never see you! *wink*
Xique
Tiny takeout place where I grew up and my family still lives was like this, kids doing homework by the checkout, grew to teens working and applying to colleges. Last I heard the oldest daughter is planning to take over and the son was accepted to a college nearly
BeaverOnFire
Why won't anyone think about the billionaires?!? All they want is a few children and a private island. /s
HarryDresdenIsMySpiritAnimal
I wouldn't mind a private island but you can keep the children. I'll just take the peace, quiet, and break from neverending responsibilities, thanks.
BeaverOnFire
But how will you love the little children, like the second cumming of Republican Jesus, if they aren't on your island?
HarryDresdenIsMySpiritAnimal
I just threw up in my mouth.
BeaverOnFire
https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1aDg2MGZzcGtnOGw2czVyd2g0OWc5bzg4aTRqYmozM2JhZzFtMGpjbiZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/vBuv7luid93fa/200w.webp
johneventually1
yeah maybe no kids allowed, actually
Catheren
If'n I may be dumb: is this a real picture? (I'm assuming Great Depression, but you know the adage about assumptions and making an ass out of U n Me)
BeaverOnFire
Everything on the internet is real!
noone1415
Apparently: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4_Children_for_Sale
Catheren
I'll give that 10 yikes, and decide what needs to be on fire after the thing on fire stops being my brain. Thank you.
ImJustHereAtThisPoint
"I wanted to but CEOs bought or priced out all their competition. Now all we have in town is Dollar General and Walmart"
TheobromineAddict
You must be my neighbor.
Eldibs
I feel that. Thank God our local diner is still doing well, I can still at least get a good breakfast platter for like $9 plus tip without having to support some big corporation.
Fanner50
It took forever for people to question Starbuck’s success. Their young fans couldn’t see Starbucks forcing local coffee shops out of business.
AgentTasmania
I take a small measure of pride in knowing Starbucks got the door slammed on their foot trying to open in Australia.
FermentTheRich3000
Which is odd, since Starbucks doesn't sell coffee - they sell sugar.
1stDrunkJoe
Step 1# Is people having enough money to be able to decide where they shop otherwise it's just victim blaming.
pandemicmodedad
Its almost like its all set up this way. Pay people the bare minimum so they can only afford the cheapest option. People who run mom and pop shops go bankrupt. CEOs life the luxury life.
1stDrunkJoe
https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1ZWszbnV5MHJvM3AydzI2eW1rZW4wb2wzcjRwbm83OWhyMXdzeXJrYyZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/3oFzmkkwfOGlzZ0gxi/200w.webp
DeepFriedAndSanctified
Everybody bashes on Walmart's for running Mom and Pop out of business, which is fair. What they don't acknowledge is that they give like 20% more purchasing power to people who need it desperately. When you spend 20% of your disposal income on food instead of 30%, you might be able to afford dance lessons for your own daughter
KrowWithAK
Except now that there is no competition left they collude with each other to fix prices. When Amazon uses it's leverage to prevent sellers from putting a lower price on their own websites, there's a huge problem. Those "savings" and increases in purchasing power are being whittled away now that people have no other options. Soon, we'll have less than ever. Now they want dynamic pricing in stores to get everyone to pay as much as possible for the same damn products.
DeepFriedAndSanctified
The numbers I've seen say that traditionally Walmart's prices are 10 to 25% lower than their competitors, including Amazon. There is also economic indication that competitors in many markets also lower their prices to compete with Walmart, so non Walmart shoppers also benefit. Also, while there are certainly rural areas that lack effective competition, many Walmarts are in suburban and urban areas where there is a lot of big box competition.
FermentTheRich3000
If 40% of Walmart employees weren't on welfare due to low pay, I might agree.
kittyfajitas
ntm walmart winds up being the primary employer in many rural areas, driving down pay for the entire county. yeah I bet they do need that 20% savings on groceries.
DeepFriedAndSanctified
Do you have any evidence of that? The evidence I've seen has been inconclusive. In fact, the only evidence I ever hear when discussing Walmart is the percentage of their employees who are on welfare. Which, not optimal, does not correlate that Walmart is causing them to be on welfare. That is a statistic I've never seen. I want to make it clear, I have no love for Walmart and I don't shop there, but I believe but there's a lot more going on economically than that 40% statistic.
DeepFriedAndSanctified
And yet, Walmart workers make the same or slightly more than other retail workers nationally. In 2023, the entry wages for Walmart workers was between $14 and $19, while nationally the average hourly wage for retail workers was $16 and the 25th percentile was $13.75 and the 75th was $18.