I think this is one of the nicest stories I’ve heard recently is about the pharmacist who has given his staff a ‘credit crunch bonus’ to spend in the local community, to help ailing shop keepers (see link below)
Looking up and down my local high street I see shops closing at the same time and the big supermarkets seem to prosper. It’s nice to have everything under one roof and in tough times, ‘every little helps’. However, unless we also give a thought to local struggling businesses we may end up with ‘ghost town’ high streets with only supermarket aisles to choose between.
My local big supermarket competes with the local pharmacist; the local newsagent; the local bookshop; the local halal butcher; the local Caribbean shop and so on. By contrast, the budget supermarkets (Netto, Lidl, Aldi) have a limited range of products and so are more likely to co-exist with the local shopkeepers. Markets are also a good source of locally sourced produce, that isn’t overly packaged. So it’s worth thinking about spreading things around a little, after all, as the saying goes ‘every little helps’.
Link:
Employer gives away ‘credit crunch bonus’ to employees to spend locally.
Applied Psychology and Solution Focused Life Coaching with Dr Gary Wood 