Tag Archives: craftsmanship

flickr.com/photos/macieklew/351554256/

I’m a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy. I’ve got simple tastes. I frequent the chain stores of the thrifty hipster class: Target, Ikea, Trader Joe’s*. In fact, I’m pretty sure I could just about get by on those three stores and no more.

Over the last few years, I’ve grown more aware and interested in the consequences of my most basic decisions, including where I choose to spend my money. Not only that, I’ve also grown more and more tired of the soul-sucking mega-multi-national corporations. I’ve come to believe that bigger corporations equal more corporate employees which equals, roughly, less fulfillment, less creativity and less skill per capita (as well as more inequality, more hierarchy and less transparency). I think small business is the way to go, both as alternative career path and alternative consumer destination. The interwebosphere is making that a more viable and less risky option all the time. But what about the good ol’ brick and mortar stores, where, I’ll go out on a limb to say, most of us still prefer to go most of the time?

And if I believe so much in supporting local small business, as I claim to, why do I still spend most of my money at big chains, or even small chains?… Read more…