• Local businesses produce more income, jobs, and tax receipts for local communities than big box stores do.
• Local businesses are more likely to utilize local ads, banks and other services.
• Local businesses donate more money to nonprofits and are more accountable to their local communities.
• Supporting local businesses preserves the economic diversity of our communities and the unique character of our neighborhoods.
• Supporting local businesses is good for the environment, because it cuts down on fuel consumption. Buying locally produced goods reduces the need to ship goods from thousands of miles away and also cuts down on the distances shoppers travel.

	Articles
	Local Living Economies: The New Movement for Responsible Business Responding to Critics of Local First The Benefits of Doing Business Locally
	Studies
	Andersonville Study of Retail Economics Assessment of the Direct, Indirect, and Induced Economic Effects of Chain Stores on the Regional Economy of Cape Cod Economic Impact Analysis: Local Merchants vs. Chain Retailers (Austin, TX) Fiscal Impact Report (Barnstable, Massachusetts) Santa Fe Independent Business Study The Economic Impact of Locally Owned Businesses vs. Chains (Midcoast Maine) 10 Reasons Why Vermont's Homegrown Economy Matters: And 50 Proven Ways to Revive It
	Movies
	Independent America Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
	Books
	Better, Not Bigger, Eben Fodor Big Box Swindle, Stacy Mitchell Changing Places: Rebuilding Community in the Age of Sprawl, Richard Moe and Carter Wilkie Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser Going Local, Michael H. Schuman Hometown Advantage, Stacy Mitchell Making a Place for Community, Williamson, Imbroscio & Alperovitz Slam-Dunking Wal-Mart, Al Norman Small Mart Revolution, Michael H. Shuman
	Organize a Buy Local Day in your community
	They range from something very small scale, like getting your friends to hand out “buy local” flyers outside chain stores on a particular day to something larger scale like getting your city government to declare a particular day the official “buy local day” in your city