Support the local retailer

Those of you who know me know I come from a small town. The fact that it has it own zip code doesn't seem to matter to some copy editors. It is a gathering of businesses within a township as far as they are concerned. For me, it's my hometown, village, or whatever you want to call it. But Hamilton is where I am from -- where I grew up, what made me a part of what I am today.

And Mom shopped there. Faithfully.

Our material for 4H projects came from the Variety Store across from the grocery store. Both stores had wood floors that creaked. They had screen doors with springs that screeched open and banged shut. It was a sure sign of spring with the heavy winter doors were removed and the wooden screen doors took their place.

Every Mother's Day my sisters and I would go to the Variety Store and shop for a present for Mom. Carnival glass, tea cups, a punch bowl set and numerous other inexpensive gifts came from that store. Today I could pay four times the price I paid then for those same items.

All of our groceries came from a store with one checkout counter and four aisles. My hometown had two grocery stores. One on either side of the river that ran through town. They were all of 45 seconds apart. Mom shopped at the store that was on the south side. I assume it was because that is where we lived -- on the south side. It was only after the store closed that Mom started shopping across the river.

Both stores had butchers and sold fresh ground beef. Mom ordered her Thanksgiving turkey and bought all the fixing for Thanksgiving dinner at that local store.

When Fred Meijer opened a store on the north end of Holland (it was called Meijer Thrifty Acres back then), Mom and Dad checked it out. Such a selection! Such prices! But Mom steadfastly continued to shop locally. Who had time or the gas money to drive to Holland when there was a local store that carried everything you needed?

Every week Mom would sit down and make out her grocery list. Bread, milk eggs, cereal, butter. She made her list in the order things were found in the store so she could cross them off as she placed them in her cart. My sisters and I would add things like: candy, money, toys to the list. She didn't always find humor in our additions. Grocery shopping was serious business. Because if nothing else, Mom was frugal.

I'd love to take a page from her book, but I don't believe King would survive. Or at least HE doesn't think he could. Chips, pop, doughnuts, caramel corn and bologna. Try as I might, I can't wean him off what he considers staples.

I think about Mom and her shopping and her loyalty every time I drive to the grocery store. I've become accustomed to wide aisles, a huge selection and the convenience of big box shopping. It hasn't saved me any money. If I were to take a long, hard, truthful look at my grocery receipts I would probably find I could save more money by paying higher prices at stores with less "extras."

I think it's time to go back to basics.