1. Keep money in the neighborhood. For every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $45 goes back into the community – and our tax base. For every $100 spent at a chain store, only $14 comes back*

2. Embrace what makes us different. Asheville is a city of neighborhoods. Where we shop, where we eat and hang out – all of it makes our neighborhood home. Chain stores are getting more aggressive throughout Asheville and changing the character of our city. One-of-a-kind independent businesses are real. If we wanted to live somewhere that looked like everywhere else, we wouldn’t be living in Asheville.

3. Get better service. Local businesses often hire people who have a better understanding of the products they’re selling, and take more time to get to know customers.

4. Buy what you want, not what someone wants you to buy. A marketplace of thousands of small businesses means low prices over the long-term. Small businesses choose products based on what their customers love and need – not a national sales plan. You are guaranteed a more diverse range of product choices.

5. Create more good jobs. Small local businesses are one of the largest employers nationally, and local businesses offer greater loyalty to their employees.

6. Help out the environment. Independent businesses make purchases requiring less transportation and usually set up shop in commercial corridors and in-town instead of developing on the fringe. This means less sprawl, congestion, habitat loss, and pollution.

7. Support community groups. Nonprofits receive on average 350% more support from local business owners than they do from non-locally owned businesses.

8. Invest in the community. Local businesses are owned by people who live here, work here, and are more invested in our future.

9. Put your taxes to good use. Local businesses need comparatively less infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services as compared to nationally owned stores.

10. Show the country we believe in Asheville. In an increasingly homogenized world, people are more likely to invest in or move to communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and unique attitude.