GALWAY SHOPPERS have been asked to protect the unique character and diversity of the city by diverting 10 per cent of their spend to local shops.
Forty independent retailers in the city came together yesterday to launch the Shop Local Galway initiative, which aims to bolster local businesses and so protect jobs.
The promoters of the initiative, the first Irish branch of the international Shop Local movement, claim that three times more money stays within the local community when consumers favour smaller, independent retailers over larger stores and multiples.
They also claim local businesses are more environmentally sustainable, more generous supporters of charities, and that they help improve the wellbeing of the community. The initiative is supported by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in the US, where 200 cities have Shop Local movements.
Its researcher, Stacy Mitchell, said that while large multi-national corporations provided employment in any given area, they also directed funds back to head office.
“Money is not reinvested in the community from which it came.
“Within five years of a large corporation setting a branch up within a location, poverty has increased by 5 per cent, as other smaller local businesses within the same market are squeezed out.”
Potter Judy Greene, who has joined the initiative, said local businesses recognised that people were in tough times, where every cent counted.
“If there are shops you enjoy visiting locally, please give them your business when possible, as we cannot expect them to be there when we need them otherwise.”
The initiative suggests shoppers can commit 10 per cent of their spending locally by buying their newspaper in a local newsagent, using local coffee shops, butchers and fishmongers, and by paying in cash.
Among the businesses taking part are Charlie Byrne’s and Kenny’s bookshops, bakers Goyas and the Gourmet Tart Co, and McCambridges foodstore.
Separately, RGdata, which represents independent grocers, has called for a clampdown on the illegal importation of tobacco and alcohol from the North for resale.
In a pre-Budget submission, the group also calls for reductions in the minimum wage, Government initiatives to reduce water and waste charges and rates, and no further increase in indirect taxes.