I am all for localism. We have a darling local pharmacy where the people know us by name and love Tucker. We have an independent grocery store "Great Valu" where one of the owners calls Tucker "a mighty fine fella" every time he sees the little man.
And yet, I confess that localism has its limits. Last month I finally, reluctantly, switched our recurring prescriptions to a Walmart 20 miles away... and am now saving 2/3 of the cost of those prescriptions. On just those two prescriptions, that simple change will save us almost $500 a year.
A week and a half ago, a new Harris Teeter (grocery store) opened five minutes from our house. The local monthly paper is busy calling names at all the come-heres who are going to ditch the local grocery store for the big box chain. And yet, yesterday morning when I needed to run our for egg whites, where did I go? To the only one that HAS egg whites: Harris Teeter. Will I keep trying to go to Great Valu? Yes. But do I think it's awesome that we have a big (some would say "real") supermarket so close to our house? Of course.
They had non-dairy ice cream for Tucker to soothe his sore throat. They have an extensive prepared foods section which really expands our options on the night when neither of us can face making dinner. It also is 5 minutes closer to our house and on the way to C'ville.
But yes, I do feel like a sell out when I turn into their parking lot.
