Canadian Tire, London Drugs, Indigo, A&B Sound, Petrocan, The Bay...

[mbarrick]

"Buy Nothing Day" is American. The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year in the States because the stores are open but everyone who can (i.e. people who don't have crap retail jobs) takes the day off. The busiest shopping day of the year is, of course, the target for Buy Nothing Day, but today is just another day in Canada. Participating in it, IMHO, is succumbing to American cultural imperialism in a worse way than buying something. So how about this: Buy Canadian Day.

The companies above are just some of the biggies... just make it Canadian. A "Made in Canada" product from an American store would be good, too. Or how about renting a Canadian made film (and I don't mean something shot in Canada by an American studio, but something really Canadian)? How about a CD by a Canadian musician, printed in Canada by a Canadian company from a Canadian music store?

Comments

Re: here's my two cents ...

[thomasrymour.livejournal.com]

I can certainly see where it gets your goat. It gets mine too ... I'm against the large corporations just like everyone else. Those who take over the world and run it into the ground. I don't want to support that. However, the point I always try to unsuccessfully make to everyone, its not *all* corporations. Some of your best friends could actually be indeed a *corporation* and might even be *American*. Doesn't mean they are doing the nasties to the world.

Days like today hurt my business on both regards: I'm not big enough to be able to afford large sales. Our prices are cheap enough, and we don't even survive on that. But competition with the big-boys n girls is too hard not to keep it cheap. That at least allows for us smallbies to stay alive. But a day like today, no one will purchase anything from my store, just like most days, because of (a) under-exposure, (b) lack of advertising budget,(c) lack of funding, (d) lack of staff, (e) lack of support, (f) being squashed by the big bullies, (g) inability to do mass sales and marketing campaigns, and (h) obscure product materials that were forgotten around the hearth long ago once electricity was invented. (well not the bumper stickers and clothing at least ... but certainly the candles ... lol)

People should support their own. They should support their local market. They should support their friends and family. Because its the money they invest locally or into friends that they will see back and will better their lives day-to-day by doing so.

I agree with ya.