vision2020
Re: no personal checks, please
It was not the intent of my post to advocate patronizing Applebee's.
My caution was against exaggeration and oversimplification by
saying that "any money" spent at Applebee's leaves the area and
otherwise would have remained in the community with locally
owned businesses.
>From: Peggy Adams <adams@pcei.org>
> The income to the community from low wages paid to restaurant staff are
> piddling compared to the multiplier effect of investing in local
> businesses.
You evoke some interesting questions.
Are the wages of locally owned restaurant staffs significantly higher
than the wages of non-locally owned restaurant staffs? Does the
presence of non-locally owned restaurants suppress wages for
employees of all restaurants?
What are the differences in multipliers between locally owned and
non-locally owned businesses? Anyone out there have any
Moscow data? My hunch is that it depends on the type of
business, who the business owner chooses as suppliers of its
products, etc., so it would be hard to generalize over all
businesses.
> Investments made to mulitnational stocks perhaps would be
>better redirected toward investing in locally owned business, also.
>Community, social, economic and environmental benefits would,
>perhaps, benefit our local economy rather than distant corportate
>executives. Do we really want to support with our investments
>business we do not want to patronize?
I am concerned about the community, social, economic, and
environmental effects of my investment (as well as other)
decisions, whether they are with locally-owned businesses or not.
Locally-owned businesses are not, ipso facto, more beneficial in all
these dimensions than multi-national corporations. It depends on
each businesses goals and mode of operation.
One way to effect change in any organization (community,
government, or corporation) is to get involved and work from within.
Corporations are responsible to their shareholders. If I am a
shareholder, I potentially have more say in the decisions of that
corporation than I have in the decisions of a local, privately-held
business.
For those of us who don't have the desire or means to own our own
business, but might invest in (more than just partronizing) locally-
owned businesses, is there a list somewhere of locally-owned
companies that sell stock to the public? Which of our banks,
savings and loans, and credit unions are locally owned and
controlled? Which ones invest the most locally, and what do they
invest in? Such information, compiled in one place, would be
helpful in making conscientious investment decisions.
Philip Cook
>Peggy Adams <adams@pcei.org>
>>>Let''s spend our money there and at other locally owned
>>>businesses. I was happy to see that Taco Bell has been
>>>replaced by Moscow Burrito in the UI SUB.
>>Is it locally owned or just another front for Marriot?
>>> Applebees' has no investment in the community.
>>>Any money you spend there goes out of the area and out of
>>>the pockets of locally owned businesses.
>>I am no fan of chain restaurants either and much prefer locally
>>owned establishments for a variety of reasons. But to state
>>"any money" spent there leaves the area overstates the case.
>>Applebees has employees who spend their wages in the area,
>>and I imagine the investment portfolios, pension plans, and IRAs
>>of many local investors include Applebee's International stock.
>>This nonemployment income potentially is spent in the
>>community.
>>I do find the location of the new restaurant to be troublesome.
>>Exactly which neighborhood is Applebee's "Neighborhood Grill
>>and Bar" in? I suppose we have more such location decisions
>>ahead of us now that the corridor is open for business. Perhaps
>>Applebee's with it's decor of local scenes and memorabilia will
>>become a museum to remind us of what it was like.
>>Philip Cook
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