Bought local

A few days ago I was having to decide between buying my Myoplex locally from GNC versus buying online for $10 less. Well, I made my choice, and went locally. I had a quick stop to Queen Ka’ahumanu Shopping Center, walked to GNC, presented my Gold card, and got the $50 box for just under $42, including tax. That’s a work-month worth of meals at about $2.10 per serving, which isn’t too bad.

Having thought about it a bit more, I did think of some other benefits to having bought it locally.

• By spending it here, I paid local sales tax.
• The business itself pays local taxes.
• The employees will get more money (I’ve heard GNC has commissions), so that’s income tax plus them spending money, which will be sales tax.

With tourism still recovering plus the expectation that Japanese visitors will be declining in number while they rebuild, that’s important right now. The state and county definitely need the money. While I’m not a fan of everything the government does (federal, state or local), there are things my taxes pay for that I am thankful for, if not appreciative of.

Likewise, the better off my local community is the better! The more and better non-tourism jobs that are available, the happier I and others will be. While its not likely we’ll ever stop depending on tourism as a major source of income for the state, buying local helps other job and career options more viable.

Will I buy locally 100% of the time? No. Maybe I could do that on ‘Oahu, but not on Maui. But I have to say I’m a bit happier to do it now than before. There's more to a purchase than getting the lowest price, it seems.