The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (BK Currents (Paperback))
Shuman begins his book about the "local-first" movement by describing his annual trip to Wal-Mart to purchase a sturdy yet inexpensive pair of sneakers; he concludes it with a visit to his physical therapist, who tells him those same sneakers have exacerbated his chronic back pain. These two anecdotes provide context for Shuman's thesis: locally owned businesses are more beneficial to their communities than massive chains like Wal-Mart. The author (Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age) outlines strategies that small and home-based businesses-and, by extension, consumers, investors and policymakers-can follow to compete against the world's largest companies; his strategies hinge on going local, though some ideas are more credible than others (readers are advised to shop at locally owned businesses and do business with local banks, but to forego credit cards, as "nearly all credit card processing is nonlocal"). Shuman writes in a surprisingly lively and occasionally self-deprecating style uncommon to business texts, and his research is backed with hundreds of source notes. Though Shuman has his moments of naïve idealism, his "don't get mad, get even" ideology will resonate with forward-thinking consumers and small business owners.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.