Do you consciously shop or spend money locally? If so, why, where, and how much?

“I spend money at Walgreens. I spend about 50 bucks there. That’s about it.”

-Tim Mueller, Russell Avenue

“Sometimes I shop locally. Sometimes it’s conscious, sometimes it’s not. I like to shop at some of the local coffee places like Sven’s European Café, Alterra-Stone Creek even. I’ll hit places like Outpost or Groppi’s, for instance, in the Bay View area. That’s about it.”

-David Rogman, Russell Avenue

Trish Husar: “I definitely do because there are a lot of people that are struggling, trying to make it as a small business. And it’s easy for them to be put out of business by a big one and so it’s great to be able to support them. Even if prices are a little bit higher, it’s still worth it.” Maddie Huebner: “I try to shop locally whenever I can, although I’m in college and it’s kind of hard because usually it’s more expensive, so I do try when I can. We eat at Beans & Barley a lot.” Trish: “And definitely Outpost over Whole Foods…We just ate lunch at Palomino.”

-Trish Husar, from Chicago (right) & Maddie Huebner, Maryland Avenue (left)

“I don’t know how much, but I shop at Outpost, Groppi’s, and some other stores down by the Boulevard Theatre because helping out local stores is really important and they have really excellent products.”

-Brynn Arenz, Nock Street

[Victoria Just closed her business and now works for her former competitor, the House of Magick in Cudahy.] “…It’s kind of like I merged locally instead of moved out state, which was my plan…It’s my baby and I’ve been here 13 years. I want to say thanks for the support that I did get. Everyone’s like, ‘What is this place? What is this place? What is this place?’ Just shop locally…Really, to have a store-it’s a lot of work and I don’t think people realize it, like the sacrifice that you have to make to make everybody else happy. And then when you decide one day, ‘Oh, I think I need to be happy’-you know, that ain’t going to work. I still have people that came through, like at my rummage sale, and took pictures, and we had a party and a clown. Just the love, in general, not only does the money speak volumes-the care and comfort and the sharing that people have locally too is important.”

-Victoria Just, Russell & Clement avenues