Originally Published by Independent We Stand
Amazon isn’t known for losing, but there’s at least one way that local brick-and-mortar businesses undeniably outperform the online mega-retailer. Just two weeks after Amazon’s quarterly earnings report showed huge growth, a new study by Civic Economics reveals what those earnings mean for communities and local economies across the country – and they don’t mean much. The 2018 Home Sweet Home: Locals vs. Amazon study reports that local hardware and home improvement retailers recirculate 676 percent more of their revenue in the local economy than Amazon.
For the study, Civic Economics compared three retail segments: independent retailers; national chain retailers, such as Lowe’s and Home Depot; and Amazon, as an indicator of online retailers. Specifically, the study measures how independent hardware and home improvement stores stack up against their larger competitors when it comes to recirculating money to local communities through labor, procurement, profits and charitable giving. READ MORE.