How do you define "local" in terms of round trip miles?

Ron Jones

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As I read through the thread on internet purchasing I noticed "local" used frequently. It occurred that the meaning of "local" had to mean different things to each of us. I just thought it might be interesting to see what "local" means to us in terms of round trip miles.

For me a round trip to the "local" hardware is 16 miles. Lowe's is 18 miles, Menard's is 38 miles, and Home Depot is 74 miles. Wal-Mart is 20 miles and Tractor Supply is 36 miles. A trip to a decent, but pricy lumber dealer is 74 miles. Round trips to Rockler and Woodcraft are 102 and 116 miles respectively. The grocery, pharmacy and gas station are 14 miles. The Dollar General is 3 miles, and the local pizza place is 4 miles.

Don't take me wrong. I'm not complaining. We choose to live here and have since 1977. I just wonder what others call "local".
 
Local= not mail or internet order as anything I can drive to and back in half a day is local. If we figure time and gas many of us would quit buying anything local. I have had Amazon prime for two years now and as pricy as it is I suspect it has saved me money over gas.

McMaster Carr can get me most hardware next day cheaper than gas almost anywhere.

What I often find is I spend a half a day looking local and still have to order. The idea that you can't stock slow sellers is killing local business including the Big box stores. Twenty years ago we had a couple of great tool stores in the area. Then Trendlines and Lowes / Home Depot came in and undersold them on everything. Shut down the local store. Trendlines went broke all over the country and closed the doors. Now that there isn't any competition, Lowes and Home Depot have both stopped carrying most tools as they don't sell fast enough. Yes I know they have a big tool corner but look at what they really have. So its back to going a hundred miles to a woodcraft store or order from an offsite place...
 
For me a round trip to the "local" hardware is 16 miles. About the same for me.

Lowe's is 18 miles, Again, about the same.

Menard's is 38 miles, More like 90 miles for me.

Home Depot is 74 miles. Just six miles.

Wal-Mart is 20 miles Again, six miles (Wally World and HD are across the street from one another).

Tractor Supply is 36 miles. Yeah, about that for me, too.

A trip to a decent, but pricy lumber dealer is 74 miles. Just got back from Hartville Hardware (and lumber). 106 miles, round trip. Others are closer, though.

Round trips to Rockler and Woodcraft are 102 and 116 miles respectively. Rockler: 350 miles. Woodcraft: about 110.

The grocery, pharmacy and gas station are 14 miles. All about six miles for me.

The Dollar General is 3 miles, About six miles for me - if I ever went there, but I haven't yet.

and the local pizza place is 4 miles. About nine miles for me.
 
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Gee, I almost feel bad. Everything is around 4 miles away at the most, except for Woodcraft which is 96 miles away. And work is only 2 miles away, mostly all down hill!
 
In LA, distances are measured in the time it takes to get there instead of miles. The nearest decent hardware store (Do-It Center) is about 10 minutes away. Lowe's or Home Depot are about 20. Rockler, 20 to 25, depending on traffic. Woodcraft is probably about an hour. A good lumber supplier (Bohnhoff Lumber) is about 30 to 45 minutes away, depending on traffic.

In Albuquerque, I can get to pretty much everywhere I need to go in the length of time it takes me to smoke a cigarette (or less). I'm still getting used to the concept of being able to drive completely across town in less than 30 minutes. I've not explored any of the woodworking stores yet, but I did notice in a Google search that Woodcraft is no longer here.
 
Local is all within 20 miles, give or take a bit. The big box stores are all out to the 60 mile range. Lumber is within that 20 mile radius. Privacy with a view, has it's cost.
 
Local to us is 4 miles or less and includes Lowe's, Tractor Supply, Walmart and Stone's Home Center. Going to about 25 miles adds Home Depot and another Lowe's and Walmart. Take it to 40 miles gets us to either Tallahassee or Valdosta, both of which add Harbor Freight to the mix. Forget trying to find "good" wood even that close. We had to make a 400 mile round trip to get the mahogany for the credenza I'm building, but we also got red oak for a platform bed which is the next major effort.
 
In Albuquerque, I can get to pretty much everywhere I need to go in the length of time it takes me to smoke a cigarette (or less).

What? I thought you quit! :eek:

To me, Local means it's here in London, or one of the surrounding communities that are less than 1/2r drive away.
(Like Vaughn, I can drive across town in less than 30 minutes, depending on traffic and lights. London is about 330,000 people.)
 
It's about 150' to the shop, from there (one way):

  • Casey's (for pizza & gas) - 1 mile
  • Local Hardware store & Auto parts store - 1.5 miles
  • 1st grocery store - 2.5 miles
  • Orschlen's (Farm and Hardware) - 3 miles
  • Lowes, Walmart, 2nd auto parts store, & Tractor Supply - 4 miles
  • 2nd Grocery Store - 4.5 miles
  • 3rd Grocery Store, Home Depot, & 3rd auto parts store - 5.5 miles
  • Bass Pro, Harbor Freight, & a local hardwood supplier - 25 miles
  • Cabela's - 40 miles
  • My go-to hardwood supplier - 60miles (have to stop by Cabela's first ;) )
I typically take a day off, go to cabelas, shooting range, then to the hardwood store
 
25 miles to Walmart, HD, Lowes, Menards, TSC, Walgreens, and The Still....my beer supplier. I work part time at the local Do It Best Hardware, 4 blocks away, get everything at cost. On the way (about 15 miles) to the Borg places is Big Red Sawmill. See attached. Also within 6 blocks is groceries, pizza, and gas.
 

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I just want to let some of you know, after having visited around 20 lovely states, and many trips to canada, none of you have real pizza locally.
It may be dough, cheese and sauce, but its not pizza.
:D
 
For me a round trip to the "local" hardware is 16 miles. For me about 12 miles
Lowe's is 18 miles, Depending on which Lowes.. one is 74 miles and the other is about 80 miles
Menard's is 38 miles, No Menards
Home Depot is 74 miles. Closest is about 78 miles round trip
Wal-Mart is 20 miles Closest is about 26 miles round trip.. preferred Wal-mart is about 70 miles.
Tractor Supply is 36 miles. Closest is 78 round trip
A trip to a decent, but pricy lumber dealer is 74 miles. Not sure how far my wood importer is at least 100 miles round trip
Round trips to Rockler No Rockler close
Woodcraft are 102 and 116 miles respectively. Woodcraft in Knoxville about 85 round trip... in Chattanooga about 90..
The grocery, pharmacy and gas station are 14 miles. Downtown Tellico Plains is about 12 miles round trip in our local strip mall.
The Dollar General is 3 miles, In same Tellico Plains strip mall as the grocer
the local pizza place is 4 miles. closest pizza is in Vonore.. about 40 miles round trip

Don't take me wrong. I'm not complaining. We choose to live here and have since 1977. I just wonder what others call "local". Same statement... we choose the location and moved here in 2005.
 
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