Editor:
Re: 10% Shift ads
Increasing local business by 10 per cent is a great idea.
The responsibility should not be placed entirely on the shoppers.
It would be easy and convenient for Ladysmith shoppers to shop locally. We would save time and gas money by not having to drive to Nanaimo or Duncan.
Local businesses can do their part by offering good service and a wide choice of products.
Some of them already do so, and we support them for it — these places are always busy, for example, the Old Town Bakery, the Wigwam Restaurant, Ladysmith Sound Centre Ltd., 49th Parallel Grocery, Pharmasave and Safeway. Everybody seems happy shopping in these Ladysmith businesses.
We also enjoy good service through some of the publicly-funded services here, the library and the post office, for example.
However, there are a few local businesses where poor or no service happens.
One strange experience I had recently was when staff at a local business insisted that I should go to the north end of Nanaimo to complete a simple transaction, easily completed here on site. They were working AGAINST the 10% Shift.
Residents only take the time and cost to drive to another city because they can’t get the service or the product they need here in Ladysmith.
A few Ladysmith businesses might shoulder some responsibility for the 10% Shift.
Dianne Grimmer
Ladysmith