I mean, one thing we all can certainly be doing is making a concerted effort to shop more at our local independent businesses. Plus, this comes with the added benefit that it keeps money circulating in our communities for longer!
This sounds good in theory, but my corner store sells a bottle of soda for $3 that I can get at Safeway for $1. Or a bag of chips for $2 that I can get 2 for a dollar at Safeway or Target. Sunscreen for $12 instead of the $6 (or as low as $3 on sale/clearance) at a big box store. And most of the stuff I want they just don’t have at all. It’s not like a 10% “shop local” tax, it’s really unjustifiable the insane price differences. I’d be better off just donating to a local charity.
And to the original point of reducing tracking, for Safeway/etc rewards numbers just use random local phone numbers and pay cash if that’s your priority. Better than paying more than double price for limited selection.
That's a bit of an apples-to-oranges comparison though. Things are more expensive at the bodega partially for convenience after all, they aren't directly competing with Safeway.
In a lot of cases there is an in between. I live near an independent full service grocery store (they have 2 locations) which isn't the cheapest in town and isn't the most expensive. They have a good selection. If they are 10% more expensive, I'm happy to support them.
If they are hiking prices up this much because of convenience, then they really shouldn't complain when people take a little bit of extra effort to go to the nearest big store.
The real value proposition of a bodega/corner store is that it it's on your corner, or the one 1/2 a block away. They used to have longer hours too, less so now that grocery stores open late or 24hr. So it isn't the place you went for a big grocery shop, but the place you dropped by when you forgot something or ran out of milk.
They've always been more expensive than grocery stores, doesn't matter if they are local independents or big chains.
As @ska pointed out, I'm not really talking about buying all of your groceries at the corner store at a 3x markup. In every city I've ever lived in, I've had the option of taking my business to an independently owned (grocery|hardware|pharmacy|etc.) store where the "10% shop local tax" more or less applied. To me this seems like a fair exchange for the peace of mind I get from knowing that I'm not being targeted by government-grade surveillance tech when I walk through the door, and that the employees I interact with are being paid a living wage. YMMV depending where you live but I hardly believe this is a phenomenon isolated only to the places where I've lived.
Also, if your local shop doesn't carry an item you want, you can always speak with management and ask for them to stock it :)
