It's as simple as this: If you have a dollar in your hand, and you spend it at the local sports shop, there's at least a CHANCE that he'll bring that dollar back around your way sometime.

If you spend that same dollar at Wally World, it immediately gets passed down the line and eventually winds up in the hands of either some wildly wealthy entrepreneur, or in the hands of a low cost manufacturer in Guam.

Now, I'm not some lunatic who runs around boycotting every chain on the planet. I just see the value of keeping some of the local guys in business, even if it cost me a couple extra dollars.

Here's a good example: Two years ago, I bought a trek hardtail mountain bike at a local bikeshop (I could've saved $20-50 online, if I went that route). I sent a few buddies there, who bought high-end bikes as well. So the other night, I broke my chain and knocked some teeth off the chainring. I took it down there, and the guy fixed it at no labor cost, just a few bucks for the parts. If that guy's not in business, I'm stuckmailing parts all over the planet, or traveling 70 miles to the nearest pro shop, and wasting an entire day. This guy employs a couple high-schoolers to help out at the shop, and holds a charity bike race every year for kids with cancer. If everybody bought bikes at Walmart, this guy would be out of business and working for a slave's wage at a factory somewhere. You tell me if it's money well-spent.