"Richard's Prime Rib and Seafood" a local restaurant has been around for 40 years. Employs 12 and has a good clientele. But all is not perfect.
Richard Stockle adds, "I noticed that they're not sitting at the bar like they used to."
At least Richard's is still running ... unlike a locally-owned seafood place. One of many casualties of the recession. And that's why the city of Fresno is launching this ...
A magazine -- paid for by advertisers -- that highlights some 16-hundred locally-owned retailers, restaurants and entertainment venues. It will be inside Saturday's "Fresno Bee" and will come out twice a year. It's designed to encourage customers to shy away from national chains and buy local instead.
Ashley Swearengin adds, "There are so many treasures in Fresno ... terrific businesses, especially restaurants ... sometimes they get overlooked by the big names and the retail chains that out-promote them."
City revenues -- the taxes you pay on items -- are the same whether a shopper buys at a local retailer or a national chain like Wal-Mart, but the residual monies don't remain in the city.
Fresno Revitalization Director, Craig Scharton said, "A lot of it, the profit, is going back to Arkansas and they're hiring their attorneys and their web designers and their Cpa's back in Arkansas."
Plus, in buying locally, Fresno shoppers may help themselves. Because according to the mayor's office, if every Fresno resident shifted 10 percent of their spending to local business, it would generate $200 million in additional economic activity and create 2,000 new jobs.
