Dear Editor,

Mr. Pisano’s article of May 2 seems to state that ‘we don’t want that kind of retail here,’ and ‘shop local.’ In the 12 years that I have lived in this county, I have seen many articles espousing the same concepts, and I have noticed that not one of those articles was written by a mother who had the responsibility of purchasing the food, clothing and consumables for a family.

I’ve been told numerous times that you can get anything you need right here, but I beg to differ. Take something as common as dog food. Yes, you can get dog food here, but I can’t get the brand my dog can eat and get it in bulk at a good price. Therefore, once a month I drive in to the Sam’s Club in Savannah and do my bulk shopping.

I could clothes shop on line, but I have learned the hard way that I need to try on clothes for them to fit correctly and be comfortable. I don’t buy that many clothes, but when I do, I trek into Savannah and hit the malls and the specialty shops.

Need supplies for a home office? I’m going into Savannah anyway, might as well stop at Office Depot and Staples. A lot of home repair materials can be purchased here, but since I’m on Abercorn, might as well stop at Home Depot and Lowes. PetSmart is right between those two stores, might as well stop there too.

Thank goodness we have the Kroger and Publix. At least I don’t have to trek to Savannah for food each week. Wal-Mart’s not in Richmond Hill, but its close. They get a fair amount of my shopping budget for paper products, dry goods, cleaners and small household goods.

Yes, I know the big box stores are hard on mom ‘n pop stores. And I do shop the local stores when I can. (Yay for Ken’s Seafood!) I’ll even pay a higher price if they have what I need. But face it, most of what I need is in the big stores.

I’ll shop local as soon as there are local stores carrying what I need to buy. I hope it’s soon.