We prefer small but we're shopping bigger than ever before:
Bottom Line: We love to love the idea of small businesses but most of the time our wallets are somewhere else. Gallup's most recent surveying of our views of small and big businesses shows that we have strong affinity for small businesses and are highly skeptical of bigger businesses.
70% of Americans have confidence in small businesses (tying a record high) compared to just 21% who feel the same of large companies. While it's off of the all-time low of 16% during the Great Recession, it's clear that small businesses are held in much higher regard. It just doesn't translate into outcomes.
Amazon.com received shareholder and FTC approval to acquire Whole Foods yesterday as part of their ongoing conquest to takeover the retail world. It's already more than twice the size of Wal-Mart and a record 8,600+ retail locations have closed already or will be the end of the year. So this could be a good time to put local businesses back on your radar if you really do prefer to shop small.