I Heart Edmonton

Support Local By Emil Tiedemann For years, large chain restaurants and fast food brands have used Edmonton as a test market before they dispersed across the country, popping up on every corner and forcing local ma & pa shops to close their doors for good. Consumers are under the impression that chain stores, eateries, and shops offer lower prices and better guarantees on their products or services, but these are often misconceptions.  There are plenty of perks when it comes to shopping at the smaller, independent businesses rather than corporate entities, such as inventory assortment, community support, or most importantly, the ever-elusive customer care.    Edmonton's Yuri Gerchikov (left) and Leo Shifrin of Good Luck Socks, which started in 2013. That’s not to say that all local shops are kind and community-oriented, or that all big box stores lack a good customer experience. But, for the most part, it’s the smaller markets where you buy your eggs and m...

I Heart is on the lookout for the Edmonton businesses that are keeping it as local as possible! BY EMIL TIEDEMANN W HEN a large chain shop or restaurant opens a new franchise in town, we don't think much of it. Another McDonald's, another Starbucks, another Subway...they've become a part of our daily routines, always there on every other corner.  YEGified! And because we don't put much thought into it, most of us don't realize that that's just another big-name, usually-American corporation that is about to threaten the ma & pa shops who surround it, and who simply cannot compete with their prices and marketing capacity. If a new Wal-Mart pops up in a certain district, a litter of retail and food chain shops follow, at times displacing the independent eateries and retailers that no longer can afford to stay afloat amongst the conglomerate brands that have come to rule the global marketplace. Some might argue that these places, the Chapters'...