E-bay, Amazon.com, buy.com? There are a plethora of alternatives to shopping locally, where sales tax more than offsets what I might pay for shipping, even if the price weren’t lower.

But I found the best reason to shop locally during a recent interaction with a local retailer. I bought a set of tires (I don’t remember how long ago). Recently, I had a low tire, took it to Les Schwab, and they fixed it for free because I’d purchased the tires there. Then last week I had my studded snow tires rotated on for the winter, again no charge. In the spring, when I take the studs off and have the regular tires rotated back on, again it will be no charge.

Customer service, contact with retailers who care about their customers, is the best reason to shop locally. Les Schwab Tires gives me good service and that more than offsets any price difference due to “online discount” or sales tax. It’s hard to put a price on good customer service, but it is the best source of happy customers and return business. I just wanted to recognize a local retailer that “gets it.”

John Hellman, Jr.

Oak Harbor