Every time a CHS student orders a cup of hot chocolate at Kaldi’s Coffee or a pound of mango gummy bears from Oh Lolli Lolli, they are certain to be in for a treat.  But what they may not realize is that by supporting locally owned businesses, students and residents are helping make Clayton a stronger and more close-knit community.

Michelle Harris, a Clayton parent and member of city council, is at the front of the Clayton Buy Local campaign.

“When we support local business by shopping there, we support those retailers who have invested in our community, who are paying taxes and rent, and who employ people in our community,” she said.

Harris defined local businesses as businesses that are owned and located within the two and a half square mile area of Clayton.

Harris also noted that the Clayton community is bound together by a web of economic interdependence.

“Those tax dollars pay for street paving, trash pick-up, paying policemen, turning on the street lights and everything else we need to run a city,” Harris said, as well as supporting the Clayton School District and the Center of Clayton.

When Clayton residents spend $100 at a local Clayton business, $68 dollars stays in the community.  In contrast, out of every $100 spent at a non-locally owned business in Clayton, only $43 dollars benefit the local economy and infrastructure, according to a study by Civic Economics in 2008.

Although $25 dollars may seem like an insignificant sum, it can make a resounding impact in the community.  “Keeping our dollars in the community means more sales tax dollars that help pay for the city services that we all count on,” Harris said.

In addition to benefiting the Clayton economy, small businesses form special relationships with their customers.

Jennifer Rich, the pharmacist and owner at Jennifer’s Pharmacy, has formed an especially strong bond with the community during the Pharmacy’s 21 years of service.  “Our customers are like family,” Rich said. “I’ve had kids that, when we first opened the store, were in diapers. Now they come here and are married with their own kids.”

Rich also believes that local businesses can provided a higher degree of personal service for their customers.  “There are certain customers who I know to make special orders for because I know that they will like specific items,” she said.

As if to prove her point, Rich paused during our interview to personally greet an elderly woman named Phyllis and to retrieve her prescription without being asked.

CHS Junior Griffin Reed has personally experienced the Pharmacy’s welcoming dynamic.  She described visiting the Pharmacy’s soda fountain with her brother.  “[My brother] Brendan always pretended to be shy, but they would always tease him about it, and it was really great to have that connection … it’s very intimate,” she said.

The strong relationships that Reed described occur in local businesses across Clayton.

Helen Trower, the dining manager at Cafe Manhattan, has had nine years to connect with the community.

“I know all of the customers that come in here on a daily basis by name.  I know a little bit about their families as well,” Trower said.  “They send me birthday cards and anniversary cards and I have a couple of families that come in just to see me.  It’s a very special feeling.”

Trower herself is a living testament to the value of small businesses in customer’s personal lives.  When she was married four years ago, she bought her wedding cake, flowers, invitations and wedding dress from various small businesses in or around Clayton.  Cafe Manhattan, of course, catered the reception.

Trower’s reasoning?  “When you’re supporting a small business you’re supporting a family,” she said.
Clayton residents have privileged access to many local establishments that are recognized on a national scale.  One such business is Pastaria, a new restaurant created by nationally acclaimed chef Gerard Craft which was reviewed in the Globe’s November issue.

In an interview with St. Louis Magazine, Craft described his goal for the new restaurant.

“Pastaria will be a special experience … I see this as a kind of town hall — a lively, convivial place where people see their friends and neighbors and will get up to go visit with them,” he said.

The national restaurant blog eater.com named Pastaria one of the 33 most anticipated restaurants of 2012, according to the St. Louis Business Journal.

Similarly, Clayton’s eclectic Kaldi’s Coffee was recognized by Food and Wine Magazine as being “One of America’s Best Coffee Bars.”  Kevin Hough, the lead barista at Kaldi’s explained that part of the coffee shop’s success comes from their connection with other local businesses.

“We sell beer from companies in St. Louis like Schlafly or Urban Chestnut.  We get our gooey butter cake and our bread from Companion Bakery [in Clayton].  We do a lot of partnerships with other businesses as well,” Hough said.

Hough also noted that Kaldi’s strives to support and enrich the community with which they collaborate.

“We actually pay a higher price for the [coffee] beans than what the market calls for.  That way, the farmers actually have enough money to live and grow their crop.  It also allows them to invest in a higher quality crop,” Hough said.

In addition, Kaldi’s coffee was one of the top fundraisers for St. Louis’ Bike MS charity fundraising event.

Recently, however, local businesses have experienced a troubling decrease in popularity due to the rise of “big box stores,” national corporations which provide services at a perpetually decreasing price.

Jennifer Rich lamented the disappearance of the many family owned businesses she encountered during her childhood.

“When I grew up, we had hardware stores, and we had office supply stores and you don’t see those anymore.  So every time you shop at a big box store … the independent [businesses] disappear,” Rich said.

Rich fervently hopes that CHS residents understand the relationship between local businesses and the Clayton community.  “And you need to think, when you go to a big box store, about who you are supporting.”
As a Clayton alderman and resident, Michelle Harris is working to improve Clayton by supporting local businesses.  She recently started a local group called the Clayton Shoppers.
The Clayton Shoppers congregate every Friday and visit three or four local businesses in Clayton.  Their single rule is that every member has to buy at least one item at each store.
Harris explained her intentions for the group. “We want other people to understand the impact of buying local on their community,” she said.
The year 2013 marks Clayton’s one hundredth anniversary, an event which has caused many residents to reflect on the city’s history and look to its future.

Harris believes that the success of Clayton as a city and a community can be attributed in part to the variety of locally owned businesses that connect residents and support each other.

Harris also insisted that every resident can help strengthen the community and point the Clayton community towards a bright future by embracing one very simple strategy:  Shop local.