The Hop is a thriving ice cream business with four locations in Asheville and Black Mountain. Founded in 1978, it has been run by current owners Greg and Ashley Garrison for the past 16 years, earning a reputation for high-quality treats with unique flavors that are often created with ingredients from other local businesses.

Just a few weeks ago, The Hop released a new persimmon ice cream flavor, featuring ingredients from two other local businesses: a jam made with Japanese Fuyu persimmons from Lee’s One Fortune Farm—a family-owned farm in Marion, about 30 minutes east of Asheville—along with a warm blend of cinnamon and Appalachian spicebush berry from Candler-based Well Seasoned Table. 

If you happened to purchase a scoop of the persimmon ice cream, you’ll be happy to know that your dollar traveled a long journey through the community, weaving in and out of the pockets of several local residents. 

Some of your money, obviously, went to Greg and Ashley, who started off as employees at The Hop while attending school at UNC Asheville and now live in the area with their family; some of it also went to their employees, who number in the dozens and are often local college students themselves. Still more of your money went to the Lee family of Lee’s One Fortune Farm, a beloved operationwhose produce is found in several award-winning restaurants in the area, as well as to the owner of Well Seasoned Table, Sarah Wickers, whose family has owned the land on which she grows herbs and spices for well over a century, and also to her employees. 

Then, for their part, all of these people turned around and used that money to pay other local residents. Perhaps they paid rent to a local landlord or hired a local painter to pretty up a house. Maybe they left a generous tip to a local restaurant server or bought a bracelet from a local jewelry designer. And so on and so forth. 

This is what economists call the “local multiplier effect.” That’s a fancy way of saying that every time you buy something from a local business, you create a little micro-explosion of economic activity. “It just increases the impact of every cent per dollar that stays within the local economy,” says The Hop co-owner Greg Garrison. 

Individual acts of buying and spending locally, repeated over and over again, create a beautiful beehive of financial health, especially for relatively small towns like Asheville, Hendersonville, Brevard and Black Mountain. And this financial health is what keeps us all afloat, attracting more talented people to the area—from chefs to doctors—and helps to maintain the value of homes. It also builds a strong tax base for things like parks and schools, firefighters and librarians. 

THE DOLLARS AND SENSE OF LOCAL 

Research from the American Independent Business Alliance shows that about 50 cents of every dollar spent at a local business is plunged right back into the local economy, circulating through wages, suppliers and other small businesses, and ultimately generating several more dollars in economic activity for the community. That’s compared to just 14 cents invested back into the local economy for brickand-mortar chains and far less for online markets such as Amazon. 

“Those dollars are a direct infusion into the local economy, supporting the business, its workers and all the different vendors of that business,” says Kit Cramer, president of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. “It’s an economic ecosystem that is improved when people buy local.”

Even before Hurricane Helene, there was a steady drumbeat of “buy local” support in Asheville and other cities in Western North Carolina. But following the devastation of the storm, the request took on a more serious tone as businesses scrambled to make up for lost revenue and a dramatic decline in tourism. It became less of a bumper sticker slogan and more of a rally cry for help and survival. 

“These aren’t just businesses you’re supporting; they’re friends,” Garrison says. “It feels good to support your friends, to stand by them and help them out. I definitely feel that sense of loyalty to my friends who are business owners and will make that extra effort to support their businesses because it’s such a tight community.” 

The Buncombe County Tourism Development Agency said in November that the so-called visitor economy will have suffered a 70% drop in the fourth quarter of 2024, translating to more than $584 million in lost revenue for restaurants and breweries, hotels, stores, art galleries and music venues. 

Looking ahead to 2025, the agency is also forecasting a multimillion-dollar decline in tax revenue coming from hotel bookings, which forces it to cut back on some of its own local investments. 

In order to bolster the local businesses while the city gets back on its feet, residents are being asked to support their community in a renewed way and double-down on their commitments to buying local. And the business owners, for their part, are thinking up creative new ways to encourage that, with local trade organizations—from the Asheville Downtown Association to the River Arts District Artists— hosting events to attract local buyers. 

“When residents make purchases locally, especially at one of Asheville’s unique small businesses, they’re investing in the shortterm and long-term success of that business,” Cramer says. 

EXPLAINING THE HIGHER PRICE POINT 

When consumers are asked why they don’t shop at small local businesses—even though they appreciate the neighborhoods and communities that have them—they often cite the higher price of goods or services as a primary reason. And it’s true, small businesses often have to charge more than large national and international chains. 

At the time of this writing, for example, a popular ceramic mug being sold on Amazon had a price tag of $9.99. It comes in five solid colors and can be delivered to your doorstep in three days. It’s made in China and appears to have a fairly delicate construction, with the website advising buyers to wash the mug by hand and use it for cold beverages only. But again—$9.99, three days. 

A similar-sized mug, offered at the popular Grovewood Gallery in Asheville, costs $40. It’s handcrafted by Weaverville-based artist Julie Covington and looks delightfully perfect for a cup of tea or a glass of red wine. Because of the quality of its construction, it can be put in the dishwasher and used for whatever beverage you’d like— probably for several years—and the design is unique with several stacked layers of brown and teal stripes. It tells a story.

Going back to the fancy words used by economists, there are lots of reasons for this price discrepancy but it often boils down to COGS, or “cost of goods sold,” and the fact that small businesses often have to pay more for just about everything they use. For a mug, this includes the price of materials like clay and paint and equipment like kilns. Other expenses include building leases and worker salaries. 

To be sure, online retail giants like Amazon can and do outprice small businesses, which is why “buy local” advocates urge consumers to act more with intention and purpose when making purchases—to view their buys as investments, and not just an acquisition of goods at the cheapest price. 

“Next time you’re about to click ‘buy now’ on Amazon, consider whether there’s a local store that offers the same product,” wrote Kate Assaraf, CEO of a small New York–based beauty company, Dip, in a September article in Forbes. “Supporting local businesses,” she summarized succinctly, “becomes an investment in the place we call home.” 

As for the hand-crafted mug at Grovewood Gallery, we’re delighted to say it’s currently sold out. But other versions are available. 

Adding additional pressure on small-business owners are rising wages. According to Just Economics of WNC, the living wage rate in Buncombe County has nearly doubled in the last decade, going from $11.85 in 2013 to $22.10 in 2024—more than $5 higher than the North Carolina average and exponentially higher than wages in manufacturing hubs like China and Vietnam—which is a cost that is inevitably passed to consumers in the form of higher prices. 

While living wages have popped higher in Buncombe County than other places, it’s a common problem around the country. In fact, more than 80% of small businesses responding to a survey by Fed Small Business, an organization that features the research of Federal Reserve banks, said that the rising cost of goods, services and wages was their top challenge of 2024. 

“Because the living wage is so high in Asheville, we have to pay our staff much higher, which means we have to have prices that can sustain that,” Garrison explains. “We are not trying to shortchange the people that are working. We’re trying to make sure that this can be a sustainable scenario for them.” 

Looking ahead, as the region continues to gird itself for a temporary loss of tourism dollars, Garrison says he believes the local community is capable of rallying around small businesses in a more significant way and propping them up. 

“With the lack of tourism, we really are depending more on the local population to keep businesses afloat,” he says. “Right now, the impact of supporting local businesses is going to be far greater than it normally is.”