5 Reasons to Buy Local for Your Next Home Improvement Project

From local markets to local services, there are many benefits to making needed purchases close to home. When you think of buying local, you probably first think of buying groceries at a local farmer’s market, but buying local has a positive impact on all types of businesses. You can shop locally for your home renovations, use local vendors, and patronize local businesses for an experience that is more personable and leaves a lasting impact on your community just like the local farmer’s market. Check out these 5 reasons to buy local for your next big home improvement purchase:

Your Money and Support Stays Local

When you buy from a locally owned and operated business, the support you offer that business stays within that community. That means you’ll be helping to sustain jobs, support neighbors, and maintain the local economy just by choosing to buy local, instead of through chain or big-box retailers. Having locally owned businesses that offer specialized services or products also helps to give a community its own individual character. Towns and cities that aren’t able to sustain local businesses risk losing individuality or even residents and visitors altogether. Local businesses are what make communities thrive and grow. 

Buying Local Means a More Personalized Experience

When you buy faux plantation shutters from Lowe’s or Home Depot, for example, you miss out on the personalized experience that comes from working with a local retailer. Since Shenandoah Shutters is locally owned and operated in nearby Richmond, Virginia, we’re able to  provide an unmatched customer service and product quality experience. At Shenandoah Shutters, we provide in-home design consultations, warranties, and even the opportunity to view our woodshop and showroom firsthand. You can tour our Richmond facility to see how your authentically wooden plantation shutters are crafted to your window’s exact specifications. These kinds of experiences are almost completely unique to local businesses. You don’t have to wonder about the quality of the product. You can see the creation process with your own eyes.

Local Businesses Offer Customers More Flexibility

You’ll also find that getting to know the staff at a local business can lead to more opportunities for high quality purchases. For instance, Shenandoah Shutters specializes in wooden interior shutters, but sometimes previous customers ask us to work on other wooden home design projects, like cabinets. Local businesses are often flexible and are not only willing, but excited, to work with you on additional projects. Buying local gives you real people to listen to your vision for your home and offer ideas. 

Buying Local Is Good for the Environment

In a world where you can buy anything with just the click of a button, it’s easy to forget how much is going on behind the scenes of an online order. Particularly with the advent of express shipping, mailing products by air is a common practice. When you patronize a local business, you minimize this pollution and use of limited resources, like fuel. It’s also worth noting that local businesses often use less packaging materials and more natural resources in their businesses. At Shenandoah Shutters, for instance, we stock only fine American hardwoods for crafting our plantation shutters. 

You Have Better Peace of Mind When You Buy Local

When you buy local, you can usually feel more confident in your investments, particularly when it comes to home projects. While big-box retailers tend to have one-size-fits-all statements and warranties regarding their products and services, local businesses focus more readily on customer service and custom items.  Shenandoah Shutters offers a 100-year limited transferable warranty on our plantation shutters, as well as a 25-year warranty on our silken lacquer finish. These kinds of guarantees are unusual in the shutter business. Well-known chain stores also don’t usually reveal the process behind the making of each product (like at our woodshop), especially since each product is usually made in a different place by a different manufacturer. Nothing is from any single place or made any single way. When you buy local, you can learn the manufacturing procedures behind your product, leaving you with more peace of mind regarding your purchases. 

Overall, locally owned businesses really do tend to go above and beyond for their customers in a way that is simply more personable and promotes quality products.

Local, Stylish Plantation Shutters for Your Home

Richmond, Virginia is within a few hours or less of our many service areas, allowing you to contribute to a local community when investing in plantation shutters from Shenandoah Shutters. We’ve been serving the DMV and nearby areas for decades, priding ourselves on elegant, expertly crafted plantation shutters and high quality customer service. We build your shutters in Richmond using American woods, so you can feel good about buying local from the moment you schedule your installation all the way through to the finished product. 

Our usual woods are yellow poplar and basswood, but we also stock specialty woods by request. We provide vibrant creams, rich stains, and custom colors to form a sophisticated plantation shutter that blends right into your home. We offer plantation shutters to fit any window size or shape, including French and sliding glass doors. We’ve even patented our own original Softedge design, giving our customers a new, modern option for timeless plantation shutters. With the Softedge design, the hinges are not visible when the shutters are closed, a perfect design choice for casement and tilt-in window styles.  

Update Your Home Locally with Shenandoah Shutters

If you’re looking to install plantation shutters in your new home or to update your existing window treatment, contact Shenandoah Shutters today. Our consultants can schedule a time to visit your house and provide you with a friendly, efficient experience that includes a portfolio, sample panels, colors, and more to help you make the right decision for your home. Of course, if you’d prefer, you can visit us on Cofer Road in Richmond during the week to take a tour of Shenandoah Shutters, assess our product quality, and ask questions.  You can also view our product gallery online or learn more about plantation shutters.