“Think global; buy local” goes the aphorism. But buying locally gets harder and harder. Locally owned and operated shops are going out of business while the big chain stores eliminate their ability to compete.

Yesterday I wandered into one of those remaining locally owned places in downtown Chaska for a bite to eat. I didn’t mean to, but I did. I started out for Arby’s. I love Arby’s. But the smoke from the parking lot near Arby’s caught my eye. “Smells like hamburgers,” I said to myself, looking for a free lunch.

The smoke was pouring out of a Big Green Egg in front of Ace Hardware several doors down from Cooper’s Market. When it turned out that the hamburgers on the grill were being grilled for the store’s employees – what store does that anymore? – I walked next door to Cooper’s Market.

Coopers has been around a long time. The Cooper family sees itself and its grocery store as part of the community. They live and work here. They believe in this place. They donate tons of food for local charitable events without much recognition.

But their physical location in “Old Chaska” (i.e. downtown) has put them at a competitive disadvantage with Rainbow, Target, and other supermarket chains up the hill in “New Chaska” where I live.

In New Chaska, the corner butcher shop, the locally owned drug store complete with soda fountain, and the candy store that sold kids bubblegum, baseball cards and home-made ice cream when I was a kid are  memories of a by-gone era when neighbors were also the small business people that owned Set Pancost’s Drug Store or Messy Bessy’s candy store. Sorry, Bessy, but that’s what we called the place we went to after school in my home town. The mom-and-pop restaurant with the home-cooked meals still exists at places like Wampach’s in Shakopee, but they’re hard to find, and they’re disappearing fast.

The chicken noodle soup was the best I have ever eaten…anywhere. I was astonished how good it was. I had to tell somebody.  “Did you make this soup?” I asked the woman behind the deli counter.  “Not today,” she said. “I think Jim made it.” “Best chicken soup I’ve ever had.  It was amazing!” She smiled, said thanks, and continued, “We buy everything fresh here. Nothing is frozen. It’s all fresh every day.”

“And what was the spice on the roasted chicken?” “It’s our own blend of spices,” she said. “You won’t find that at Kentucky Fried Chicken,” I said. “I love this place. I’m going to write about this. Your light shouldn’t be hidden under a bushel. People need to know.”

So…if you’re reading this, thinking big global thoughts up or down the street from downtown Chaska, but wanting to buy locally, now you know.

Go to Cooper’s. Then take a trip across Chaska Boulevard for a stop at the Malt Shop for “the best malts in Minnesota” and Dolce Vita’s, the locally owned and operated wine shop that ranks with the very best in New York City or San Francisco. And you won’t have to travel across the globe to get there.