A small community launches a campaign to get its residents to buy more toilet paper locally. It's part of a Buy Local campaign from the Cheney Chamber of Commerce. But why concentrate on toilet paper?
It's a simple idea, encourage residents to buy toilet paper locally. And while they're there they'll purchase other items, too. All to help keep local dollars in local pockets.
"I read another chamber in Iowa had the idea and seeing it I thought, 'Gosh, that's so simple that everyone could do this,'" said Danielle Young, secretary of the Cheney Chamber of Commerce.
Young wasn't sure how that would go over in her small town so she did some research first.
"I was amazed on what the impact could be in Cheney," said Young. "If everyone bought their toilet paper locally it would be $111,000 in increased sales."
That's how much Cheney's only grocery store didn't make selling toilet paper last year. So when Young suggested the campaign to the store's owner he was willing to try.
"I'm jumping on board," said Jim McGuffey, who owns Jim's Foodliner. "I mean I will support anything that supports the hometown."
With a new WalMart recently opened just a few miles down Highway 54 in Goddard, Jim's Foodliner is losing even more money.
"We have fought them since they went into Wichita," McGuffey said of WalMart.
And that's not what Young and the rest of the Cheney Chamber of Commerce want to see.
"All of our local businesses employ local people. They give to local organizations," said Young. "All of that is the main key to making Cheney a great community."
Then she adds, "And you know there's so many jokes that you can say, too, about buying your toilet paper."
The campaign is just getting underway with posters at the grocery store. The Chamber also plans to put ads in local papers to encourage residents to buy toilet paper locally.
