From his running shoes to his 1996 sedan, Roger Simmermaker
is a walking advertisement for American products — and that’s just how he likes it.
The 46-year-old author of “How Americans Can Buy American” is part of a renewed movement to persuade American consumers to buy products made in the United States to advance economic growth and keep people working.
For too long, movement leaders say, consumers have ignored where products are made and simply chased what they believe is the most inexpensive price — ultimately enriching countries such as China and keeping workers there employed.
Simmermaker came up with the idea for a book on American-made products in 1994 while shopping at the Florida Mall in Orlando. He found few products made in the United States, so he started compiling a list of U.S.-made products and the result was the 1996 book, “How Americans Can Buy American — The Power of Consumer Patriotism,” published in Orlando by Rivercross Publishing Inc.
But while this is a great thought, it’s important to remember that the U.S. is a melting pot of cultures, said an Avanade retail expert.
“It’s not like Canada where you have a bunch of Canadians that are very loyal, that are very driven to buy Canadian. The U.S. isn’t like that. There are very few American-owned companies left. So this ‘Buy American’ hasn’t got the same power that it’s got in other countries,” he said.
He said Americans are primarily driven to buy what’s cheap.
Source: Florida Today, September 2011
