While I have gotten better at not using amazon, thats mostly been replaced by other large stores (best buy, target, etc) or using manufacturers websites directly. how do I find local places selling what i need? for example, i need filters for my chemex, and i know theres a little coffee shop downtown that carries those. i only know they have that though because ive been there before. theres definetly a lot of stuff you can buy local (even like legos) but i wouldnt know about that if i hadnt just been walking past out of sheer luck.
thank you all
Just walk past the shops. Most of the time it is easy to see what they sell and you can ask them for a particular item or brand. Buying local usually involves legwork and talking with people. I hope it helped. However I really find it hard to understand why being able to buy legos locally seems that special to you (when I was growing up I only knew of local shops and I still prefer them).