Todd Scaccia lives in America, so why shouldn’t everything he buy be made in America? In an ideal world, that would be the case, but instead the majority of products consumers purchase are manufactured across the globe.
Scaccia is fed up, so he’s doing something about it.
Who benefits when you go to Wal-Mart or Target and buy products made in China? The store and the importers, that’s it. Nobody else, said Scaccia, of Nassau. `Why continue to spend your dollars on foreign made goods? It doesn’t make any sense.`
Hometown USA Stores is what Scaccia’s frustration produced. It’s a store that he launched in Nassau in June 2010 that sells solely American made products. On Saturday, Aug. 27, Hometown USA Stores will debut in its second location in Clifton Park.
`It’s hard to get people from Clifton Park, Latham, Glens Falls, to drive all the way out to Nassau but it’s a little easier to have them come to Clifton Park,` said Scaccia. `The closer we can come to people, the more merchandise hopefully we can sell, which is our whole goal.`
The store offers more than 2,500 products in-store and more than 4,000 products online. It will employ about nine people.
`We have boots, grills, toys, clothing, furniture, candles, yard games, cosmetics, purses, sandals. We try to have a little bit of something for everybody. We’ve got stuff for women, for children, for men,` said Scaccia. `Basically, it came about from people letting me know what they’re interested in and knowing where there’s needs.`
For years it was seemingly impossible for Scaccia to find domestically manufactured products, but with eight months of research and one employee devoted entirely to that research, he’s finally found what he’s been looking for.
`I was shopping for my wife for Christmas two years ago and everything was made in China. It was very frustrating for me. I want to buy American and there were no options, no places I could go that I’m guaranteed to buy all American made goods,` said Scaccia. `We’ve been researching for eight months every month we’re bringing in a new product to the store.`
His customers also help with the acquisition process. People send emails recommending local or national companies, pitch friends who make and sell items and tell their family and friends.
`That’s the important thing. People are actually giving us leads now, not to mention every time I go shopping for family and friends I’m always looking at labels,` said Scaccia.
Scaccia wants to have a successful business that eventually boasts franchise locations around the country, but he also wants to change consumers’ shopping habits for the good of the country (and economy).
`Since I opened the first store I’ve had people come in and tell me they lost their job because their company shipped jobs overseas and it’s an eye opener,` said Scaccia. `I don’t think a lot of Americans really thought about it if we want the economy to turn around and want our kids to be able to afford to put gas in their car someday, we better start changing the way we shop.`
Hometown USA Stores can also help the very manufacturers that are suffering from foreign competition.
`We want to help the local and regional manufacturers; give them an opportunity to sell their product through our outlets, our website, our stores. The more stores we have, the easier it becomes for consumers to purchase American made, the more impact we can have on the local and national economy,` said Scaccia. `People are losing their jobs, there’s no work here, people are unemployed, the economy is going the wrong way, the debt is going up.`
The anchor store is still young but it has already taken off, said Scaccia.
`Will we compete with Wal-Mart and Target? Probably not until about 10 years, but we’re at least starting the process and hopefully people respond well and so far they have,` said Scaccia. `A lot of people are very excited about this.`
Scaccia didn’t just blindly leap into the business world. He has years of experience under his belt, starting from when he was 16 and selling firewood.
`I’ve worked for myself ever since. I was down in Georgia building cell towers all over the southeast and moved that operation up here to the northeast and built towers for wireless carriers over the last 10 years,` said Scaccia. `I’ve had a lot of success in the business and decided I wanted to do something that would make a difference and hopefully change the way people shop and bring jobs back to this country.`
If there’s one thing Scaccia wants potential customers to think about when considering a visit to Hometown USA Stores, it’s this: `Look at the labels, buy American, it does make a difference.`
Hometown USA Stores is located at 1525 Crescent Road in Clifton Park. The grand opening event will take place on Saturday, Aug. 27, at 9 a.m. and will feature entertainment, games, food and more. For more information visit www.hometownusastores.com.
“