Tough Times Lead to Local Currencies

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Berkshares, local currency, of Great Barrington, MA.

Lauren Fuller for TIME

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Local currency can generate customer loyalty, but not every business feels as though it can offer a discount like the one built into BerkShares. "They just aren't viable for us," says Beth Parsons, whose family owns a grocery store in Lenox, Mass. But as a consumer, she likes the idea. Parsons recently drove to a nearby town to buy some shoes instead of getting them online. Afterward, she says, she passed a BerkShares sign "at the bank and thought, 'Oh, I should've bought BerkShare bucks to save money on these.'"