This whole equation is very complicated. Price is not always king, even for a cheapskate like myself.
Sometimes I buy a few smaller things from my neighborhood hardware store because it saves me time over going to the big box store. Time is money too. 30 minutes to save $1 is not worth it. If I need a lot of stuff, I will only buy from a big box store and save a lot over my local hardware store. If the project is big enough I may even price shop between the big box stores. The vast majority of my dollars go to the retailer with the lower markup.
But. Once I bought a hacksaw at Walmart. I try pretty hard not to buy stuff from Walmart but when it is Sunday night at 8pm and I want my toilet to work on Monday morning, there are not many choices at all for where to buy a hacksaw. So wally world won because of their hours.
But in general, I agree. Paying a lot more just to buy local is not sustainable for most people.
I'm a bit confused about those anti features. Can anyone explain?