Your Neolocalism argument is interesting, I think there are many tangible reasons to buy local when possible, beyond identity validation. The ability to interact with the owners and their involvement in the community is a big deal.

I am less impressed by corporations that try to "act" local. I ran such a company with 300 locations, and we gave each branch manager a sizable budget to fund local charities that our staffs were personally committed to (i.e. they gave their time to). But it is not the same. It helps, but it cannot emulate what a local owner's impact is on their business.

It is hard to develop a "relationship" with a chain. The staff turns over including the management.

Your coffee shop example reminds me of when I traveled a lot before Yelp. When you wanted good reasonably priced lunch, you went to where the local "trade" pick-up trucks were parked and people with beards, boots and flannel shirts were eating lunch.

Today, I use Yelp when I travel and look for what local people say about a place rather than the "look" of the place. I think some stores do a good job of "fitting the look" of the store into the community's feel, but at the end of the day, locals gravitate to the people running the place.

A good owner is hard to compete with, they simply have a greater connection with the people they serve.