A fellow independent bookstore owner posted the following on a Publisher’s Weekly blog last week:
http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/shelftalker/?p=6864
Upon reading the article, waves of emotions swept through me as I recall the number of beloved small businesses which closed in the last couple of years in our town, the struggle that many of us continue to face, and the intense sadness of possibly not being able to continue to do what I love if things don’t turn around soon. But what was most appalling to me was the ignorant remark left in the comments section by someone who claimed she couldn’t care less about the financial woes of business owners. On the contrary, if this person lives in a community, she SHOULD care. A lot.
Like it or not, everyone who lives in a community is interconnected. Local small business owners are no different than your local teachers, priests, mailmen, firemen, etc. We’re your sibling, neighbor, spouse, parent, grandparent, child, aunt, uncle, cousin, best friend. We live here, eat here, pay taxes here. We work here, earn money here, spend it here, and the money in turn pays for the roads, buildings, public education, parks, and even salaries of city workers. It’s a big contraption with one wheel powering the other. Without earnings, we’re unable to spend, and the wheels slow to a stop.
I’ve lost count of how many times someone walked through our door looking for donations for a charity or school newspaper/yearbook/function or other worthy causes. While we tried to help as many as we could when we first opened, we’re no longer at the liberty to do so due to severe lack of business, hence lack of funds.
A local business owner once told me he was especially frustrated when he noticed the majority of people asking for money from him did not even shop at his store. I started to notice similar trends as many of our former customers turn to e-readers or shopping online. The next time one of them shows up asking whether we would support their daughter’s dance troupe or their son’s cub scout project, I want to know: “Since you do not support us, where do I find the means to support you?”
The same vicious cycle rears its ugly head when people complain about limited selections at small independents. If only they would stop and take a second to connect the dots: No business = no extra income = no extra funds to bring in extra merchandise. Just as our regular customers have noticed that shelves that were bulging to the brim a mere four years ago now seem skeletal in comparison.
There are still many more aspects to this which I will save for a later rant. In the mean time, I sincerely hope that Josie’s blog post on Publisher’s Weekly serves as a wake-up call for many. What businesses will YOU miss from YOUR community if they’re gone? Why not make a list, plan a visit, and let them know how much you appreciate them. Before it’s too late.
Dorothy
