The independent business owners that I know stake a lot on the last forty-five days of the year. If their sales are lackluster, they might not have enough in the bank to “keep the doors open” for another year. So they get creative…offering everything from photos with Santa, to hot cider and cookies, to snow machines and live music on Fridays to gift wrapping. Will all of that be enough if shoppers don’t want to go out in bad weather or hassle with finding a parking place?
Most of us tie the holidays to nostalgic memories that do not include shopping online and next day delivery. Tapping into that nostalgia is challenging but key, especially when the advertising wizards are using their best technology and talent to pop up on our phones via social media and email. Is it more fun to push a few buttons and open a brown box the next day? Some would say yes!
We’re losing our old ways of commerce, and with that, we are losing an avenue for connecting with other humans in a meaningful way.
But that nostalgic longing has not completely disappeared in the community where I live. More folks than ever are flocking to our farmers markets. And we love the small unique shops…at least we pay them a lot of lip service. But we don’t always remember to purchase what these shops are selling so they can pay their rent.
I notice lots of people hanging out at our indie bookstore downtown…but they are buying cups of coffee and rarely buying books. Same behavior at the fabulous little vintage store further down the street. Shoppers go inside to drink wine at a tiny bar in the back of the shop, which so far has enabled the vintage shopkeeper to stay in business. Other shops are sharing retail space, creating co-op opportunities for young entrepreneurs. And even the little retailers are using the big e-commerce sites to help them sell to folks who live around the world. They have to do it all to survive.
We’ve all watched Main Street disappear in towns that have large shopping centers and strip malls attracting the shoppers away from the center city. And we’ve also watched cities where success has brought with it the big chains like Starbucks and Jimmy Johns, displacing the local coffee shops and delis. We can let this happen…and it happens quickly…or we can vote with our shopping dollars and our advocacy to keep our communities unique. It’s Buy Local Season, y’all.