As I was heading to my opera this past Wednesday afternoon (Puccini's MADAME BUTTERFLY, which has some lovely arias but not so interesting characters and little for the singers to do acting-wise but that is a whole other blog entry entirely), I noticed that Brent Books (at 309 W Washington Street ) is going out of business (see A Year in Pictures blog for visual reference). It made me really sad, because I would always stop by on my way to my opera because I love books and I love indies and the prices and selections were good. The place had charm and books-what wasn't to love? And now, they are going out of business. Another indie bites it.
Hey, I do like the big "B" bookstores as much as the next Gentle Reader, and I buy about half of my pet supplies cheaply at the ginormous national pet supply chains that will remain herein nameless, and I work for the green apron company that has stores on every other block and is known for decimating their indie-coffee competition, so I suppose that I can't really rail too hard against the homogenization of American business as I contribute enough to their well-being myself, but whenever a non-big business goes belly-up the part of my soul that loves variety and hates rote just dies a little. A lot of little businesses that I've loved have gone belly-up in my time (Poor Richard's, Cafe Boost, Stone Lion Bookstore, just off the top of my head), so that's a lot of little pieces of my soul. That adds up, for sure.
So I'm thinking this week of heading over to Women & Children First (indie & feminist bookstore, www.womenandchildrenfirst.com), and to A Taste of Heaven cafe and bakery, both in Andersonville. Pause Coffee near the Berwyn station (don't tell my SB boss!). That little Indian/Pakistani place down the street whose name I don't recall but has fantastic & cheap dal makhani and is definitely NOT a chain. Maybe you could join me? Maybe, just in spirit, to an indie place in your neck o' the woods? If you're spending the bucks anyway, why not spent it local? Keep it in the 'hood, so to speak. Think of it this way-you could be helping the little business survive, contribute to your local economy, keeping the rich from just getting richer simply by virtue of being rich, AND be saving my soul. God knows, it needs it.
-C.
10 years ago
3 comments:
Oh...I have not thought of the Stone Lion in years. Brian and I loved that place. Good memories. One of the nice things of living in a small town is small town businesses...We have a favorite indie jewelry shop, and while I cannot promise that I will buy jewelry this week (sadly), there is an indie Mexican Restaurant that has the BEST breakfast burritos (among other yummy fare). Challenge accepted. I will have one (or more) this week, and so will Brian.
Great post. I am constantly challenging myself to pursue the businesses I appreciate, local or not. As devil's advocate I recently received such welcome service from one of the chains, it made me wonder if local for the sake of local is always the best guide. After all, employees are always local and suffer more when they rely on business for hours/tips. It's a strange curve, you know? I do prefer my local shops when they have the edge. Myself, I love hitting an under rated sushi joint down the street as often as is possible.
I agree that it's not so clear as my post may imply. After all, the green apron does as well as it does because of strong customer service, and people will pay over and over for that reason ahead of cost and quality, I believe.
Still, I hope for some balance of the two. To see a good indie place with personality get replaced by say, another Subway, it's just so disheartening.
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