Shop Local!

It has been disturbing to me to see so many of my favorite local small businesses closing their doors in the recent months. We all know that high vacancy rates in our communities invite crime and general deterioration of the area, resulting in dimished community image and lower housing values.

My favorite shopping places where I frequent are scrapbooking and stamping stores. Two of my favorite stores are located in Issaquah. One of the stores, Lasting Impressions closed its door in May, 2009. I went into serious depression after it's closing. I sent an email to Shirley, the store's owner and expressed how much I will miss shopping there. My dog Max and I spent many hours in this store, browing through its numerous isles which were filled with stamps of all kinds. It was a good feeling to have the staff call me by my first name and they even rememberd Max's name! Every time Max and I visited the store, staff would come over and played with Max. One staff member even brought over a Terrier doggie rubber stamp which looked exactly like Max. Of course I bought the stam and even more!

My other favorite store in Issaquah is the Mad Scrapper. The store's owner Deanna has owned this store for seventeen years and she works really hard to keep her shelves stocked with the latest papers and embellishments. There is no doubt she putsin extremely long hours every day to keep the store's door open for the hours which are convenient for her customers.

Being a business owner of Studio 904 hair salons for thirty five years, I know how difficult it is to keep a full inventory during this time of economic downturn. Small businesses operate on an extremely low profit margin, if any at all.

To keep her store lively and exciting, Deanna offers on-going workshops for her customers. Her classes are free as long as we purchase our supply kits from the Mad Scrapper.
One evening I was working madly to make a cute mini-scrapbook in one of Deanna's classes. There were ten women in this class. One of the women did not have a particlar tool which she needed and was about to get up to purchase one from the store. The woman who was sitting next to her whispered, "Don't buy it here. You can get this same tool at Michaels for only half the price when you buy it with one their weekly coupons".

I was so disturbed by what I heard, I couldn't help but to tell everyone what could happen if we all thought this way. All small, local businesses will be gone, leaving us with only the large chains. Can we get this kind of personalized service from anyone other than the small business owners who struggle evey day to stay in business. Why? For the simple reason that they are passionate about what they do. If stores like Mad Scrapper are forced to go out of business, it will be a sad day for all of us who love the specialty stores and the amenities we receive from them.

So my advice to all is... look beyond the price and look at the big picture. Do you like what the store does for its customers? Does the store reach out to the community and contribute to adding vitality to the area? If your answer is yes, you owe it to yourself to patronize the small businesses and do your part in keeping them growing and thriving. In the end, you and the community will be better off ... you will play a part in creating a vibrant and healtheir economic growth in the area where you live.

Happy Scrapping!