Editor’s note: The following column includes a variety of business-themed puns.
Christmastime is here!
Wait. Back up, Charlie Brown — it ain’t quite Christmas yet.
OK, let’s try again — star-making time is here!
It’s time for me to start writing the lamppost star signs for local businesses. (Yes, I do that too, since 2008.)
About 30 years ago, while living in New Orleans, I met a guy who mentioned he came from a town called Greenfield, Massachusetts, that had stopped a Walmart from being built. Seeing as how pre-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans was so insular that nothing north of Interstate 10 even registered on the map, I remember wondering where such a town could possibly be, but admired those folks mightily for their work.
New Orleans at that time was a city full of local merchants. Every place was owned by Mr. Angelo, Mr. Cosimo or Miss Joan, all of whom knew not only you, but your mama and your mama’s mama as well. At the time, I couldn’t imagine anything being powerful enough to fling me out of such a familiar place, but something as big as a hurricane finally did and I ended up in Ashfield, Massachusetts, only 30 minutes away from that Walmart-stopping town I remembered admiring so many years earlier.
True to its advance publicity, I was immediately drawn to the local nature of shopping in Greenfield, as well as in Shelburne Falls, Turners Falls and the other surrounding towns.
Writing the business names on the stars sponsored by local merchants and entrepreneurs delights me, as I so appreciate the work those folks put in to keep these local businesses going. Some end up throwing in the towel, but entrepreneurs are people with glitter in their veins with the sparkle of, “Oooh! You know what would be fun to jump into? A place where I could sell the wares I love, provide the services I care about, and the community would come and keep this place, and thus, this town, going.” Local shopkeepers are those who do it for love. Some make serious money, some don’t, but I know that the dollars I spend with them go to other local vendors as those business owners pay their electric bills, their medical bills and feed their families.
And it’s fun! Owning Elmer’s Store in Ashfield connected me with community that I saw and interacted with every day, and the experience put that era at the top of my list of the Best Things I’ve Ever Done in Life. (And I’ve done a lot of fun stuff.) Successful local businesses lead to more local businesses. “They’re doing well … you know what? I could open my own.” And that leads to local stability.
Shopping with the national chains may be easy, but by shopping downtown, you can help some Greenfield businesses to Rise Above. I know a cat in Shelburne Falls who owns a bookstore, and there’s another shop full of books that people are Raven about. I love a Wicked Good place in Ashfield for breakfast and lunch, along with a hardware store where the two owners still know you, your mama and your grandmother, and they’ll show you that love and familiarity every time you go in.
And we’re not just talking about food and merchandise; there’s an electrician in Greenfield who Ames to keep your business in town. Well Hale, there’s an excellent large-graphic printing company in Gill, plus a CopyCat on Main Street in Greenfield for your smaller printing needs, both of whom I work with often.
Your supporting these businesses puts Hope in Olive us as we navigate the region’s future.
Real life is what we have in all these towns now: family-owned businesses that employ the locals and keep your money right here. National chains are one-way streets that die off into the land where nobody knows your name. Ordering from Jeff Bezos is easy, but you’re shipping your dollars off to a guy who already has $254 billion in his pocket, and our local vendors could use some of that.
Keep what you’ve got here. It is more valuable by far than anything that Mr. Costco is selling. What he’s got can be replaced. What you’ve got here and now, can’t.
Carryin’ on with Amazon? Namaste right here. I hope you will, too.
Nan Parati lives and works in Ashfield, where she found home and community following Hurricane Katrina. She can be reached at NanParati@aol.com.