The Shopping Experience

I am not a shopper.  I confess.  I go into a store to buy what I want and then I leave.  I don't really understand the concept of browsing through acres and acres of clothing or much of anything else.  I will, however, shop for particular "items" in thrift stores to enable me to "create" something else.

But, having been the owner of two stores for the last few years, I have had to change my thinking.  People like bargains.  Bargains.  What is a bargain exactly?  Is it cheap?  Or readily available?  Why

Gerry's Shoe Repair

do you buy it?  Do you need it?  All things I have had to think about being on the "other end" of the retail line.

Not too long ago we participated in Small Business Saturday.  It is a great idea.  I am not real sure it has fully caught on yet however.  But if you take into consideration just what shopping at a small

Southside Market

business does, you may change you mind about dropping your wad at a box store.

Yes, if you shop locally, you are supporting someone within our community.  Do you want to run down the street and get milk, or nuts and bolts, or a quick snack?   If you don't shop in town, you will end up with no place in town to shop.  It is kind of the "you scratch my back and I will scratch yours" concept.  I support them, and they, in turn, support someone else in the area, who may shop in my store at some point.  What goes around, comes around.  But what is important is that we are all involved in the retail trade that builds up the community.

I am ever so aware of this at The Calico Cupboard.  As a consignment store we offer a venue for our

The Calico Cupboard

local artists and crafters to sell their wares.  So when you purchase from us, you not only help to pay our bills, you are supporting any number of others within our community.  These are individuals who would have no other way to showcase their items.  Besides which, you will have purchased a unique, one of a kind item.

And the donations made and money spent at Twelve Baskets Thriftique stays right here in our little community. Your purchases support the library, food bank, fire department, senior center, scholarships, and numerous other entities that, in turn, are there to help you in a number of ways.  They provide you with services, food, education, aid in emergencies.  See how it all works.  It is never just one person who does anything.  Each of you is part of a much larger picture.  You may not see your purchase as helping your neighbor, but it is!

Corner Market

So as you head into the new year, consider your community when you head off on a shopping spree.

Hometown Hardware

  You are part of the whole.  Without each and every one of you, the community is either bolstered or it is deprived.  Yes, you can undoubtedly get things cheaper in department stores.  But can you get someone who calls you by name, knows your family, offers you a cup of coffee and a time to chat, who listens to your problems and rejoices in your successes.   What is all of that worth?  Can you even put a price on it?  I doubt it.

Just writin' on the River Road