Going out with a bang

I changed direction and did a complete about-face. It's not like me but tough times call for dramatic actions I guess. After months of agonizing over this decision, feeling  frustrated over so many of the factors that led to this choice, I faced the fact that I'm out of here in less than two weeks head on. Posted on Sunday:


Greetings folks! I've given it a lot of thought and decided we will not just go out quietly. When you have been here for this long you cannot just slip out of sight and there are so many people still to say goodbye too, those who are messaging and texting wanting to get into the shop one last time. So we will go out with a BANG!! This weekend will be the final three days and we're celebrating with an epic sale, free candy and goodies and a chance to see you all once more. 

This is going to be the best place to start on your Christmas gift list!! Be here to say goodbye, celebrate 35 years AND do some fabulous shopping! I'm looking forward to seeing you - the best customers ever. I will miss you so much!! xoxoxo"


I'm setting up the store for a giant sale, cleaning out, throwing away and making piles to donate. I can't help but feel a little excited and glad that so many people are planning to be here this weekend and that definately warms my heart; which at the same time is still breaking into a million pieces. This place IS me and I have been it's heart and soul for 19 years. I'm struggling but felt that this was the right way to go out.....


I'll have to post some of the comments later on that have been made but to do it now will lead to leaky eyes and I have a party to plan.....

#sayinggoodbye #finally #closing #endofanera #goodbyemomandpop #thefinal90 #storeclosing #loveyourlocal #localbusinesses #closed #lettinggo #after35years #loved #ending #ihaveloved #missingthisalready

Reality creeps in

I think I'm finding some extra confirmation on the dinosaur thing.

.

Since Sunday when I learned of another small business that was closing I've been restless; searching; looking around for some sign that "my people" are still around. I don't know the gentleman who is closing his shop or his story but what I could read on his facebook page was sadness over closing. And that I thought, meant that there are indeed other members of my tribe present - the ones that loved what they did, valued and fiercely loved their customers and life as an independent.

If there were others besides me who felt this loss that I'm feeling, then I'm not alone, right? I shared someone else's story; passed on his words and added a few; and no one commented. It was as if they tried to ignore what is happening, or perhaps they didn't really want to know. But these are people with whom I've connected with, the ones who still have their restaurants and stores and service companies. THEY would care.....right? Because if they don't then am I sharing a dead cause and blowing a silent trumpet? I looked all over the Internet tonight for some long-time independents that always have championed this thinking - the ones who agreed, and supported, and understood.

But their pages were silent and they themselves appeared distant; either otherwise occupied or moving in a new direction. A few had closed up in the last year and some of the most enthusiastic cheerleaders for the "Shop Local" movement had abandoned the effort altogether. Perhaps they saw the light I've been hiding from; perhaps they realized things are changing and some of us will fall. Perhaps I'm one of the few who didn't see or want to see what's right there? 

And then it dawned on me; maybe this is how you begin to know your time is up, when you look around and realize the others are gone. Maybe this is how you begin to see that others have let go of a dream that was once like yours. Maybe this is how you realize you've held on too long.

#truth #reality #ending #closing #afteralltheseyears #forever #thefinal90 #shoplocalmovement #dinosaur #fool #blind #whatotherssaw #failed #dream #itsover #realization #lettinggo #closingasmallbusiness

Today in Connecticut....

Today is a break from reading about me and my journey, because I'd like to share someone else with you. This morning I was tagged in a facebook post by a friend who has shown support for small business owners, mentioned her feelings on my posts and understood what I've been saying. She, unlike so many, "gets it", and I'm grateful for the people who realize not only what we do but that moving on isn't always easy. Thank you Linda. 

She mentioned me and another person in her comments which told me that this was the final day for another small business owner. I had to know more, not from a spectator standpoint but because I needed to see if this closing was being handled better than I'm managing mine. It's possible that not all proprietors feel the way I do; maybe I'm making too much of my journey and this long goodbye. Then again, it matters a great deal to me so I can't just say nothing, but what if others don't feel as I do?

I looked up the page for the other shop that is closing and just had to copy their announcement here for you to read. It's goodbye - not just to a job, or a place -  but to a community, and it looks like a sadness similar to what I'm feeling. I hope Mr. Carlo won't mind that I am reposting his words here but they matter. We - the heart and soul of your neighborhoods and towns - matter. And it's breaking my heart to read his farewell but especially the one line in there that you may pick up on. 

A photo he posted this morning on his facebook page -

His official closing announcement from 10/6/14:


"It breaks my heart to write this, but we are going out of business.

This week will be our final week that we will be open. We will make grinders till Friday, then no more grinders. I am going to retire. For 6 years my son and I gave our customers the best quality, best service, best prices possible , ANYWHERE. We were honest and fair with everyone. Many of our customers became personal friends of our family, and will continue to be our friends. We will miss ALL OF YOU. But the ones I will miss the most, are all the beautiful children. There is no way to describe how wonderful it is the have them come into the store, and call me Mr. Carlo. These beautiful children are our future, and I know they will grow to be amazing adults, doing amazing things. I know that hundreds of you, won't know I'm closed till you come in for your once a year holiday meal. One can't help but wonder what you feed your family the rest of the year. I have so many people to thank for all the great things they did to help us in our 6 years here. Nick and I could never do it all by ourselves. So this is it, my last week, and a new owner will take over in a couple of weeks. Thank you so much to all our loyal customers over the years, I hope that you all know how much we care about you all. 

Carlo and Nick"


This photo was also posted today. Here is the facebook page -
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carlo-Son-Quality-Meats/190062691015910

To Carlo & Son Quality Meats, you were so loved by your customers, friends and those you served. I'm so sorry to see you are closing. We - the independents can never be replaced by larger stores, lesser quality or lack of personal commitment to what we do. 
I wish you all the best.

Am I becoming a dinosaur?

Concerns from an independent retailer, written in July 2011

Today was a tough one. For eleven hours I've tried to be polite to people coming into my shop. I don't feel it’s best to pounce on them and be pushy, yet I greet everyone with a smile or a hello, mention I'm available when they are ready, feel free to ask any questions, etc. Few have responded; some with a blank stare or grunt; some quick to point out they aren't going to buy anything, just look; several almost seem offended I approached them. Ultimately a large number leave after strolling through as if this was a museum, often claiming an easy excuse like the heat or time of day. Many however do note that this is just like the candy shop of their childhood, they reminisce and point out familiar treats with excitement. But they don't wish to buy here - they'll hold out and find a dollar store nearby they say.

Some have stated my worst fear; that they will wait till tonight when they reach the mega-chain store of choice. Bright, glitzy, neon….those stores are all these things and more; larger, more expensive, offering a buffet of made in China candies. Their employees won't know the difference between two different varieties of chocolates, or the legend of salt water taffy that I keep copies of to pass out to my curious smaller customers. They won't offer a sample of a very taste-specific licorice and discuss the flavors with someone searching for a favorite variety their parents used to buy them years ago, maybe in a tiny shop like mine.

But they will go there to these neon castles which are on every corner, and which in the last few years have crushed every independent in town except mine. Out of more than a dozen small and locally owned shops this is the final stand. Sometimes I wonder if there is anything that could elevate my small business to the “corporate glamour” level these people seem to want - even if there was, it's unlikely I'd be able to pull it off. We ARE the definition of "mom and pop" and what so many used to love and welcome, but to an ever-growing number of people are we perhaps turning into plain or outdated, a relic from the past?

A decade ago it seemed everyone wanted to be here; loved the shop, the history, the atmosphere and the products, but I don't think those things are a selling point anymore. It’s not the familiar layout of a chain store, a reassuringly giant place where no one knows your name. I can't ever complete with mega-mall big box monstrosities; I just never thought that is all people would want.

P.S. After the summer I aggressively worked to update a number of things; lighting, product selection, signage, layout and more; all things I'd been trying to keep up with each year. It's important to note that when a small business has primarily one person in charge that sometimes your vision may not be good enough. I'm not sure that a sole proprietor is the best at seeing "different" or "fresh & new" or "out of the box" when it's just one perspective. So maybe I did fall prey to that and failed to change and grow enough? The following year did bring an increase in positive reactions from many visitors but due to poor management and landlord issues the shopping center declined.





#locallyowned #smallshop #independent #retailer #supportlocal #weareclosing #thefinal90 #fading #momandpop #whyshoplocal #bigboxgiants #ourfinalseason #deathofasmallbusiness #communityicon #belovedlocalshop

Feeling the loss of small businesses everywhere

So you take me for a ride,
Through your town, just to see -
And it hurts reading "For Rent"
Where Main Street used to be.

You pull to the drive thru,
Of another fast food chain -
Casually you mention the loss
Of small businesses, down the drain.

Need to do some shopping you say,
So to the highway we cruise -
Past the small mom and pop's
This community stands to lose.

Once at the big box giant,
I can't join you inside -
I'm mourning the emptiness
Of your town, that has died.

So easy to look past
What's right there to see -
A quiet ride back to home
Leaves a sadness in me.

For your town can't survive,
When businesses are passed by -
And soon people will ask
Why the hell did they die.

Silent streets tell the tale,
Of what has been lost -
Vacant storefronts now show,
What big box "savings" have cost.

Don't let this happen where you live.

#storeclosing #goodbye #after35years #finally #closed #memories #since1979 #alltheseyears #movingon #goingoutofbusiness #loveyourlocal #endofanera #independent #retailer #supportlocal #thefinal90 #lettinggo

It isn't just my store....is it?

The other night I did some research. I was looking for small business statics on failure vs. success, news articles, anything that addressed what I'm going through.

I found a few items which helped me to feel a tiny bit better - here is one which speaks to the fading of personal interactions with a small "specialty shop" and a gradual movement to "everything under one roof".


Why support a small business? They build real ones on relationships in the community that are hard to find in a big box store. They add flavor and interest to our surroundings. In case you haven't noticed, the homogenization of Leesburg, Loudoun County and many other counties is thriving while the small business owners are having a hard time competing.

http://www.leesburgtoday.com/opinion/letters/op-ed-the-death-of-a-small-business/article_4faa8c20-933b-11e3-a171-001a4bcf887a.html

 #after35years #candyshop #since1979 #lovelocal #Americanmade #quality #standards #weareclosing #madeintheusa #familyowned  #independent #smalltretailer #lastseason #closingforever #endofanera #thefinal90 #lettinggo

Why a "final 90 days"?

Why did this business matter so much, enough that I thought it deserved a public send off, a blog chronicling the final days, a need to speak out before we're gone?

Well it mattered to me because of so many things - more than I could begin to count - but some of the important reasons are the history behind 35 years, the connections I have with so many people I know, the concept of standing for something by offering carefully selected products which are still made in the USA. 

For some people even one of these reason would have been enough cause to "not go quietly".....and that's something I've never been good at doing. I'm speaking up because to me it all matters; the decision to stop carrying certain items which after decades have shifted production from American soil to china; the choice to work with the limited schedule of a small company that no longer had the best delivery options - just so I could continue to sell their made in the USA products. Or the people that I've come to know over so many layers of years and seasons and too many reasons to begin to count that matter.