My final Saturday

My final Saturday as a small business owner begins.

I'm never going to consider myself less of a person simply because I will work for someone else in the future; it just won't ever be the same. I've loved having the ability to educate, inform and share the message of buying American made products. So many of my customers appreciate that and return because there are standards here and they don't have to question what they purchase.

Sadly, a large segment of those shoppers are older - they are the ones who "get it" when the younger generation  - even those with children couldn't care less. I wish I'd been able to reach them but after all this time I couldn't. This chapter has ended for me and it's time to give up the pursuit. I can't help feeling a little disappointed that there will be one less voice speaking up for the American manufacturers, producers and even local artists who's work we carried. American made products. So many of my customers appreciate that and return because there are standards here and they don't have to question what they are purchasing.

#Americanmade #quality #standards #manufacturing # confectionery #thefinal90 #buyAmerican #standforsomething #principles #MadeInTheUSA #lackofsupport #smallbusiness #sweetshop #belovedicon #local #community #pennycandy #smallstore

I am lucky to have loved so much.

It's 10:30 in the morning and I should be at work. There is so much to do; so many things to pack, donate, list for sale, get rid of. What I can't package up is all the memories of this part of my life. So many people and memories and good times, bad times and everything in between. I have loved being the owner of this place; grateful to have known so many of you; trying to make sense out of the final two weeks.

I am letting sadness cloud my thinking which is complicating matters. I need to be making calls, searching out antique dealers for the century old fixtures and being practical. But right now the concept of losing the only time in my life that things came together for me is taking over and I'm not doing all that needs to be done.

Several of my rescued animals are curled up with me as this is being written. They understand, know my sadness and gather around. I'm grateful for the silent support which comes with no comments or questions or advice on how I should feel right now. The depth and difficulty of this goodbye is perhaps relative to the feelings held for this chapter in my life. I am so lucky to have had something I loved so very much.

#goodbye #smallbusiness #35years #finally #closing #localshop #momandpop #locallyowned #thefinal90 #sadness #memories #IHaveLoved #mystore #deathofasmallbusiness #lettinggo #movingon

My 19th summer has ended

I made it. After almost two decades here I have somehow managed to make it through the final summer for this store. Often Labor Day is a celebration of having accomplished another season of visitors, and now we would begin to fade into the second season that is the beautiful fall months at the beach. But I'm not celebrating this year and earlier today I said goodbye to several of my long-time customers who cried hearing the news.


As I've mentioned before there are so many reasons I have arrived at the final chapter for me and my beloved shop. I will miss so much of this; the people that I've come to know over so many layers of years and seasons and too many reasons to begin to count....

#finalseason #smallbusinessclosing #thefinal90 #after35years #endofsummer #storeclosed #struggling #smallretailer #momandpop #favoritelittleshops #supportlocal #shopsmall #independent #weareclosing #lettinggo #goodbye

Who needs local businesses anymore?

Local businesses are not only a part of the local area, they are made up of real people. They are the folks that you see in your neighborhood, who teach your children at school, attend the same church as you, and share a concern in the well-being of the community. So if you have a chance to maintain that connection and retain those individual businesses, wouldn't you want to?

I'm working on several blog posts discussing my situation in more detail but have not been able to complete them due to time constraints. Will be posting more soon so don't go away.....there's plenty of things I still have to say and share with you.

For today, I leave you with something I'd written a while back.



Money isn't everything but it sure rules the world -
Big corporations and fat cats at the top.
$100 gets you a whole box of pills from India -
Who needs the corner pharmacist anymore.

People don't need to know their neighbors now -
You don't bother to ask who they trust.
Get a tune up while you shop super Walmart -
Who needs the mechanic on the outside of town.

My grandfather built this, he said with a sigh -
Here's a picture of dad working here, 1955.
Surrounded by glitzy dollar stores they don't see -
Who needs the small grocery, just down the street.

Money isn't everything, yet it sure rules the world -
But loyalty is lost; communities fading out.
Your town has an echo, so hollow it seems -
Maybe something else should have mattered.

#favoriteshop #finallyclosing #endofanera #independent #retailer #smallbusiness #supportlocal #lastseason #endofanera #smallretailer #momandpop #weareclosing #thefinal90 #belovedlocalstore #after35years #storeclosed

Taking your breath away

Today we depart from talking about my shop to share another one with you. I'm sure you have experienced this yourself when you entered a similar family-owned type of establishment - perhaps you have many of these where you live. But if you must find one near you and visit it just to see what I'm talking about; just to see what these gems are like; why they matter so deeply to many of us.


In a tiny town on the narrow part of land that juts out into the Atlantic below Delaware and runs south towards Virginia Beach, VA sits an icon. Somehow the small town of Parksley, Virginia has managed to escape the vacant atmosphere familiar to so many similar places in the area and has several mom and pop stores, eateries and of course, Jaxon's.

I was only in there for the first time a year ago but it took my breath away - and isn't that the kind of place we all want to walk into? The array of merchandise; the feeling of stepping back a few decades in time, neatly laid out displays, and the astonishing range of items was truly a blast from the past. You could feel time stand still and that this shop had served it's community for many years, being a part of countless generations and families. Where else can you shop for a Sunday hat, quality men's work boots, pots and pans, ribbons and fabric, housewares, little girls' fancy dresses and stationary? It was a real, genuine "variety store" and it made you want to just wander the aisles with a shopping cart, explore and learn their history all at the same time.


But after all, isn't that what a unique and one of a kind business is supposed to do? They aren't all the same, no repetitive layouts found in every one you go into - each one is it's own adventure waiting to be discovered. Perhaps these are meant to be the bright spots in a dull world - a place which allows you to escape from the mundane, everyday pattern of life and soulless chain stores. I hope you will go out and find one to to visit in your state. Sometimes, just maybe, we all need to find that which takes our breath away for a little while.

http://www.jaxons.net/

#smalltown #familybusiness  #easternshore #virginia #independentretailer #Jaxons #thefinal90 #supportsmallbusiness #livelocal #ParksleyVA #mylastseason #finallyclosing #after35years #favoritelocalstores #since1979 #lettinggo

Time travel offered free!

Today I wanted to share with you something I'd written several years ago, probably around 2009. At the time I felt it captured how fortunate I felt to be here and to have this place, and yet, you can read the bit of worry starting to creep in....

There’s a moment when you know you have connected with your customer; that you've truly interested them. Perhaps you offered them something completely unusual, or really listened to what they were trying to ask for.

I see in their eyes when they reach for a package of Sen-Sens that they haven't found in decades, upon spying a display of Teaberry Gum, or when they bolt out the door with the clanking bell, to smack their Bonomo’s Turkish Taffy on the pavement just for old time’s sake. The year that item returned to production - much to the mortification of their children - many adults did just that.

You connect when you listen to them tell you about a long-gone sweet shop, a "special place" they would accompany a relative to, perhaps where Grandma went to purchase butterscotch buttons, peppermint drops or candied ginger. It might have been the only place in the neighborhood where a favorite type of licorice was sold and they try to describe it, reaching for words in the archives of time; perhaps it was shaped like a coin, or a button? I point to several choices – no, maybe a little smaller than that they say, trying to picture it in their mind; and suddenly it clicks in mine. I turn to the stash of tubs and containers behind the counter and select a piece of candy - and suddenly their eyes are misty and they are time-traveling, back to that corner shop from childhood. They savor the moment and the taste; silently reflecting; enjoying the treat just as if all the years had not passed. A fading memory of times back in the city, brief sugar interludes after school or a special visit with a beloved parent; I listen to the stories as they spill out their recollections. And I'm richer for having had those chances.

Yes, I believe in time travel, because it HAPPENS here. New candies and treats and flavors of taffy are always coming out and we have many of those things. But the heart and soul of my shop represents a different time; when made in China wasn't an option, much less a standard. It was before mega-marts and big box stores stomping out the mom and pop icons; when independent stores took your money and then turned around to reinvest it in our country. I still do that – I seek out the family owned companies which are committed to offering a product made here with pride – many of them with several generations of candy makers in their families.

And yet, I'm a dinosaur. Investing in America is no longer appreciated; valued, understood. The latest and greatest gummy candy shaped like a popular cartoon figure is what's in demand, and I can't in good conscience offer that knowing it may be laced with toxins. I can however, take you back in time - if you are willing to come in and enjoy the ride.



#oldfashioned #sweetshop #timetravel #whatweoffer #smallbusiness #localicon #finallyclosing #supportlocal
#pennycandy #confectionary #memories  #childhood #classiccandies #after35years #thefinal90 #endofanera