I promise to get to another recipe soon (think cinnamon and scones), but for now…
This post was written two weeks ago, but at someone’s request, I held it until tonight.
Begin rant.
There is a small business I know that has struggled a bit the last few years but held its own until the economy hit the toilet last year.
Thanks to places like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and other large stores that carry the same products this small business does – buying product in considerable volume, so they can pass “savings” onto the consumer – said small business lost some of their customer base. This lost customer base, switching allegience to the box chains of the country in order to save a buck, would buy the reduced-cost product – which, I might add, is often low-end crap I wouldn’t give to an enemy – and happily go on their way.
How would this switch affect this particular small business owner? We all know the saying, “You get what you pay for.” In defense of the box chains, people can purchase items inexpensively because the stores are able to purchase their inventory based on a regional or countrywide chain’s needs. Great. Yes, you may pay more if you purchase a product through a small business, but you receive personal treatment, often a file is created for you for subsequent visits, and there may be a trained service department if something goes wrong.
People who purchased from the box chains instead of the small business then expected that the small business would be thrilled to service the low-end crap they bought elsewhere, which failed 30 seconds after the warranty expired. Did the small business carry on and repair the low-end crap? I’m not sure. Did they have the right to refuse to service the low-end crap? Absolutely.
Due to the stupendous economy, many people in the area are afraid or unwilling to buy medium ticket items like those sold by this small business. Add them to the lost customer base.
The people who own this small business worked their way up from the absolute bottom of the ladder, under different owners, until they owned the business themselves.
I was raised to keep my money in the town where I live. Buy local. Buy American. Sometimes, I know, this just isn’t going to work, depending on where you live. But if more of us felt this way and spent our hard-earned cash this way, fewer small business owners would be taking it up the tailpipe right now. They’re dropping like flies.
This particular small business failure hits extremely close to home, because it’s the business that my father dedicated 40 years of his life to. This business employed my mother. It used to employ my sister. And it went under because we’re…well…cheap.
My father spends much of his free time with various local groups such as the Kiwanis Club, Eagles Club, the local business association, etc. He’s involved. For years he taught his trade at the local technical school on top of his long workdays so others could benefit from his knowledge. He has worked hard all of his life…for nothing, now. The community he gives so much to didn’t give back to him because his price was a little higher. Well, gee whiz – he didn’t have a warehouse big enough to hold eleventy-billion appliances like the box chains. And now an institution in the area, a fixture on Lake Michigan for over 70 years, is no more. I am just sick.
Please, please, please, people – BUY LOCAL. Buy from your neighbors, not some massive corporation that only cares about the bottom line. Support your local economy and actually pay for what you buy. The next small business to fail could belong to someone YOU love.
Now he’s looking for a job – if he retires, social security won’t pay him enough to live because he didn’t pay himself squat – he took care of his employees first and always. My mother is looking for a job. And the big bad bank that is owed a pittance, really, is hunting.
There are people out there with unpaid accounts with my father’s business, bounced checks, etc. Because these accounts are unpaid (and a large dollar amount), it’s not looking good with what the creditors will do. Show some class, people – pay Greenwood’s the money you owe them so they can pay the credit line that allowed them to buy the appliances that are living in YOUR HOME, not theirs.
I wish there were some way for me to come up with the money to shut up this one specific creditor. It’s a miniscule amount in the grand scheme of things, and what they intend to do to the store owners is ridiculous over such a small dollar amount. And I have to say “wow” after googling said creditor and seeing how many people claim they’ve been victims of fraudulent practices by this creditor.
I can’t say I feel hate often, but for the last several weeks it’s been bubbling and brewing in me like a potion in a witch’s cauldron. Lord help us all if it spews. Good for you, Mr. Money Bags Banker – you’re not suffering like every other person in this country. Be an asshole just because you can. But remember what they say about reaping what you sow.
End Rant.
