01 Feb Don’t give up hope. Fight.

I just came home from meeting with a client who is moving out of Glens Falls to re-open “where the customers are shopping.” It’s not a small business folding in (just moving) so that’s definitely good, but it is a small business throwing their hand in at trying to get people to come to a beautiful, historic, quaint downtown (where, very arguably, parking can be tricky if you don’t know where you’re going) in favor of going toward the outlets and big box stores. The Queensbury/Lake George area is lucky to be gaining a fantastic children’s bookstore! But it is a loss for Glens Falls.

This isn’t the first downtown Glens Falls business to do this lately. Last month, Bay Street Bead Works moved to Mont Royal Plaza in Queensbury.

Then there are the downtown stores that have just closed up shop. In the past few months, Kismet, another downtown store, just stopped opening their doors. Red Fox Books closed and it felt like a downright tragedy. Twigs, on Ridge Street, also recently closed (though the article says it was to retire, not because of how business was going).

I realize I’m piecing things together that might not be related at all, but it feels like the sky is falling and it gives me the urge to get up on my soapbox about small business.

This morning my husband was telling me about the sales tactics he is pressured to use at the national company he works for and how uncomfortable he sometimes is saying these things. When I pushed him to ask for a job with a local company, he shrugged and said he didn’t think that in this field, small businesses would be around much longer considering what they’re up against. People want to do things online. They want convenient and cheap rather than personal and high-quality. Big business can offer better deals because they can buy in bigger bulk and take bigger risks. That’s just how it is.

Day to day, I talk to a lot of local small business owners. Many of them have become friends or Advokate customers. I love helping the folks who are starting something new. I love being around activists and optimists. It’s contagious. Some people have changed, though. They started out optimistic, hopeful, community-minded and they are now defeated, radiating anger and negativity at a community who couldn’t keep them afloat – that, like hope, is also contagious. Or in many cases, small business owners are just breathlessly dodging like ants out from under the big boot that’s coming crashing down, too busy keeping the wheels a-spinning to pause and feel hopeless or hopeful. The boot called big box, big business, chain. The boot all our feet are in, because we just don’t get paid enough to go with the local option every single time. We do what we can. We try.

I understand that there’s a harsh reality to business, a survival of the fittest thing. You have to have a competitive edge to stay afloat. You have to give people a reason to give you their money instead of giving it to the other guy. Just being friendly or local doesn’t always cut it. You have to morph with the times, and stand above the rest. Not everyone survives. Despite how it might seem sometimes like I live in a rainbow-edged glitter cloud, I know that. It’s reality.

Maybe I just haven’t been around long enough to realize that things change and it’s okay. But I have this intense sadness that’s been brewing and I want to talk it out here. I thought Glens Falls was magical. A special place where dreams come true! Where small business thrives and there’s a solidarity and sense of community, a long history of regular people working hard and getting things done. I still believe in it.

But like in the Neverending Story, the Nothing is coming. It’s wiping out small cities like ours and leaving a stinky poop trail of concrete, junk-filled Wal-Marts in its wake. And like in the Neverending Story, If we don’t rebuild it with our creativity and imagination, there won’t be anything left. We need to shake off our iPhone stupor, our Facebook haze, our midwinter doldrums. Self included. I’ll admit that I just bought a book from Amazon.com because I could do it from my phone in bed. Bad Kate. That doesn’t help. But we’re human. We slip. Nobody is perfect. It doesn’t mean we quit trying.

So let’s fight the good fight. Let’s not give up hope. We don’t want the future of Idiocracy and Wall-E for our children and grandchildren, do we? We are headed straight there unless we turn it around! It’s not something we’re helpless against. We are in charge of our own spending. We are the people wearing this big business boot. We are the cogs in the machine. We’re in the Matrix pods. All we need to do is open our eyes and get out of bed. Get off the computer and take a walk. It’s perhaps not comfortable, not cheap, not as convenient. But it’s the right thing to do, and exhilarating. Once you get there, you’ll remember why you’re doing this. You’ll feel good about it. And unless we want to end up raising our kids in a world where free will doesn’t exist, where business matters more than people do, it’s what we have to do. Until we have politicians that make laws in our favor, we have to vote with our spending dollars instead.

I hope our government both locally and nationally can shake the dollar signs out of their eyes and realize this, too. Glens Falls government does want to support small business. They sometimes might be so involved with big picture stuff that they can’t make the time to be responsive to the people running some of the businesses, maybe. But they’ve put some advertising dollars toward promoting downtown for sure, and they are definitely working on big ways to help our local economy. It’s impossible to make everyone happy. You do what you can for what you see as the greater good when you’re in that kind of a position, and I believe that they are.

Locally, I think we need to get the small business owners together in a room and stress the need to pull in the same direction. Over at the Shirt Factory we are up against many of the same issues – a business owner doesn’t want to be told what to do, and they shouldn’t be told what to do, of course! Everyone’s got a different life and different customers and a different business plan. But unless we’re all in the same boat, we’re not going to make it. We’re up against something big and we need to band together here. Be a team. Pull in the same direction.

Don’t forget the story of Swimmy, by Leo Leonni. Let’s swim all together like the biggest fish in the sea and chase the big fish away. I’ll be the eye. Advokate is for small business. Advokate is the tool small businesses can choose to use to elevate themselves. It’s your partner as you open up the business of your dreams. It’s your cheerleader and the other half of your brain when you’re feeling down about sales and need to try a new avenue. Advokate is the sling and you’re the rock. Let’s eff Goliath up.

Some little suggestions for helping out local and small biz in your everyday life:

• If you’re in a rush or on the road and need instant food, opt for a locally-owned pizza or sandwich shop instead of a chain restaurant. It’s almost as quick as drive-thru, still yummy and cheap (pizza is, anyway), and they’re everywhere. When it comes to going out to dinner, there’s really never a good reason to go to a chain restaurant. You crave that food because of all the crazy addictive additives in it. It’s engineered to make you want it. Detox.

• Talk to your family and friends about gift-giving at Christmas and other times of the year. Maybe it’s time you all scale back and buy just one quality item you know they’ll love and treasure for a long time, bought from a local store, instead of a shower of smaller, cheaper gifts from wherever. They’ll know you spent the same amount of money and the gift will be more thoughtful. And nobody wants more STUFF any more, anyway. We have enough of it.

• Go to a local coffee shop for your morning brew. If you can’t afford it from a local business, then buy some good fair trade stuff and make it at home or at the office, saving yourself the money you would have spent at a chain. At least you’re not throwing your money at big business that way.

• Handmade = awesome. Most of the time, if you opt for a quality item, it’s made with love and care, it’s got more personality, and it’s going to hold up a lot longer. Back when people were still making their own clothes, store-bought was a big exciting thing. Times have changed. It’s worth more if it’s handmade.

• Buy used if you can’t buy local or handmade. Craigslist, online garage sales (like this one!), consignment shops (great shops in Glens Falls are Finders Keepers and Hocus Pocus by Union Square), clothing swaps, pawn shops, Salvation Army, thrift stores, free stuff on the side of the road, garage sales in the summer… Big box stores have manufactured enough stuff to get us through. They could all stop manufacturing today and we’d have enough stuff to get us by. If you’re bored with your stuff, it doesn’t mean you need brand-new stuff. Just stuff that’s new to you! And don’t throw out your stuff – put it up for sale or out on the side of the road with a free sign on it! If you need more convincing, see The Story of Stuff. Cute and powerful short viral video.

• Fix it if it’s broken. Shoes can be repaired. Paint rollers can be washed. Seat cushions can be replaced. Vacuum and dryer belts can be changed out. Buttons can be sewn back on. Electrical cords can be fixed. Just because it’s cheap and easy to buy something new doesn’t mean you have to. You must know a fix-it guy or a seamstress. If you don’t, ask me! I do!

• There are a million tools out there to help folks get started with a small business. SCORE, the SBDC, the SBA, your local government (Glens Falls has small business loans and other help available), Economic Development Corporations, community colleges, your chamber of commerce, and hey – Advokate. If we all quit our corporate jobs and start a small business, we aren’t all going to fail. Take the time to plan it out and do your market research (yes, I can help with that too) and with a small amount of capital, a small business loan, some planning, savvy (of course it needs to be good idea) and hard work you can make it happen. I’ll tell you from this end, it ain’t easy and it takes a little money up front, but it feels like you’re doing something worthwhile with your life instead of just trading your time for money. Start a business. You can do it. Advokate can help.

All said, downtown Glens Falls still has some great retail shopping. UnCorked Glens Falls for wine, Sterling & Co. for fine housewares and gifts, jewelry stores Scoville Jewelers and Achenbach’s, plus Nine, Fountain Square Outfitters, MinkyMink, Milk and Honey, LARAC‘s gift shop, the Chapman Historical Museum‘s gift shop, Laura’s Vintage, the Hyde Collection‘s gift shop, Downtown Charm, Avis Cards, Josiah’s Journee, 42 degrees, Alternative Silvermine, Samantha’s Cafe and Catering‘s gift shop, Finders Keepers and Hocus Pocus.

And let’s not forget the Shirt Factory with more than 70 artists, studios, shops, services and galleries – which includes retail shops Adirondack Chandler, All in Glass, Beads by Cynthia, Adirondack Quilts, Elements of Art, SensibiliTeas, FLUX Silver Gallery, Lemon Tree Yoga and Healing Arts Studio‘s boutique, Buttondown Gallery, Moss and Friends, the new Shirt Factory Gallery, BJSArtworks, Jeffrey Anderson Gallery, Clay Concepts, Pottery by Debbie D, The Potting Shed, Girard Stoneware, Comfort Time Quilts and Gifts, Minervathena and more. There’s a Valentine’s Day Shopping Event this Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. and the Shirt Factory Gallery has its grand opening this Friday, February 10, from 5 to 8 p.m.

I’m sure I can’t have named everyone but you get the picture. There’s a lot going on, and anyone who whines about how there’s nothing to do and no shopping downtown is just uninformed. Now you know! Spread the word.