The future of small business in America…
For far too many Americans the short walk from the front door of a small business to the back counter is an experience only possible via memory. In nearly every way imaginable, the small business is the truly endangered species.
I weary of padding through a warehouse-style retailer only to face a clerk with little knowledge of the stock or a rudimentary acquaintance with how or when to use a particular item. Oh, the prices are low, but so is the comfort level for customers.
With the added pressure of increasing taxes and mandates to fund workers’ health insurance, look for an even further drop in the number of homegrown, home-owned businesses. The incremental growth that exploded into the vibrant American economy of days gone by is in peril. What’s really sad is the root cause — it’s us, a bevy of fickle consumers.
You see, in a myriad of ways, we are to blame. The demand for businesses seven day a week, 24-hours business hours puts tremendous pressure on our small businesses — perhaps to the point of extinction.
If you are over the age of 60, you remember the days when you needed to fill up the family car or truck on Saturday afternoon, because most businesses were closed on Sunday. Pharmacies were small and local, so you could always call the pharmacist on an emergency basis if you were really in a pinch. Chicken soup and Vicks Vapo-Rub kept a lot of us alive. And who could forget Castor Oil? Scanning the over-the-counter remedy racks at a drug store these days is enough to confuse anyone! … enough for nostalgia, let’s move back to the small versus large discussion.
The fewer businesses in a given area the easier it is for government to step in and regulate them. It’s getting to the place where the entire spectrum of retail is narrowing. We find ourselves in a funnel, and the wide variety of small stores morphs into a blur of overhead lighting, sprawling parking lots and bi-lingual signs. My great-grandparents made it item number one to speak English. When did we forget that language is the clue that binds a country’s people?
I digress. The disappearance of storefront should worry us all. A small shoe store anchored a downtown of a Mid-western town for over 100 years. It is gone. Why? The distributor would no longer accept small lot orders. Instead of buying 20-25 pair of a new line, the storeowner was faced with a minimum of order in the 200 range — far more than his customer base could
support. The store closed within two years.
Oh, for the days of the hand-written paper receipt… the handshake equaling a contract… honor in business. I judge businesses one by one, and I urge you to do the same.
Those of us who live in areas not over-run by “big box” stores are luckier than we realize. We know our merchants, the counterman at the local café, the local doctor, dentist and the pharmacist. Price isn’t everything. Travel works into the picture. We may have a smaller choice of items, but the trade-off is far more important. In fact, it is priceless.
Small business helped build this country. I hate to think that our grandchildren will never know the pleasure of dealing with a local retailer on a one-to-one basis. It may happen. If it does, I fear that it bodes ill for the American dream of starting a small business.
Home grown? Home owned? Will we recognize these terms in a few years? I fear we will not. You can forestall that time. How? Patronize your local stores. Do so with zest. Shop for quality. Shop for service as well as sales. To put it more bluntly, shop with a conscience. Pay a smidge more to keep that local guy or gal in business. The salvation of the small business could be in your pocket or purse. Think about it.