Saturday, January 14, 2012

Let's Bring Back the Mom and Pop Shops!

Have you driven down a small town main street lately?  Was it pretty bare?  Many around our area are.  What happened to all the little shops?  You know the ones I mean - the mom and pop shops where the owners knew your name, could practically guess what you'd come in to buy, knew exactly where it was, and could tell you almost anything you wanted to know about it.

You may have one of these shops in your area.  We are blessed to still have quite a few.  When compared to a modern big box store - well, there actually is no comparison!  

How can you compare a small comfortable shop with a large, concrete, million foot structure; a greeter who says hello to hundreds of people, to someone who knows your name; aisle after endless aisle of imported products from China, to carefully selected products - including locally made items; a tired check out clerk who only accepts cash or credit cards, with a friendly shopkeeper who accepts cash, credit cards, or who might even be willing to barter or trade goods or services?

There is simply no comparison.  When I leave my favorite local mom and pop shops, I usually have a smile on my face, have enjoyed a nice visit with the shopkeeper, and am pleased with the items that I bought.  When I leave a big box store, I'm usually stressed, and somehow feel a little cheated. 

One of the biggest complaints I hear is that, "I'd shop locally at mom and pop shops, but I can't afford it".  I think almost everyone has been in a tight spot before with finances.  Sometimes we don't have as much to spend as others and sometimes there's no extra at all.  

What I personally find is that most of the time, the mom and pop shops have the same or very comparable prices to the big box stores.  Many times, the big box stores don't even carry the products that I want to buy.  If the price does happen to be a little  more, I'd rather pay an extra five or ten dollars to support a local shopkeeper than a giant corporation.  

How many folks do you know that don't think twice about spending five dollars on junk food at the gas station or at a fast food drive through, but  would turn up their nose at paying a little more for a local item?  We need to make a conscious decision to support the mom and pop shops that are such an important and special part of our communities.  In this case, smaller is better.  Speaking of smaller...

Our farm is one of those little, local, small places.  We aren't a mom and pop shop, but we are a mom, and pop, and grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, and cousins farm.  We're not fancy or flashy.  Our tractor is from the 1940s and our equipment is either made by Joey from old scrap metal, or bought second hand.  

Just like the mom and pop shop storekeepers, we are so blessed to have a strong personal connection with our customers.   

Even as we make out our lists of seeds to buy, we are picturing some of their faces.  "How many beets do you think we need to plant this year?" "Better put in extra.  Mrs. Smith loves to make her sweet pickled beets."  "What about kale?"  "Hmm...well, I remember that Mr. McCoy and Mrs. James juice kale like crazy, and Mrs. Green and her family love baking kale chips, so we'd better make sure we have quite a bit of kale too." 

Some of our customers even have fond nicknames.  We have "the radish guy" and "the pepper man" that we see frequently.  The thing is....most of our customers are not just customers.  Sure, they started out that way, but they quickly became friends. 

It's almost impossible to not become friends with someone when you see them every week and provide part of their weekly food supply.  99.9% of our customers are true blue, salt of the Earth people.  They are the kind of folks what will stop to help if you have car trouble, the ones that show up at your door with a covered dish if you're sick, and are, basically, just awesome folks!  There's always that .1% that are a little cantankerous, but we love them anyway! 

We whole-heartedly enjoy having a strong connection with the folks who love our produce and farm.

At this point, are you thinking, "I would love to buy my produce from a farmer that knew my name, or do my shopping at a place where the shopkeeper was an old friend."?  Well, what's stopping you?  Go find one!

You can help make an incredible change in your town just by changing your shopping habits.  Start shopping at local farms and small businesses.  Let's bring back the mom and pop shops!

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