Today I took the day off knitting. Does that mean I'm not a knitter with a capital "K"? I don't think so: even the obsessed need to rest their wrists every once in a while!!
I spent a couple hours working on some quickie ink & watercolor washes of my second favorite locally owned Erie business: The Brickhouse coffee shop. It got me thinking about the difference between chains and locally owned shops and why we owe it to our community to support those among us who have the vision, drive, and courage to strike out into the entrepreneurial maelstrom with little more than a dream, what assets they could gather, and an overflowing of passion. It's the kind of passion that you just don't find in chains. It's the American Dream with a capital "D"!!
Locally owned shops bring charm, uniqueness, as well as superb product quality and variety to Erie and their owners greet shoppers with a smile and a sincere offer of friendship. What abounds in Sue & Shirani's yarn store, and Jeff and Rebecca's coffee shop, is what will never be found in A.C. Moore and Starbucks: that sense of place that I'm always going on about here. The sense of personal place and welcome we're always looking for in life - that comfort which grounds us in this crazy world in which we live.
So, next time you find yourself with a free moment or two, go relax in that cocoa colored front room at the Brickhouse with a steaming latte and one of Rebecca's mouth-watering scones. Or get it to go, and sit with the Purl girls and knit for a while. Both will sooth your soul.
Yours in knitting,
Claire
2 comments:
You are so talented!! :)
I agree, we need to support local shops that have a unique identity. A drive down Peach Street is a drive down any other major by way in any other big city. The same restuarants, stores. All packaged up the same, selling the same merchandise, serving the same food. You walk into one Kohl's, Target, ACMoore, Michaels, you pretty well know the layout of everyother store of the same chain. And the same goes for chain resturants. They are all sold and packaged in a "BIG BOX".
I love supporting small business. The customer service can't be beat. After all, the person who runs the business is a member of the community, and has invested their livelyhood into my community. What has a BIG BOX invested? Or risked for that matter? Its not nearly as personal, that is for sure!
Betsy
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