We Need to Support the Little Guys
As I was driving to the office this morning I decided a large non-fat latte (with sugar free hazelnut) was in order. Now... having moved from the Seattle area AND having been in the specialty food business when the big "S" really started taking off I knew there were any number of locations I could get my poison.
But I decided that instead of going to the most obvious choice for my morning coffee habit, I would support the "little guy", Toshi's Roast. It wasn't meant to be this morning though, because as I started to pull up I saw the "closed" sign on the door. My hope is that Randy and his family just took a nice 4th of July weekend trip. But who knows? A couple of the businesses around him have disappeared and the last time I spoke to him he told me it had surprised him how much his business had dropped off after the "snowbirds" left town.
Here in the Surprise, AZ area we have a large number of active retirement communities. Because the populations in these communities have a tendancy to dwindle in the summer months many of our mom & pop retailers, in close proximity, suffer. In fact some of them end up having to close their doors permanently.
I find this disheartening as these are the very businesses that make a community unique. If all we have are the national chains that can weather the slower summer months here in Surprise, than we might as well be Anytown, USA.
So, for those of you that live here year round, please take time to visit these locally owned businesses. They need our support to not only survive but to thrive. And I want to see our community attract more of these home town businesses. Unique is what will make our community desirable and attractive to people looking for a place to call home.