[ back ]
Shop-local movement has its day
(by Barbara Christian - February 08, 2012)
WINDOW ON MAIN STREET, BY BARBARA CHRISTIAN
Shop-local movement has its day
Back on Jan. 21, people from across the Chagrin Valley demonstrated what the power of community is all about. If you were not among those demonstrating said power, you missed out on a whole lot of "warm and fuzzy."
It was D-Day for Chagrin Falls' iconic, beloved, home-owned hardware store. That was the day customer Jim Black decided everyone he knows should "mob" the store with a weather front of $20 bills. That is, they should spend at least 20 bucks there, not as charity, but to emphasize what it means to support locally owned and operated businesses, which, in turn, support the local economy versus the not-so-much big-box variety.
Jim sent his email to 40 friends. In it, he laid out his plan to "occupy" the hardware store and asked those 40 people to email their friends. It went viral. The contagion spread across the country and drew national TV coverage. The networks couldn't get enough of the feel-good story about the family-owned hardware in a small Ohio town with a funny name -- Chagrin Falls.
Suddenly, "our" hardware store and our town were in the spotlight. Hardware store occupiers-shoppers looked like heroes standing in line with their $20 (often more) purchases of light bulbs, scouring pads, twine, firewood and whatever else we needed and found at the store that day.
It's human nature that we take the constants in our lives for granted. It's always been there, and it will always be there. Then someone says something about tough times and the bad economy, and we wonder if what always has been will always be.
The point is we townsfolk need to support those businesses that support the place where we live. Chagrin Hardware has done that and more. Think of the countless Blossom Time and Art by the Falls festivals in the park next door and how the hardware folks help ensure success of these events to the peril of their own bottom line.
You know it's true. For too long, we locals have avoided shopping with local merchants. There is the belief that what they sell is for "the tourists" with their disposable income and too pricey for us everyday "townies."
So do like the tourists do and take a day and go from store to store and see for yourself. You will find our stores stock items more affordable than you thought. You might find something you need or simply can't live without. Buy it. Then make shopping locally a regular practice.
By all measures, Jim Black's simple idea was a monster success and produced not just the best sales day ever for the hardware but the most customers in one day, 500 by one count.
On Jan. 21, for one day, Chagrin Falls became a living, breathing Bedford Falls right out of "It's a Wonderful Life." You almost expected to see Jimmy Stewart's George Bailey working the cash register. But "Occupy the Hardware" was the real McCoy and the stuff of which local legend is born.
Witness all that TV coverage. Our favorite national moment came from ABC-TV commentator and Orange High School graduate George Stephanopoulos, who watched the "Occupy the Hardware" story unfold. When it was over, a visibly wistful George turned to his co-hosts, smiled and said, "That's my old hometown ... It's a great little town." Indeed.
[ back ]
