http://media.lakewoodobserver.com/issue_pdfs/Observer_Vol_07_Issue_23.pdf
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Fabulous issue if I do say so myself. LO's crew and contributors ROCK!
As we move into the holiday season (39 days left till Christmas) I would like to ask and remind you to remind your friends that the term SHOP LOCAL is more than a slogan or a buzzword. Many of the treasures that have slipped through our fingers in recent years have been because we all say, "Shop local. Support Lakewood-owned businesses," but we have not actually practiced what we preach.
With little sign that the economy is growing, or really even recovering, we need to check in with local businesses and locally-owned businesses as we would a neighbor or elderly person on the street. Many Lakewood businesses have been hanging on by a thread, not because they have done anything wrong, but because they are in a life and death struggle with big box stores, chains, and the Internet. While we can look at each other and say, "Well, the free market and the competition will set the market and determine who survives and who doesn't," it is not so cut and dried. We need to think of the larger picture-- or maybe the smaller, more local, one. Do we need more empty storefronts on Madison and Detroit, or less?
I bring this up because I am often a hypocrite in this way. An example: When we bought flags for our porch we stopped in at Lion and Blue, and got what we needed. Months later we were on Coventry and I stopped by to see an old friend, Larry Collins, at City Buddha, Coventry's version of Lion and Blue. They had some flags that LnB didn't, so we bought them and put them up. Many people this summer asked where we got them, and we said, "Lion and Blue and City Buddha." I had the good fortune to run into Tina from LnB at The Root Café and she mentioned she loved the porch, and asked where I got the flags. I said, "Your store and City Buddha." She smiled and said, "Oh, you know I can order any of those things, and would have loved a chance to do so." Well it was like a knife to the heart and a kick to the head. As I looked backed, I felt so foolish. I talk buy local and support Lakewood-owned, but I had given into convenience instead of what was best for the city, the local store owners, and myself. As I thought back I wondered how many people I had mentioned both to? How many went to Coventry instead of Detroit Ave.? How many businesses around Lion and Blue were hurt by customers going to Coventry instead of Detroit? Would they have stopped for a cup of coffee at The Root? A CD at Record Exchange, a bottle of wine at Rozi's? Who knows, but I decided then and there that I would try harder not to be a hypocrite about buying local-- supporting Lakewood-owned businesses-- and you know it's funny, once I made that decision, I found out that there are a bunch of things you can get in Lakewood you never thought you could.
This holiday season let's give the gift of support to our local businesses. Even if you end up buying nothing, the shop owners will love the traffic and the chance to show you what they have and what they can do. Let's try to make this a real hometown Christmas. Shop local, attend Light Up Lakewood, and the new Christmas Parade. Go out and really take in the very rare experience that is Lakewood. Walk Lakewood, Bike Lakewood, Shop Lakewood, Occupy Lakewood.
Also please support local food drives, Lakewood Community Services, animal rescue, and all of those groups that support those in need. Send a check, volunteer, drop off some cans of food. Give the gift of love.
It will come back ten-fold.
I'm pretty excited. Winter is my favorite time of year in Lakewood. Well, just behind Spring, Summer and Fall.
PEACE/LOVE and have a great end of the year!
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