Editorial: Concord's Villages and the Economic Downturn --
The Outcome Depends on Us
We are limitlessly blessed by having three thriving "downtown" villages here in Concord -- and numerous other locations of vital commerce sprinkled within our borders. So much of our treasured small town character rests on the health of our unique, independently-owned businesses. How will our local economy fare in this economic downturn? All the bad news about Wall Street has had folks on Main Steet (not to mention Commonwealth Ave, Thoreau, Walden, Winthrop, Beherrall, and Bradford Streets, and Nine Acre Corner, to name but a few more... ) more than a little concerned. How will our local economy fare in this economic downturn?
Some businesses are certainly struggling, and we may see the closing of some long-time establishments -- some that have been in business for decades, if not for generations. This holiday season will be particularly important in that some longterm business mainstays of our community may not be able to keep their doors open past the new year.
You may have noticed the "Shop Concord First -- Experience Concord Independents" campaign going on right now all around town. It's sponsored by the Concord Independent Business Alliance ("The Concord Indies"), working to enhance our local economy of independently-owned and -operated businesses of all types. It is critically important that we support these Indies during the holiday shopping period, even if it is only by shifting 10% of normal mall and big-box store shopping to Concord enterprises. In so doing, our purchases will not only be supporting individual businesses, but the village centers that we know and love. The richness these long-time businesses lend to us as a community is many-fold. (See a discussion of 10 ways they uniquely contribute to the health of Concord here. See the Concord Independent Business Alliance's "Shop Concord First -- Experience Concord Independents!" campaign here.)
While many independent Concord businesses (Indies) are experiencing lower volume of customers than usual, some Indies are doing as well as -- if not better than -- they were before the sharp downturn in worldwide economic markets. And this isn't just a local trend: in a private communication, National Public Radio reporter Tovia Smith noted that she is hearing this in other places, too -- which has her puzzled. Seems counter-intuitive, doesn't it?
Well, maybe not -- to us it makes a lot of sense. As much as this situation is a source of real worry for independent businesses, it is also a real opportunity. And -- coincidentally -- much of why this is so fits into this issue's larger theme of "Concord and Sustainability". If we merge the economic downturn with the previous all-time highs in the price of fuel, the strong movement toward greener habits, growing awareness and concern about peak oil, and the understandable emotional desire to stay close to home in time of trouble, we're going to see people naturally turning to resources within their community.
Historically, we have seen this turning-homeward behavior in tough economic times before -- and sometimes it's taken a scary, xenophobic flavor. We can only hope that this time around we will turn to embrace and nourish our communities without fearfully shutting out others as we did prior to both World Wars.
Four Reasons We May be Shopping More at Home
EMBRACING LOCAL = GREENER. People truly are getting the idea that local is greener. It's possible that the currently falling gasoline prices will not bring our consumption behaviors back to their previous high levels; we maybe are really understanding we must cut back on our wasteful ways. If "local" is also considered valuable and irreplacable in other ways (for example: attentive service, unique products, conveniently close by), making a greener choice allows our shopping dollars to be even more powerful.
REDUCE TRIPS TO THE MALL. Driving an hour's round-trip to a mall or big box store to save a few dollars doesn't make sense with what many of us are finally understanding about our nearing peak oil, and it's made many of us really rethink how we apply our purchasing power. Doing business close to home -- even within walking distance -- starts to make more sense, even now that gas prices are currently lower.
LOSS OF TRUST IN BIG BUSINESS. This is a time of growing distrust toward the world of big business. Do note that no economic pundit has placed the blame for our world-wide fiscal crisis on the shoulders of small, independent businesses! If we know and live with the people we do business with, we can better gauge their integrity through personal exchange. We can't do that with failed banks or investment firms... they are just faceless entities.
CONNECTING TO OUR COMMUNITY. Nurturing our connection to the community is a natural outcome of feeling like the ground under our feet ha turned upside-down. Hard times are an opportunity to bring us back to what really matters -- what really feeds us and helps us feel whole. A sense of community belonging isn't something we have had a surplus of in the past couple of decades. Community is a very basic need for humans, one we turn to renew our sense of security.
We need to protect our villages not just through shopping and making purchases, but also
by asking our Town government to put in place bylaws that protect the type of independent business that give our centers their unique small town character, and also by ensuring or creating collaborative/supportive landlord/entrepreneur relationships.
May Concord's villages -- with their historic character, human scale, walkablity, and unique businesses -- continue to thrive and flourish. And may Concord's people continue to be connected through, served by, and enriched by their significant charms!
Art Credits: Page designed by Windfall.
