Sunday, March 20, 2011

One For All And All For One....Sustainablity In Altadena Or Anywhere

When I mentioned "slow money" last week, I imagine many were scratching their heads, wondering what I was talking about.  SlowMoney.org was founded by Woody Tasch, a pioneer in merging investing and philanthropy.  Slow Money's mission is to build local and national networks, and develop new financial products and services, dedicated to:
  • investing in small food enterprises and local food systems;
  • connecting investors to their local economies; and,
  • building the nurture capital industry.
:  At their recent Healthy Money Summit, the topics they went over included:
  • Earning and spending habits that liberate your time and passion for your real life’s work
  • Investment strategies that favor the triple bottom line and sustainable business practices
  • How to practice the state of being that favors generosity and sharing over hunkering down
  • New currencies that favor connection and community over hoarding and lack
  • New economies that favor Main Street over Wall Street, and prioritize community well-being as the new bottom line
  • Developing a new money spirit of “enough for all,” rather than “winner takes all”
A healthy economy, healthy habits and healthy attitudes toward money are possible, as are healthy retail practices.  Here at Webster's Fine Stationers, our own mission statement encompasses these ideas and determines our purpose on a daily basis.

So how can a retail store (or any independent business) affect positive changes in their community? Research shows that if you shift a portion of your spending from national chains and the Internet to independent locally-owned and operated businesses, you can have a dramatic effect on your local economy.  That’s because a significantly greater portion of the money you spend with local businesses stays in your community. This means more money for roads, schools, services and jobs. A small change in the way you shop can have a big impact on your community.

In addition, cooperation between our business owners also makes a huge impact on the community.  Take, for example, the cooperation between Winsome's Pretty Woman on Marcheta Alley and WFS.  We gladly display a few hats from Charmain's store here so other people will see them.  We will sell these hats for her and gladly give her full proceeds.  We display other business' cards and information at our community table, and we all patronize local businesses here on North Lake. We sell Christmas Tree Lane Association's merchandise and they receive 75% of the proceeds. We eat brunch weekly at Amy's Patio Cafe and have lunch during the week at El Patron and Everest.  We take our clothes that need dry cleaning to Merit, use Ms. Dragon and the Manning Press for our printing needs.  We have a local accountant and insurance brokers.  I personally use our Facebook fan page to highlight other local business, because I believe that we should all be doing this for each other.  Imagine the impact on our community if we all did this for each other!

It wasn't all that long ago that business was pretty cut-throat on Main Street, USA.  You did for yourself and no one else.  Back in the day here in Altadena, the old kingpins of commerce locked themselves in as such and we're experiencing the backlash of it today.  The parking regulations that everyone bemoans is a direct result of such dealings.  Times have changed and the old ways of doing business are no longer working. These days, we must adopt more sustainable and cooperative practices if we're going to survive. Webster's Fine Stationers is elated to be on the forefront of this movement.  We invite you to climb aboard and make a difference here in this community, or in your own community....it can only get better from here.

Enjoy your week, my friends, and a very happy Spring to everyone!

2 comments:

Cafe Pasadena said...

"So how can a retail store (or any independent business) affect positive changes in their community?..."

The idea is similar to having the HQ's of large corps here in SoCal before most of them moved them out of state. E.g., ARCO was L.A but now it's UK, B/A was SF then went east to NCarolina.

Unknown said...

That's true, Mike. Making California friendlier toward businesses large or small would be a giant step in the right direction.

Thanks for dropping by!