It's A Question Of Sustainability

Sustain: verb  1.  to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure
                       2.  to bear (a burden, charge, etc.)
                       3.  to undergo, experience or suffer (injury, loss, etc.), endure without giving way or
                            yielding
From the Middle English suste, derived from the Anglo-French sustenir, Old French < Latin sustinere -
to uphold
Synonyms: carry, support, bear, maintain
Legal Definition:  1.  to support as true; legal or just    2. to allow or uphold as valid

Sustainability is a term that has become fashionable to use recently.  So many different entities use it blindly, though, telling us their _____(insert name)_____ is sustainable this or sustainable that and I'm a bit tired of hearing it.  I don't think a lot of people truly understand the term, however, so I'm starting this post with the dictionary definition of it.  We can now see that the true meaning of the word sustain is to "bear" or "endure".

With that definition in mind, I'm happy to report to you that the shopping survey being conducted by the Altadena Chamber of Commerce has been closed and the results have been compiled.  While I'm not at liberty to disclose any particular information, I can say I'm glad we did this survey. We received just under 400 responses and it gives me, a business owner here in Altadena, a chance to see and hear what our residents want.  It gives me a chance to see how much our residents actually know about what's available where they live, and most of all, it gives us a chance to improve.  By us, I mean our store, of course, but I also mean the Chamber of Commerce.  As a Director on the board of the Chamber, it's vitally important that we know where we're headed as a town.  This survey gives us leverage when we meet with the County, but we'll talk about that later, after the survey results have been made public.

I do want to take a moment, though, and discuss the word sustainability in conjunction with Webster's Fine Stationers.  Sustainability is important to us, obviously because we would like our 85-year old family business to still be around when we reach 100 years of age.  To reach that venerable age, though, we have to be very careful.  Because we took over part of this family business at the beginning of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, we experienced an immediate loss of business.   However, it wasn't just the recession that affected us,  it was the lack of communication from Webster's Pharmacy Corporation about why they decided to break up the stores.  But all that is water under the bridge now, and to make a go of this business, we made a pledge to move forward, with or without Webster's.  It turns out it's without Webster's, as my father-in-law sold the pharmacy to Michael and Meredith Miller at the beginning of the year.

To allow our store to be more sustainable, we've had to give up a few things.  The economic situation as it relates to other businesses also had a hand in shaping how our store will be continuing.  Many customers don't realize that the poor economy has forced quite a few wholesalers to go out of business, which reduces what's available for us to order.  We've had to reevaluate what we're carrying in the store - those things that moved slowly aren't on our shelves anymore.  Changing what our store offers has some confused, as well, but we saw a gap to fill in our community, and we're filling it.  Especially now, as the Hallmark store next door to us has gone out of business, we have an opportunity to work with the new owners of Webster's Community Pharmacy to fill that void.

However, we all want our businesses to be sustainable.  That means not putting all our bets on one horse, such as office products, greeting cards or tchotchkes.  We can't have an almost 5,000 sq. foot store full of Hallmark cards and gifts, because it's proven that the community can't support it.  We won't rely on office products to make our store profitable, because we're not attracting the thousands of people necessary to make it so.  What I believe we can rely on is a carefully curated selection of cards, gifts, office essentials, books, children's toys & games, and of course stationery to make our store sustainable and profitable now and in years to come.  I believe that our local businesses can work together with our Chamber of Commerce and Town Council to help our community become more vibrant and that will also make our businesses more sustainable. 

Next week I'll be talking about more specific numbers from this survey and I hope you'll join me.  It's  fascinating reading and I, for one, am grateful for the opportunity to help shape Altadena into the best it can be!  If you're reading this and you don't live in Altadena, keep in mind that we could be Anywhere, USA.  I don't think we're that unique across the nation, so just insert the name of your town for my town.  I believe we all have many common values, problems and hopefully, solutions!

Until then, my friends.....have an enjoyable week ahead!

Lori & Scott