Surveying The Landscape In Altadena

As I've hinted about for the past couple of weeks, the results from the Chamber of Commerce's Shopping Survey have been compiled and released to the public.  We released a condensed version of the data at the Chamber's last mixer on Thursday, 5/26 at the Community Center.  The mixer was open to the public at no charge, but even so, there were only about 20 attendees.  You could say that the Chamber didn't announce the date of the mixer loudly enough, but it was on both Altadenablog and AltadenaPatch.com, and I know I gave ample notice of it on the store's Facebook page.

Why so few attendees?  We'll look at that in just a minute - first I'd like to talk about why we decided to put this, admittedly rudimentary, survey together in the first place.  We knew going in that most people up in our neck of the woods want more choices in 1) grocery shopping, 2) dining out and 3) retail shopping.  What we needed was verification of this, so we can continue our dialog with Los Angeles County in an informed manner.  They need to not just hear us, but hear you as well.  We want to give them not just anecdotal evidence, but hard numbers that encompass a good portion of the town,,,,and this survey of just under 400 people gave us that.

Verification of what we thought going in appeared in the survey.  The number one requested shopping venue was for a healthier choice in groceries, a la Trader Joe's or the Arroyo Food Co-op.  And yes, the Arroyo Food Co-op was mentioned over and over again in the written section, where we asked the survey takers to elaborate on what type of business they'd like to see in Altadena.  Same went for restaurants - the requests for healthy/organic/vegetarian dining options were many.  As for retail, I was surprised that only 15 respondents out of 370 answered the question "Why Do You Not Shop Locally", with 7 people giving the answer of "lack of choices".  However, continuing on with the survey, I was completely blown away that when asked to elaborate where the respondents did shop in town,...there were 360 answers! 

Sooo....our residents do shop in town!  I did a little counting of my own, and out of those 360 responses, 201 mentioned they shop Webster's.  And out of those 201, a good third of those named Webster's Fine Stationers by name.  That made me feel good!  Altadena Hardware, under new management this year, put in a great showing, too, with just over a hundred mentions.  Our restaurants received mention, too, with Foxes, Amy's Patio Cafe and El Patron being the frontrunners of that category. 

But back to the question, why so little attendance at the mixer?  Are there really that few people on-line in Altadena?  Or are we faced with a situation where people just don't care anymore?  In a retail group I'm a member of, the question of how to get people to care about your shop is asked in different forms repeatedly.  As shop owners, we not only have to be good businesspeople, we also have to have the ability to read the future as well.  We have to forecast the climate for certain products and services, which tend to wax and wane like the moon, and we have to pick up on the tendrils of a trend.  The trend of indifference has long been in place, I think, longer than I've been in retail.  With the advent of the big box corporate stores, the glut of advertisement you receive in your face every single day wears me out....and I'm a retailer!  No wonder there's such apathy - too many choices and we get locked into our same old, same old routine of habit.  You have to be truly different to stand apart, a trendsetter.

My tip to other retailers and business people is this:  there is a trend out there, one that will leave the big boxes and the internet retailers in possible shambles in the not-too-distant future.  The trend towards localization is huge and growing.  People, as in the people who took our survey, WANT to shop in their neighborhoods.  They don't want to travel 20 minutes or a half an hour to get to some mega mall, they want a place close by where they can come in, get what they need, maybe spend a few moments talking to acquaintances and go home.  Or they want a place nearby they can depend on to delight them, whenever they stop in.  Our challenge is to serve that up to our residents....with a smile.  Can we offer that to you, Altadena?  You bet.....just watch us!

On this Memorial Day, we hope you've had a pleasant long weekend!  Best wishes to you in the coming week,

Lori & Scott

Trust Issues

"I've learned to listen to myself, to listen to truth, to not be afraid of it and to not try and hide it"
                              ----Sarah McLachlan

In our talk about sustainability last week, I mentioned a survey about businesses in Altadena that was conducted by the Altadena Chamber of Commerce .  News of the survey and links to it appeared in AltadenaPatch.com and Altadenablog several months ago. The survey results have been compiled and will be presented to the public at the Chamber's next mixer, at the Community Center, 5:30 pm on Thursday, May 26th.  This is great news, for we finally have some information to use to build our case for some County attention our our neck of the woods, not to mention our own internal need for forward motion.  After the mixer and the release of the survey, you'll get a guided tour of the results, a la Lori.

I spoke about my having picked up some inspirational reading material last week, as well.  Scott and I both listened to Seth Godin's newest book, Poke The Box, on audio tape and we're so inspired.  I love that we can listen to someone who advocates standing up and making a difference - and I love even more that we both agree that's something we can do together!  We are also reading Jeanne Bliss' newest book, "I Love You More Than My Dog".  While I haven't yet finished Jeanne's book, I can say that these books, in combination, are proving to be invaluable to me.  I see clearly that we've been depressed these past several months, letting the pressures of owning this store affect our relationship with not just each other, but the relationship we have with our customers.....you.....in a not-so-positive way.

At our crew meeting tonight, we talked about these things.  We talked about trust - the trust between the public and our store and also the trust between our crew and us.  We want our store to shine on every level, most importantly customer service.  We've decided that we can't have excellent customer service if we don't trust our crew members to instantly respond to customers' needs.  Returns or problems of any kind can be handled by any one of our able crew members at any time and we absolutely trust their judgement. 

Our no-cell-phone policy was brought up as we discussed trusting our customers.  I think that in our zeal to provide a restful, calm shopping experience, we ticked a few people off when we asked them not to use their phone in the store.  We've rethought the message we were sending when we enforced that policy and would like to issue a sincere apology to anyone upset by it.  We believe that our customers can be quiet while on the phone in the store and we'll leave it at that.

Our monthly Fancy Food Truck Fridays event on the 13th went very well - 6 food trucks, including the Border Grill Truck, and a record attendance!  Beautiful weather helped along with the complimentary Tarot card readings by our lovely gypsy fortune tellers.....everyone wanted their fortune told on Friday the 13th!  Yesterday was this month's wine tasting event with the publishers of the blog OddBallGrape.com and we paired several Syrah's with picnic foods (deviled eggs, fried chicken & potato salad) provided by DD's Chick & Cat Shack.  This was a fabulous pairing - those attending were very impressed with the lovely wines and the accompanying food!  The next wine tasting will be on Saturday, June 19th, and our theme will be "Cabs For Dads and Grads".  Make sure to look for our event announcements in your email or on our Facebook Page!  We're also working on a follow up to our Social Media 101 event last October - we'll let you know when we will be scheduling that.

Until next week, my friends.....have a wonderful week ahead!

Lori & Scott

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

Adoption Song - A Post For Mother's Day

I was an adopted child.  In the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was a source of fascination to my friends who had “real” moms. My friends would even quiz me on walks home from school.  “Doesn’t it feel weird?” they’d ask me, expecting a different answer from the simple “no” that I gave them.  “You don’t look much like your mother” was a phrase I heard many times when I was young, or “you and your sister look so different”.   We did look different as night and day, with my mom and dad being dark haired and my being blonde.   My mom’s olive skin tones didn’t relate to my fairness, and my sister’s obviously Irish heritage confused people next to my Scandinavian features. 

I always knew I was adopted, because my mom started telling me as soon as she figured I’d understand.  There wasn’t a big family talk about it, there weren’t any feelings of my being abandoned, or angst about missing the birth mother I’d never known, it was just a fact of life, not a big deal to me.  Of course, both my parents acted together in this, but I’d like to credit my mom with making sure that I knew, down deep where it counts, that I was wanted.  That she and my father waited 10 long years on a list until I, and then my sister, came along, and that they, in fact, prepared for us.   

She kept this poem, cut out of a newspaper article, on the old cork message board next to the wall phone in our kitchen, a thumb-tack stuck through the top:

“Not flesh of my flesh
Nor bone of my bone,
But still miraculously
My own.
Never forget
For a single minute:
You didn't grow under my heart
But in it.”

On this Mother’s Day, I give this to other moms, perhaps not birth mothers, but mothers just the same.  May you give your child what my mother gave me – unequivocal love and a strong sense of belonging that molded me into the person I am today.  On this Mother’s Day, I’ll say a prayer of thanks for my mom, Helen Elliott, who loved another woman’s child as her own.     


Back next week with another post....enjoy your week, my friends!


Lori

Opportunity Knocking

 


As many of you know, I'm a big fan of Seth Godin.  His marketing advice is spot-on, but I enjoy him for so much more, especially his pithy takes on what's happening in the world today and how it relates to having an impact.  He's written two such blog posts recently, here and here, that exemplify this, and I highly recommend your reading them before we continue.

In the body of the second blog post, Seth says "the opportunity (to make a difference), though, is the biggest of our generation (or the last one, for that matter).  The opportunity is there for anyone (with our without a job) smart enough to take it - to develop a best in class skill, to tell a story, to spread the word, to be in demand, to satisfy 'real needs', to run from the mediocre middle and to change everything".  He also says "the old economy offered a guarantee - time plus education plus obedience equals stability.  The new one, not so much.  The new one offers a chance for you to take a chance and make an impact".

This, my friends, is essentially what we're doing at WFS.  Running from the mediocre, not relying on the way things were done "before", we are mapping out a new territory in retail land - one that espouses cooperation over competition.  One that demands we take a stand for the things we believe in, such as buying locally to reduce our carbon footprint.  One that demands we buy U.S. made products to invest in our own economy and one that demands we buy ethically produced products if they're made overseas.  Most of all it demands the utmost integrity; our name denotes longevity but it will now be synonymous with fairness and a willingness to go the extra mile to ensure you a comfortable shopping experience.  Trust is not given easily, that we know.  Time will prove our mettle, and we ask that you give us a chance.....a chance to show you exactly how we can make an impact on our corner of the world, and maybe change everything.

Thanks for listening and we hope you have a lovely week ahead!  Remember, Mother's Day will be quickly upon us and WFS can help you with that.  We have American-made cards that are perfect for giving moms of all sorts and we have some wonderful items for gifting - come on in and let us show you!

Lori and Scott

Survivial In The "Post-WalMart" Era?

The retail pundits have coined a new phrase.  We are now living in what they're referring to as the "post-WalMart era".  Why are they calling it that, you might wonder, as  I did. After conducting a bit of research about the subject, I discovered that WalMart just reported its seventh straight quarter of declining sales in their U.S. stores.  Same store sales for 2010 were down .8%.  Although .8% isn't a terrible number, it's the cumulative effects of seven consecutive reported losses that gives us clear signal that's all is not well with the retail giant.

Their decline has cleared the field for many other retailers, such as TJ Maxx, Target, Kohl's and Dollar Tree.  If you notice, all those names don't include any independent retailers, only corporate-owned big box stores.    How will the "decline" of WalMart affect us independents in the immediate and near future?  In my humble (or not) opinion, it won't have much of an effect on us at all.  Each one of the stores mentioned specializes in discounted merchandise.  Independent retailers don't.  As I just explained to a customer not 3 minutes ago, when she questioned our $8.99 per ream price for printer paper, we don't get the same buying price as Staples does.  We don't get corporate kickbacks or any cooperative benefits for buying products or advertising.  We don't have the benefit of large tax loopholes we can rely on to defray our costs.  What we do have going for us is the very real and tangible benefits to your community's fiscal health.  We do have the ability to help answer your questions when you have one and we have the ability to make the decision to help our local non-profits, should we be asked to.  No one at any of those corporate stores mentioned above has that ability at store level.  But does that make us a more popular destination than they are?  I'm afraid not.

The huge amount of money behind their advertisements practically guarantees them a large market share.  Independents generally don't have any way to match that budget, and most can't get anywhere near it.  The best that some of us can do in the way of marketing is on the Internet, via vehicles such as Facebook, where very often the only cost is the time & effort put into it.  If you work it right, have engaging content and make it a destination by offering something your followers deem valuable, you can gather people that may hear what you have to say.  Then, there's always the chance that they won't hear you and there's always the fact that a good percentage of  people don't use the internet.

That's what we're faced with here in Altadena.  There are many people who either don't have access to a computer or just plain refuse to have anything to do with them.  That's when word-of-mouth advertising comes in.  We try to rely on positive word-of-mouth to fill the gaps in what our internet-based marketing does, but what do you do when that can't be trusted?  Isn't that a scary situation? 

Yesterday, I had a phone call from an elderly customer, asking if we were closing.  "No", I replied, "we don't close until 6:30 p.m., ma'am". "No, no, I mean are you CLOSING....you know, going out of business?"  Oh.  That question again.  I hadn't heard it for over a year now, so it really threw me.  "I'm sorry, ma'am, but where did you hear that?" I asked.  "Oh, just around", she replies.  "We're not going out of business, ma'am, and I'd really like to know where you heard that bit of information".  "Just through the grapevine", was the elusive answer.  Sigh.  The grapevine has been quiet, like I said, for over a year now.....I thought.  Apparently I was wrong.

People don't really think when they repeat information they're not absolutely sure of.  I know I've done it in the past, but now I stop and think who I could be hurting by passing along erroneous information.  If we all just stopped a minute and thought about it, I'm sure the majority of us would stop as well.  Or better yet, if the information you're not sure about is about a place, or person, go see them.  Go there and see if it's true before passing it along and spreading rumors that might actually harm them.  People might not feel as strongly about my businesses as I do, but we all need to realize, especially in these tough economic times, that there are employees here who depend on their salaries.  Bad word-of-mouth and rumors only discourages patronage, and if we don't have enough customers buying things from us, we can't pay them.  We're not privately funded.  So please, faceless woman on the phone, or anyone else reading this, don't feed the rumor mill.  We're open, we're in business.....come in and see us!

Have a wonderful week ahead, my friends.....Passover and Easter blessings to you, and we'll be taking Easter Sunday off.  We'll talk again the week following!

Lori & Scott

Letting Go

Back in October of 2007, when Scott and I bought the former Stationery department of Webster's Pharmacy as a stand alone store, we were excited at the prospect of shaping the store to our vision.  We wanted to make a difference in our community and beyond by becoming a true community shop - a place where people know you by name, where you could feel comfortable.  But more than that, we wanted to highlight the diversity and the creativity of the Altadena community.  To do that, we began carrying books written by area authors.  We've now got so many that I've had to cut back on my buying until we find a better way to display them.

Our friends at the Altadena Library on Mariposa St. knows all about local authors, too.  They have some of the best readings by our local writers and one of those readings was yesterday.  Called Poetry & Cookies, the event had a line up of many local poets, each given approximately 2 minutes to recite a poem or part of one.  Our friend Barbara Ackermann brought me the book complied by the Library of the poems by the writers who participated.  She had been there, reciting some of the haiku she's written.  I've been having an online conversation with another author, Dr. Thelma T. Reyna, about the event and my desire to get back into writing poetry.  I've long known that writing can be cathartic, but have been so busy that the urge to write is pretty much fulfilled by this blog and Facebook.  However, with reading the book of complied poetry from the Library event, I was inspired to devote some time to writing.

Know that I'm a seat-of-the-pants writer, as witnessed by this blog.  I have no time to spend in prolonged planning of what to write each week  Somehow, an issue or inspiration usually appears and I use it and knock out my ramblings pretty quickly.  Same with poetry, which I've been writing since...well, forever.  I remember in 5th grade, I wrote a poem for Halloween and was never more chagrined when my teacher, Mrs. Maurer, made me get up in front of the class and read it.  I thought I was going to die then and there, but I survived and so did the poem.  In fact, I used most of it in the store's October 2009 Halloween event invitation, here, but in truth, I haven't written much of anything very creative in a long while. Why?  Because the past three and a half years have not been good to us.  As much as we've wanted to change the store to follow our vision, we've met very strong headwinds, most astonishingly from family members. With so much rage and pain simmering in me, how could I write anything worth merit?  I'll let you decide for yourself.....

                                                         LETTING GO

Hello, old friend, she says,

Addressing pen to paper,

it’s been too long, she thinks,

Trepidatiously touching tip to surface.

Let it go to move forward

they say, without knowledge of

how closely held the hurt,

oblivious of the pain endured.

She’s afraid to proceed

scared to open the dam

of feelings, afraid of the purge

afraid to lose her battle honed armor.

How to let go, she wonders,

to jettison the betrayals

and move past false promises

into the realm of possibility?

Thoughts swirl like ribbons

Around a bowl of water, swirling

down into courage –  the courage she

forgot she had - hello, old friend.

----Lori Webster

Have a great week ahead, my friends!


Lori & Scott

Spring-ing Forward

This past week was chock-full of things happening (as usual around here).  Boxes of new products to check in and put out; people to see and places to go!  It's amazing I remember my name when Scott and I finally get home at night.  But when we do get home, after I've made dinner and I'm reflecting on the day, I always count my blessings.  My blessings include our wonderful customers and readers of this blog (that's you), and they also include heartfelt hopes that all of you are faring well.

We've got a full week ahead of us, as well.  Fancy Food Truck Fridays will be at the end of the week on April 8th and it usually takes all week to get this event together.  Of course, the Spring holidays are approaching, and we'll be celebrating them a little later in the month.  We'll have our yearly Spring Coloring Contest starting on April 11th, so drop by the store to pick up coloring pages for the kids to color.  Return the completed drawings to the store and we'll display them for all to admire, then we'll pick 3 winners.  Winners will be announced at our annual Spring Celebration Event, and they will each be rewarded with a fabulous prize Easter basket.  The Easter Bunny will make an appearance, along with plenty of goodies to munch on....it's a party you won't want to miss!

We've been talking a lot about how an independent small business, such as our retail store, can contribute to the fiscal health of their communities.  There are many ways this can be accomplished, but one very popular way is through donations to our local non-profits and schools. We can also help by not just donating directly (which we do) but by facilitating donations from the public (that would be you).  This week, there will be a box to collect your "gently used" items of clothing, purses, hats, belts, dishware, audio and visual equipment, small appliances, holiday decorations, giftware, etc.  You see, Central Altadena Little Leaguers have partnered with Goodwill of Southern California and are collecting for them.  They asked if we could help, and we said sure!  So, in turn, we ask that you take a look around your home and see if there's anything you need to get rid of, that your kids have outgrown or that you're no longer using.  Drop it off here so we can give it to CALL and they can give it to the Goodwill.  Your gifts will help raise funds for their children's sports program, as well as help Goodwill continue their many programs that enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities or other disadvantages by providing education, training and job opportunities.  You can make space in your home in addition to helping your community....I'd call that a win/win!

Have a great week, my friends!

Lori & Scott

History Lessons

As Women's History Month winds down to the last few days, I'm amazed at what an eventful month it's been.  The horrible disaster in Japan and the deaths of icons Elizabeth Taylor and Geraldine Ferraro have struck a chord in our hearts this month. Catastrophe and loss surround us on a daily basis and women the world over take it in stride, as we always have.  The circle of life, emanating from woman - the struggle, the toil, all the joy and pain - ending, only to begin again.

This is what we do, all of us women.  The givers and sustainers of life, most of us deserving of headlines yet moving through our lives unheralded.  My friend, Roberta Martinez, posted a question today on Facebook.  She asked who were the women who've most influenced your life.  I enjoyed reading the various responses posted.  It was a great question and I haven't stopped thinking of which women have influenced my life, whether they were historical figures, family or celebrities.  This is how I answered Roberta's question:

The women who've influenced my life are Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mother Theresa, Marlo Thomas, Eleanor Roosevelt, Elizabeth Taylor. In my own family, the first women I knew who left their indelible impression on the child I was were:
1. My paternal grandmother, Anne L. Babcock Elliott, who taught college-level Latin
2. My maternal great-grandmother, who raised my mom and her 4 siblings after their parents died and still ran a tea-house in Iowa
3. My mother, who overcame rheumatoid arthritis as a child, had considerable health problems as a young woman and had a complete hysterectomy in the 1930s. She married my dad (7 yrs her junior) in 1947 and waited on a list for 10 years to adopt me in 1957, when she was 47 years old. She fought with my father to go to work in the early 1970s and fought cancer for 16 years until she died at 83 in 1994. She worked until she was 80.
4. My birth mother, whoever she was, who had the good sense to know she couldn't take care of me and put me up for adoption to a couple who could.

I like my answer, but as I continue to think about it, there's one woman that I left out.  A woman who I never met, and don't know that much about, but who had a hand in guiding the business that Scott and I are involved in now.  That woman was Scott's paternal grandmother.  The wife of Harold Webster, the founder of Webster's Pharmacy.  You see, Harold died when Scott's dad was only 19.  She had the responsibility of running the store after the death of her husband, and also assumed the task of seeing that her children who worked the business were properly trained on how to actually run it.

That she did a good job of that goes without saying.  The store was very successful for many, many years.  I'd like to give her the recognition here that I can't find any mention of anywhere else.  She has inspired both Scott and I to continue the heritage of Webster's and constantly strive to bring you the best.  We'd like you to join with us in acknowledging a true Altadena pioneer.....thank you, Mrs. Webster!

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!

Slow Retail

Thoughts On Independence

Last week we discussed the small town of Thomasville, Georgia, and its thriving Main Street independent businesses.  We reported that despite the downturn in our economy, these shops have been able to keep their heads above water with the cooperation of their city government and their residents.  I pointed out that even though we are County-governed, if we had their (and your) cooperation, we could see a similar effect here.

I'm proud to say that I heard from a gentleman who now lives in Colorado but used to own a shop in Thomasville.  He saw my blogpost and gave me a call.  I was surprised but very happy he called to voice his support!  He says he'll be watching us and hoping that "those who shop Rodeo Drive will start shopping in our area".  Well.....we won't hold our breath for that to happen, since logistics in Southern California can be so misunderstood by those who live out of the area.  But I certainly appreciated the thought and we will continue to strive toward educating the public about the benefits of shopping locally at independent businesses. Mr. Arnest, thank you for contacting us, we so appreciate your call!  Now, it's time to watch a little video by our friends at JibJab (no, we're not advertising their ecards, although they are funny):

This last Wednesday, lawmakers in Maine heard testimony on a bill, LD 322, to repeal the Informed Growth Act, which Gov. Paul LePage also has listed among his priorities for reforming Maine’s regulatory environment.  Enacted in 2007, the Informed Growth Act was championed by supporters as a way to protect Maine’s downtown business districts and local stores from the effects of large-scale retail developments such as Wal-Mart, Target or Home Depot. The law applies to proposed businesses with a gross floor area of 75,000 square feet or more.  If this bill is repealed, it would set a precedent for other communities across the county to do the same, if they agree with what Bill sponsor Rep. Tyler Clark, R-Easton, argued that the law is inherently biased against larger retail operations.

Stacy Mitchell, a senior researcher for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit that promotes “environmentally sound and equitable community development,” said that before the act’s passage, many town planning boards were unable to consider how a big-box store would affect jobs and small businesses in town.  Imagine the impact that having a WalMart in Pasadena would have on neighboring independent retailers!

We recommend reviewing organizations like The 3/50 Project, the Institute for Local Self Reliance (link above), Independent We Stand, and the American Independent Business Alliance for information on the importance of shopping locally.  Investigate and find out how you can support your community's economic health and improve your shopping experience.  Those large corporations aren't all they're cracked up to be, as many of you are aware.  One of them even ticked off the venerable Seth Godin and prompted him to write his latest blogpost about broken promises - one thing that we independent businesses have more control over, since we're not so huge and impersonal.

My friends, I leave you with this last little bit of truism from The Localism Index:  the minimum amount having a grocery store, bookstore, coffee shop and restaurant within half a mile of a house increases its value:  $21,000!  Wow!

Have a great week and we look forward to seeing you at the next Fancy Food Truck Fridays on 3/11/11 (that's this Friday)! Thanks to the Altadena Chamber of Commerce for helping us get our permit!

Lori & Scott