Before I begin with this week's topic, I hope this article finds you all having Observed a wonderful holiday with your family and friends. Speaking of which, as I was cooking in our kitchen this past Thursday, in between catching glimpses of the parades and games, it occurred to me that Thanksgiving dinner is both worthwhile and futile at the same time. Starting with shopping for all that you need to prepare, preparing all you need to cook then cooking all that you've prepared, Thanksgiving is a huge undertaking that takes hours to accomplish, yet the meal itself is usually over in less than one. Then... it's put the game on and pass out on the couch. You would think that the practicality of this holiday task would seem wasteful, but at the same time fills our hearts just as much as it fills our stomachs... even more so. And.... we have leftovers. At least we used to at our house until our daughter was born. Although our son was never really a fowl fiend, our daughter, however, was born with a hollow leg that, for some reason, can only be filled by poultry. So, even though it seems foolish to an outsider looking in on this holiday to put so much effort into something so fleeting..... it makes sense. I like that. Things that make sense. Keeps me calm. No need for Prozac. Just let things make sense. When they don't, that's when I reach for my pen.
A few weeks ago, while going through our mail, I came across our local monthly coupon mailer that's called Valpak. Before I flipped it over to open it, I noticed that they were promoting Small Business Saturday on the front of the envelope. As I was thumbing through the coupons, my curiosity was piqued as to who was it that started this tradition of Small Business Saturday that seems to have grown in popularity over the past few years in the first place. According to my research, Small Business Saturday is considered an American shopping holiday that was first Observed in 2010 and is held on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving. Placed between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday was set aside to encourage shoppers to patronize small local businesses that are overshadowed during the holiday season by big corporate chains and online commerce. It is promoted by nationwide advertising via radio and television and utilizes social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. The hashtag #Small Business Saturday has existed since 2010, as well, and has more than 30,000 Tweets associated with it. Respectively, SBS's Facebook page has over 1 million "Likes" due to local politicians and small business groups issuing proclamations revolving around the campaign. This years hashtag is #Shop Small for All. Pretty clever, huh? Sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?
As usual my loyal reader, you've probably already guessed that I have some concerns..... Alright, issues..... Ok, problems with this shopping holiday. First off, you might be wondering, as I did, who started this shop local support effort? The Small Business Administration? The National Federation of Independent Businesses? The American Small Business Coalition? All good candidates and one of them surely started this movement, but the truth is that this "holiday" was initiated by American Express. Now, I knew that the credit card giant was a large sponsor of the event, but had no idea that they created it. Unfortunately, this puts me off to the idea right from the get go. To find out that the whole initiative was a concocted marketing ploy by one of the top three companies that make money at both ends of the stick (consumers and retailers are charged fees for using their services) is kind of disheartening and takes away a lot of the luster that this idea had no matter how noble it sounds. Yeah, let's all support the little guy... and by the way, make sure you use our card so we can fleece you both. At the end of the day, companies like American Express could give a flying leap where you shop. They make money on every consumer purchase no matter where it's made. So much for looking out for the underdog. More like trying to make their company look like they really care about them.
Second, hard truth. Let's look at things realistically. From my perspective, which may sound similar to yours, our daughter's Christmas list to Santa includes Paw Patrol action figures, Chubby Puppies, Shopkins, FurReal Friends, and assorted TV character plushes to name a few. She also mentioned that she wouldn't mind some candy in her stocking. Our older son is a video game nut and basically wants gifts within that genre. Not only games and systems, but marketing doodads like t-shirts and collectable character figures. And there in lies the problem. Local shops usually don't have what your looking for and when they do it's generally a lot more expensive than the big corporate "super whatever center". I have no problem paying a little more to keep my money local and save me a trip, (We live in a relatively rural area and the closest "chain" is over 6 miles away.) but more often that not, the price is so much higher that it's worth the trip to the big stores. Yes, I could purchase the candy and stocking stuffers at my local shops, but I'm going to be at he superstore anyway and again, the prices are lower on those items even more so.
Now, my wife, on the other hand, is a little easier to shop for locally and I try to do so, but another thing that small town businesses have against them is also what makes them unique. They specialize. Either in product or service. When we, as consumers, are looking for a specific something, these types of shops defiantly come in handy and I utilize them as much as possible. After all, it is a business in our town and I want them to stay and succeeded as much as the next guy, however, this type of consumer practice is not the norm and my handy, dandy Valpak coupon mailer is proof enough. Let's flip through the offers inside and see what I can find for my better half, shall we? Maybe she'd like some carpet cleaning or a garage door. There's always some gutter guards or chimney sweeping. Hmmm.... maybe a gift certificate for rodent control or foundation repair. But, I have been promising to get her car washed and the oil changed. Then again, she has been hinting about a home security system and getting our propane tanks filled before it gets too late in the season. All good suggestions, but somehow.... just not her style. Keep in mind, this particular Valpak is hawking for all of us to shop small and locally. Funny thing is that I found absolutely no coupons for any business in our town at all and only found two for businesses in the next town over. What I did find in it was coupons for Sears, Harbor Freight Tools, Walgreens, Direct TV, Frontier and Amazon. Doesn't sound very "local" does it? You very well may have a Sears in your town, but I wouldn't call it "small". Would you? As far as Amazon is concerned they are not alone in my Valpak. I also got offers from Wayfair, Zuliliy, and Vistaprint. Which brings me to the third problem.... online shopping.
I hate to admit it, (not really) but I discovered shopping online a few years ago and I absolutely love it! I mean, why go store to store, fighting through crowds, deal with little to no knowledgeable staff, just to find out that they don't have what your looking for and when they do, wait in a line as long as a TSA security check on Thanksgiving weekend? Especially when with just a few clicks you can get exactly what you want, probably with free shipping, delivered right to your door. It's literally a no brainer. You know why? Because I was in that line behind you a few years ago and I hated it just as much as you did. So unless you enjoy what everyone else seems to loathe, I see no downside to this. Even if you bring up the subject of Small Business Saturday, I submit that it doesn't really matter in the long run. The idea sounds good, but as I've shown with just three simple points, it's highly flawed and rightly so.
The truth that no one wants to acknowledge is that this course of action accomplishes absolutely nothing and only serves to make consumers feel better thinking that they actually helped their local economy. What makes matters worse is that events like this create misdirection that keeps us from addressing the real problems that would allow us to put our efforts into solutions that would help. We have to realize that when it comes to small business, revenue is only one part of the problem and it's nominal at best. Even if every American consumer boycotted the chain stores and exclusively patronized local businesses for one day, some small businesses would close their doors permanently the very next day just the same. We have to look at realistic pro-active options such as more tax breaks for businesses that have low annual revenue. Expanding programs and grants within organizations such as the Small Business Association. Create SEC regulations that limit the number of small competing companies that large corporations can take over. Subsidies that would help offset high costs small businesses incur which can be passed onto the consumers and make small companies more competitive. Some of these suggestions might work, some may not. But, attempting to produce change within the free market system in ways like these is a lot better course than throwing money at a local shop once a year, patting ourselves on the back for doing so and hoping it helps.
We love creating events for all our causes that help out the little guy or the afflicted. All our walks against this or our 5K's for that. We declare war on maladies while sponsoring food and can drives with hope deep within our sympathetic hearts to finally put an end to whatever injustice is trending this month. The only problem is that we love something more than our causes that creates conflict in achieving a level playing field for any one of these ideals. Money. Not only do we love money, we love saving money. We pride ourselves on the bargain we got and brag about how much we saved on our fully loaded, digital, high definition, split level, wall to wall thingamajig. When was the last time you heard anyone toting about shopping at a local store and paying 25% more? Doesn't make much sense, does it? We do have good intentions in these matters. We would like to shop locally and do as much as we possibly can, but the fact is we can't afford to. With the middle class shrinking and more people flirting with the poverty level due to our fluctuating, uncertain economy, we have to make our dollars go as far as we can stretch hem. No matter how good or noble a cause is or sounds, it has to be rooted in reality in order for it to be effective. Strictly an Observation. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to see if my daughter left me enough turkey for a sandwich.
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