Hey Mister, Where Can I Get A Good Cup of Joe?

I was on my way to my ALL TIME FAVORITE coffee shop yesterday to buy my huge cup of mocha latte. I drove up to the door, happily bounced out of my car in anticipation of drinking down that delicious drink when lo and behold the store is dark and the door is locked. I wondered hmmmm, how could this be at 2:00 the afternoon on a weekday? Makes no sense.

When I looked into the store, my heart started palpitating! The furniture is gone, the signs are down, the pendant lights that I loved and coveted as my own one day are GONE! They went out of business the day before at closing time.

The closure of mom and pop/small store businesses is now becoming a very normal sight. I remember about a year ago, I would gasp at a store closure (Worst experience the closure of Jamba Juice). Nowadays, my friends and I are almost immune to it and our talks center around who’s next. We no longer are surprised to see a business fail or closed.

The amazingly high number of business closures reminds me of the game of dominos. When one business fails, as Lemony Snickett will attest : A series of unfortunate events occur. The owner closes the business and loses his/her capital investment. They are now faced with possibly tapping into their already limited resources to sustain their everyday lives while trying to find funds to pay off the business debts. If not able to locate any source of new monies to sustain their lives, they look at their home. They may end up short selling their home or WORSE foreclosed. If the home does not sell, then there’s a vacant home in your neighborhood to deal with. Not to mention their lives are so disrupted that the extras things they used to enjoy (ie. Kids sports programs, eating out at local small businesses, shopping at Mervyns) are now cancelled or put on the backburner. This then causes the owners of the extracuicular business to go through their own financial hardship. It is a Catch 22.

I would love to say that patronizing these stores more may help us get over this slump. But, I also know that the economy has made us pinch our pennies and we’re not as able to do the extra things we were able to do before.

Here is what I can do and pledge to my community:

• I will do my part to help my friends and neighbors whose business borders my home.
• I will try my best to get the word out.
• I will support my friends who may be losing this round.
• I will explain to my son that Jamba Juice may come back one day stronger, better and yummier. In the meantime, the WOW GROOVY Juice Bar is a fabulous place to be and is owned by little Johnny's parents . How fantastic is that???
  

So until we have a serious focus from Washington on sustaining our small business communities; these are for now what I can do. What about you?