Shopping In A Small Town

By Cindy Murphy
Published on December 22, 2008
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People always looked surprised when I tell them that I haven’t been in a shopping mall in nearly nine years. It’s not because there aren’t malls around here – I can drive a little more than twenty-five miles in any direction and end up in a mall parking lot (except west; driving west would leave me twenty-five miles offshore, in the icy waters of Lake Michigan). Saving gas and drive-time isn’t the reason I don’t shop the malls either.

A while back, KC Compton wrote a blog titled “On Being A Locavore“; a locavore is a person who eats locally-grown food. I think “locastore” should be a word; someone who shops locally, supporting local businesses and by doing so, helping keep the local economy alive.

I read a “Letter to the Editor” last week in The South Haven Tribune, our small town newspaper. Ester Hansen wrote, “Did you know, local folks, that if you don’t support the merchants, many of them may have to close? Yes, they get a lot of business in the summer from the tourists, but that doesn’t stretch into the winter months. … We need to keep this town vital and active.

“Before buying gas and driving out of town, look around in the local stores. Did you realize that your local merchants give back to the community? Unlike some of the big box stores, these folks help support many of our local events. They are constantly being asked to give to some cause or activity.”

The letter Ester wrote interested me; I had a conversation with a friend about the same subject earlier in the week. I was able to contact Ester by phone, thanking her for taking the time to write the letter to remind us – especially during the busy Christmas shopping season and a season in which many charities are asking for donations to help make Christmas a bit better for those less fortunate – how important the local merchants are to this community. Ester has been a South Haven resident for decades; I am just a year shy of my first decade here in South Haven. We talked about what a great small town this is to live – everyone is so friendly and generous.

One of those generous people is my friend Chris, who I had talked with earlier about shopping locally, and a person who is tirelessly involved with working with many of the local charities. Chris has always been an advocate for shopping locally. “I know these people,” she says of the merchants. “I shop locally because these are my neighbors. They are taking care of me in so many ways. They take care of our kids … not only by making sure they are safe on the streets, at the skate park, or the ice-rink; they buy their Boy Scout popcorn, Girl Scout cookies and they are who I turn to for help with preparing food baskets. They deserve our support.”

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