Bracing For the Holidays
Decatur Metro | October 22, 2008Now that shear optimism is no longer capable of keeping the U.S. economy afloat, small businesses are really beginning to feel the pinch. I’m sure you don’t need me or the New York Times to tell you that, but we just did.
To use a worn out phrase, times are tough. In just the past few days, I’ve received multiple, unprompted emails from various shop owners and businesses in and around Decatur who are already being squeezed and wait nervously for the ever-important holiday season. A note from “DecaturMerchant” did a good job of summing up the general mood…
I wanted to ask that everyone please consider supporting the shops of Decatur this Holiday season. Many of these shop owners give generously to our community, and rely heavily on local support. Possibly losing more of these businesses would be a detriment to our city. Many owners are scared, and have painstakingly and carefully stocked their shops with the hopes that adequate support keeps them in business. I realize the economy may be difficult for many, so please think about keeping your hard earned money in your own community. Terrific Thursdays are a wonderful way to save some money, have some fun, and purchase items from your own local shop keepers, many whom also reside in our community. Also watch for offerings of sales, discounts, and clearance tables or racks. Thanks for your consideration.
As for my own contribution, I’m beginning to notice that some of my postings are having more of an effect on event attendance and participation than I ever realized. That said, I will do my best to keep everyone up-to-date on Decatur business events and specials. But please keep in mind that I’m just one person with limited time and resources.
To get things kicked off, I’ll just mention that the city has already posted all the Terrific Thursday specials for 2008. Check ‘em out here.
All the best to our merchants this holiday season!
Latest from Decaturish
great post, and in total agreement. will shop only in the shops of decatur….no worries.
I’ll put in a good word for Little Shop of Stories. Last year, I went in, told them the ages and interests of our nieces & nephews, got many excellent recommendations, and walked out with 80% of our holiday shopping done in about 30 minutes. Definitely can’t get that level of service or knowledge from Amazon. The kids all loved their gifts too.
Thanks for the thread DecaturMetro. We merchants couldn’t be more fearful about our fourth quarter. The rest of the year is a scrimmage compared to December when it really counts. We need local, grassroots support to make it. This is exactly the kind of thing we need. Let’s keep it local this year. Let’s fight for the little guy.
I want to fight for the little guy. Problem is, when I buy in thses downtown shops I not only help the little guy but also put money in the pocket of the big guys – those Decatur landlords charging too much rent for the commercial spaces. For the most part, these landlords do not give generously to our community. It’s a Catch 22 .
The citizens of Decatur can’t be expected to shop the little guys out of their too high lease rate problems . A good holiday season will help in the short run but unless the high rent issue is addressed the difficulties will continue.
Wondering if someone will entertain this question…if rents were “too high” wouldn’t the free market take care of that problem by giving landlords a high vacancy rate which would inevitably push prices down?
As long as folks are willing to pay it, how can it be deemed “too high”?
DM you’ve got it right , the free market is taking care of things. It doesn’t happen overnight, though.
These merchants are scared because they are having trouble making ends meet . Next they go out of business and no one else comes along to replace them. The rent eventually come down as landlords start making deals and lower profit expectations just to get occupants in their spaces.
Unfortunately there is an intermediate time of many empty store fronts. Not good for Decatur . As I said a Catch 22.
Actually, I think you’ll find that a majority of Decatur’s more unique retail shops are located in some of our older buildings and the rents they are paying are competitive with metro Atlanta.
I should have included bad for the merchants, too. I do sympathize with their plight . I know retail is a very tough business even in the best of times. The current economy makes it beyond tough.
I find it strange fi fi seems to be avoiding Decatur shops because of a beef with the landlords. Is that just me? Certainly there has to be another means of taking out frustrations without hurting the tenants, who do participate in community activities. We should support our local shops, regardless of the landlord’s record of donations.
JJ…agreed…that’s a weak argument.
The mall landlords are a much more benevolent group than the Decatur landlords.
Another catch 22 is when our downtown is empty and folks don’t want to buy our homes because of it, so our home values decrease, then our schools fall apart. You can support local commerce now, or pay dearly later. Your decision. Seems obvious to me, we are all in this together in our community. Keep your hard earned money where it comes back to benefit you.
The landlord isn’t the one providing goodwill with charitable donations to our community. It is the local shop keepers. Fifi, spiting the landlord will hurt the local shop keepers that keep this community vibrant. These shops could have easily have opened elsewhere, and then we’d have no local commerce at all. The market will bear itself, when the landlords overprice themselves, and no one rents. In the meantime I am shopping locally, because it is going to benefit my community as a whole in the long run.
Please don’t avoid shopping with us to punish commercial landlords. We are responsible for our own leases, and for our own negotiations with our landlords. Leases are generally several years long, and may have been signed when the outlook was a bit different. I wouldn’t blame local merchant’s challenges on out-of-market rents. There are many factors at play. We are part of your community, and during challenging economic times, we are just asking for you to remember us.
Thank you all for your support– bring friends from outside Decatur to Terrific Thursdays, too! It’s a great, fun holiday institution, wherever you hail from!
At Decatur First Bank, we encourage our employees to shop locally. We recently compiled a list of all the local restaurants who bank with us and distributed it to the staff with the recommendation that they think of them first at meal time.
Don’t forget Decatur Dollars, a unique program initiated by the City and its merchants to make shopping in Decatur even more convenient.
All I can say is whatever money you have this year spend it in Decatur. The next couple of years aren’t going to pleasant but if we stick together it won’t fall apart.
Decatur Dollars make great teacher holiday gifts!!!!!
Terrific Thursdays are really fun and a great way to get to know your local merchants. If every one of us who has ever enjoyed what Decatur has to offer…and it’s a lot…went downtown on these Thursdays and visited the participating businesses and shops with the intent to buy one item from each, until you’ve been to them all over the course of the season, think of what a huge impact that would make. You walk, you have fun, you get cool stuff, you meet people, you feel better, you support your local folks and it’s a big party. So let’s go, Decatur, and support these guys who have made this area such a great place to live, work and shop!
Sounds like FiFi wants to go back to when Decatur had a dilapidated Burger King and a Greyhound Station as its main attractions. Let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water. I shop locally pretty much entirely and it seems like the best thing for me and my community. I don’t feel that I am sacrificing a single thing to shop locally. It comes naturally to many of us who hate being in a car all day long. It’s easy, its fun, it makes sense, it’s selfish and selfless, it’s the right thing to do for me and my neighborhood everytime.
Maybe FiFi is onto something. Since husing is so expensive in Decatur we could all not pay our mortgages and get kicked out. This would punish those evil lenders and this would certainly lower the cost of housing in Decatur. Then we could all buy our houses back at a new, lower price. Brilliant again FiFi.
Let me share a “Why I puffy heart Decatur merchants” tale: Hot day in August, with the first day of school looming. Surly teenage son must have new shoes suitable for walking to school. His feet are wide and hard to fit. No luck with online shopping. Nothing was cool enough, and sizing was a crapshoot. So faced with a long weekend shoe hunt, I chose instead to call Charles Cope at One Step at a Time in Oakhurst. He listened to my story, pulled three or four styles in a couple of sizes and had them waiting for us. We parked right in front of the store, walked right in and within 15 minutes my son had quality sneakers that had been properly fitted to his feet, and that he actually likes. A lot.
Sorry that it is not PC to question whether the huge boom is retail is really such a great thing for Decatur.Yes i have been here a long time. Old age may be distorting my memory but i just don’t remember this Decatur of 15 years ago that was such a sad dilapidated place where no one wanted to live .
Yes the wave of development has incresed the value of my house but unless I want to leave that has only meant higher and higher taxes. (not that I could sell my place for the appraised value in this market anyway)
I don’t long to go back to those days before any development I am glad to have some options for shopping and restaurant meals but i do think the growth happened pretty fast, perhaps too fast. I know this isn’t a popular opinion but I believe there can be too many restaurants and boutiques in one area . Over saturation dilutes profit for all. This can be compunded when there are parking management and enforcement issues and when the economy turns down.
On a personal level , I sympathize with any merchant whose business is struggling but on a macro level I wonder if all theses businesses gave sufficient thought to how they would manage through an economic downturn ? There are so many shops and restuarants here and there wasn’t really strong consumer traffic here even in better times.
If we are talking “community”effort to aid all these businesses then I believe the landlords have some responsibility ,too. Maybe their profit should not stay constant when the tennant’s receipts are falling off across the board. Is that realistic, probably not but is it realistic to say we should shop only in Decatur and take our business from shops we like in other areas when they, too , are struggling ?
If your holiday shopping list includes the types of things sold in the Decatur shops then of course it makes sense to buy locally. If you choose to buy things from other places , no need to feel guilty . Times are tough everywhere . That out of Decatur retailer is someone’s neighbor, too.
A previous thread on this subject mentioned shopping in Decatur instead of at Target and other big box stores . Even the big box stores play a part in the community. Target gives proceeds back to local schools. I believe most of the CSD school have benefitted from that program.
The big box stores hire our neighbors to staff their stores, too
Maybe this thing isn’t quite as simple as shop local…. I’m just saying……..
well, Stephen if your are going to get personal about it
Why don’t we all take on mortgages (or maybe retail leases) that we can’t afford in an economic downturn and then expect the taxpayers ( nearby residents) to open their pocketbooks to bail us out ? And of course let those guys providing the loans ( landlords) to keep their big fat origination fees and bonuses.
that is better sarcastic reflection of my position.
I guess it’s not popular to agree with fifi here but I do in part! I worked at The Final Touch 15-17 years ago as an ASC student and the personal attention to shoppers was as good or better as it is now. But we only really had one competitor (the 17 Steps). Now, every boutique has several competitors, not to mention restaurants competing for residents’ business! I can’t believe how many restaurants we have in the downtown area. I am planning to do as much shopping as I can in downtown Decatur this year. But many, many of the shops just don’t cater to my tastes–I have long felt that they cater to the suburbanites who bring their moms to Decatur on the weekends to get cool stuff. And that’s perfectly okay too. Many of us Decaturites are spending our pennies on our mortgages. We NEED those suburbanites to spend their money here, just like other stores outside Decatur need us.
Oh, and Target has been contributing money to Glennwood on my account for the past 8 years (Glennwood is linked to my Target card). It may not be much, but it certainly helps.
As with all: everything in moderation. Fifi, I agree with you here:
“If your holiday shopping list includes the types of things sold in the Decatur shops then of course it makes sense to buy locally. If you choose to buy things from other places , no need to feel guilty . Times are tough everywhere . That out of Decatur retailer is someone’s neighbor, too.”
Fifi, I don’t think you understand totally the big picture. KEEP YOUR MONEY IN YOUR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD! It’s simply that plain and easy. Yes, there are some stores that overlap and compete, but some don’t and have items for the same price at bigger retailers, yet many folks choose to drive distances in the hope to possibly save a few dollars, but in the meantime spending more time, gas consumption, and energy plotting around Atlanta. If you are seeking something not offered in Decatur, go……but if it is offered here, this is where you should buy it. Why on Earth would you give your hard earned money to another community? It’s neighborhood suicide! It’s the trickle down effect, and please stop quoting the landlords, should be ask our mortgage companies to donate to our community as well?
I know this is a touchy and personal issue, especially for business owners in the midst of this economic downturn, but I ask everyone to measure your statements and respect the opinions of others.
Speaking from personal experience, exasperated comments may make the writer feel better, but are much more likely to get a useful and informative conversation off-track.
Fifi, I think you raise an interesting point about landlord responsibility…but I don’t know that a consumer could ever really go around basing purchasing decisions on what a landlord charges. Who am I to determine price/cost?
I can only determine these things by purchasing items I deem affordable on my income, giving preference to neighborhood shops because more of that money stays local. The rest will shake itself out.
There are several stores that I frequent that have similar or the same prices as to that of Malls and big box stores. No, they can’t and don’t compete with Target or Wal-Mart, or second hand stores. Their quality and service is first rate, and the convenience is also worth every minute I save. And yes, they give, give, give to this community. These shops do cater to locals, so I say keep it local if you can. Has everyone actually been into all these stores that are deemed ’boutiquie’ or too expensive. Yes, there are a few of those, but many, many have affordable goods that in my opinion appeal to locals. If you’ve not been in a store, do yourself a favor and check it out, I bet you find more options to save time locally! Just an opinion and advice.
Decatur eLIFE Magazine will do everything we can to promote shopping locally for the holidays. We encourage any merchant/organizations who would like to highlight their holiday events/specials to contact me directly. We want our merchants to have the best holiday season they can have during these uncertain times.
My email: . If any one has any ideas about promoting our merchants online that what the city and the individual merchants are already doing, just let me know.
Hmmm… I think I may need to do some shopping tonight… For a big, frosty beer!