sounds like a darn good idea to us, whether we personally benefit from it today or not. Sponsored by American Express, we thank them for the idea and the national ad campaign even though we don’t accept their card. Lowering their fees so that more small businesses could afford to accept their card might be something they want to look at, though I get the impression they’re pretty pleased with things as they are. We can still thank them for doing a good thing when they do it, and we do.
Statistics show that shopping small and local keeps more money in our communities but there are other reasons to get behind this. We keep our neighborhoods diverse, make them more desirable places to live (= ups the value of your real estate, okay?) if we have an eclectic brew of small shops, restaurants and services close to home; the national chains homogenize the American landscape in a way that’s falsely comforting and, to me and many others, also creepy/depressing. Coming from my small business perspective, though, doesn’t trashing the chain stores just sound like sour grapes? Shopping at a box store may siphon more bucks out of the local economy but, well, aren’t their employees local, and don’t they deserve to make a living, too? Bottom line, if they sell what we do, but for less, how much more are you willing to pay for the privilege of keeping us in your neighborhood?
Short answer: if they have the same thing for less and if the quality’s about the same, you should probably buy from them. If you’re on a tight budget, as we are, you should totally buy from them! If we’re smart, we won’t try to sell you the same things they have in the first place. You can see where that gets difficult, though: naturally we do sell some of the same items as (for example) the Fred Meyer up the street because our customers tend to see us as a full-service garden center, even if we’re small and a little eccentric and prefer to think of ourselves as a specialty nursery. We need the traffic “the basics” bring in, but the balance can be tricky. We’ll always be under some pressure to carry a whole lot of things we don’t have room for, don’t desire to or can’t make a profit from, and knowing what not to sell is almost as important as knowing what to sell.
Not available at Fred Meyer - nor anywhere else on the planet,for that matter!
Sometimes, we try to be ordinary but circumstances conspire and we just can’t get stuff. You won’t find a poinsettia in the store this year; no Christmas cacti, either…we didn’t pre-order and, go figure, our wholesale source sold out! (a good sign for the economy, maybe?…) Our wreath table broke but we sold so few wreaths last year we actually lost money on cut greens for the first time, though we think the weather was mostly to blame. Still, we decided to use the money we would have spent to repair or replace the table and load up on house plants instead – you know, those things we can still sell in January, after poinsettias and wreaths have lost all their value and we’ve thrown them away. A few people have let us know they’re disappointed and I have a (perhaps) irrational fear we won’t be seen as worthy of your holiday business this year because we don’t have these things you can buy elsewhere, but we’re hoping for the best. Even in a good economy, the nursery you manage to support even a little in the dark of winter is the one that will still be there to meet your needs in the spring.
Poinsettia alternative: a firey red bromeliad, easy care and long-lasting
So, no poinsettias? No, but some beautiful alternative flowering plants that are more durable and a lot more fun (we do have paperwhite narcissus and fancy amaryllis). No Christmas cactus? True, but our succulent collection is really stunning right now, including mixed planters from mid-sized to miniature, perfect hostess gifts or little jewels for your own sunny windowsill. Andy’s scented geranium collection, probably the best in town, is still available in our front courtyard (we keep them outside when it’s not freezing). For us, being a little different also = job satisfaction. We’re at our best when we delight you, when we show you something you’ve never seen before, or we’re able to present familiar things in a new light. When we engage you and take the time to listen to you, helping you plan for spring or as one industry peer said, “Becoming masters of charades” or working through your bad descriptions as we help identify plants, or pests, or diseases. Our advice is always free, and almost always worth more than you pay for it. You’re welcome.
It’s not that you’ll never find good plants or great service at a big chain store, but why risk it? You’d miss us if we were gone, so let’s not let that happen! Thanks for reading and whatever you’re celebrating this season, please to enjoy. Thank you for supporting Small Business Saturday as well – you can come in Sunday, too, if you want. ~
