shahab on sope! - Chain stores

["Shahab Mesbah" <moscadmin@moscow.com>]

Dearest friends,

ok...I'll bite! please remember that I am not trying to attack anyone here
but let me try to explain my problem with the statement below.

I think the fact that in the past 40 or so years we have slowly created an
economy of huge chain stores is the main reason we do not have any choice in
our purchases. I have used the grocery stores as an example in the past. let
us look at a specific example. the proliferation of the supermarkets for
years destroyed the local grocery stores. when I was growing up my mother
and I used to go to the fruit store... yes the fruit store. they had the
best fruit. they did not sell typewriters, fax machines, tires, carpet
cleaners, and fruit... they sold fruit. they had contacts in their special
area and they knew how to choose the best stuff. they were a bit more
expensive but the quality was so much better. in our town we are fortunate
to have the Coop. since the Coop has moved it has been able to give more
options and better product. by the way anyone try the organic broccoli
yet... I challenge you to find a broccoli as good... it is absolutely
incredible. we also have Otto's now but I am sure things are not easy for
him. not only the small business, if supported by community, gives you more
options it also keeps the monetary flow balance within a community. every
time we spend money in Spokane, on the web, in the chain stores or the like
we loose the dollars... they leave our community. we do not have many ways
to bring money into our community from other places. the reason Wal-Mart is
such a huge company is that it has sucked precious money out of small
communities like ours.

The fact is that we have not been looking at quality... we have been looking
at price. if we had looked at quality we would not have lost so many local
businesses who provided excellent service and product line. when we purchase
with the short term costs in mind we all loose. we may say that staples
sells you a pen for 10 cents less than Ken's stationary but what we do not
count on is the cost to the community. for that 10 cent saving how much tax
money would we spend to revitalize the downtown? how will you get the money
back to our own community? do we really want to consider working in staples
a career? there are many places in our beloved country which have gone this
way.

I believe that we need to be careful how we buy things... our purchases are
like votes. when a businessman provides superior product, service, and is
involved in the community he or she (in Persian there is no sexual
distinction as in he/she can I use she since it includes he also?!) is
contributing greatly to the community and we should support himer (him /
her - I am rewriting the English language too!). we need to educate
ourselves about the local business. I am sad that we lost the bagel store...
I hate supermarket bagels!

your brother in arms,

Shahab...

----- Original Message -----
From: <WMSteed@aol.com>
To: <dpalm@earthlink.net>; <wrparish@moscow.com>
Cc: <bill_london@hotmail.com>; <vision2020@moscow.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2000 5:19 PM
Subject: Re: Alturas Park



In a message dated 2/13/00 4:01:36 PM, dpalm@earthlink.net writes:

<< chain stores that add nothing to our community >>

Duncan,  If it weren't for the chains we would be like Genesee and have to
go
to Lewiston, Spokane or Cd'A for certain things or any variety at all.
Local
people just don't have the resources to bring the number of restaurants, gas
stations (yea, I know about the prices), movie houses, variety stores,
department stores, etc. that we have available to us.  Is there a local
grocery store except the CO-OP here?  They don't carry certain items and I
have to rely on the chains for those.

I support local businesses but not to the exclusion of chains.  The best
product at the best price is important to many of us.  I think we'd all be
amazed if someone listed the number of businesses by some category and
whether or not they were part of a chain.  Some here are a chain of two or
three that most of us think of as local while the second one is in another
state.  They started out as a local business for some community and due to
hard work and persistence have grown into a dreaded "chain."

Just the other side.

Walter Steed