[rhudeboye]

I was unable to make any of the detail day or catch it online as I was helping a friend close her coffee shop. This place had been around for years and was well received in the community. We watched it grow from a small coffee house with excellent customer service to an all out café. The best thing about this place was the conversations you would have with the staff. Mostly family and just very hospitable. However as a result of this difficult economy Michelle had to close her doors last Friday and start selling off her equipment and furniture.

The owner really took pride in her establishment and everyone seemed to enjoy her coffee, as it was much better then starbucks (not hard to accomplish btw) and the shop, which she called the lounge, was simply beautiful. Great place to read a book and have a snack. She also did soups and sandwiches. Really sucks to see good people fail and so many small and friendly businesses folding.

Just my sobering thought for Monday.

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[MikeVT]

Restaraunt business is tough anytime

Plus we are getting more and more conditioned to shop and eat at chains

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[rhudeboye]

<!--quoteo(post=80409:date=Sep 21 2009, 09:37 AM:name=MikeVT)-->QUOTE (MikeVT @ Sep 21 2009, 09:37 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->more and more conditioned to shop and eat at chains<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Agreed.

Yet, thats the problem. The mom and pop shops are often better quality and more hospitable yet they're a dyeing breed as they cant compete w/o the giant backing of a larger corp. A shame really.

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[ds968]

Let me go on record here and say this - not taking away any of the merits of mega-companies ( employment of
tens or hundreds of thousands of people, low prices and large selection of items which does indeed benefit the majority of consumers ) .. I detest seeing what this is doing to the individual small businesses that are such an indispensible part of the fabric of this country, and one of its better attributes, IMHO. Where possible, and this is obviously possible less and less with each passing year, I will walk a mile to buy a product or a service from a small business, rather then go into what may be a convenient next door Home Depot, or Walmart, or Starbucks, or what-not, regardless of the lure of saving a few dollars.

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[rhudeboye]

We spent a week in VT earlier this year. They abhor big business up there. Almost every store in the capital of VT was some small, local, unheard of shop. Not a starbucks in site. Instead I got my fix from a place called capital grounds. Good coffee. All the restaurants there were unique as well. Even the clothing stores were small & locally owned businesses. The prices at all of these stores reflected about a 15% higher cost but you understood that your money wasnt feeding inot the use of sweet shops and none free range animals. I kinda dig that.

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[Chris Vais]

<!--quoteo(post=80435:date=Sep 21 2009, 04:39 PM:name=ds968)-->QUOTE (ds968 @ Sep 21 2009, 04:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Where possible, and this is obviously possible less and less with each passing year, I will walk a mile to buy a product or a service from a small business, rather then go into what may be a convenient next door Home Depot, or Walmart, or Starbucks, or what-not, regardless of the lure of saving a few dollars.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I absolutely concur. I don't shop at big box stores with the exception of Home Depot if my local hardware store doesn't carry what I'm looking for. I live in Alameda, a somewhat small town, and I have seen our downtown business district wither. Currently we are enjoying a resurrgence thanks to some smart business decisions by the local business association.

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[MikeVT]

For the most part VT is big box free, but thats changing. We have some strong eviromental regulations that have not stopped but controlled growth. That slow growth has helped us doing this enconomic slowdown. Yes we have been impacted but not as much as most states.

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[rhudeboye]

<!--quoteo(post=80493:date=Sep 22 2009, 03:05 PM:name=MikeVT)-->QUOTE (MikeVT @ Sep 22 2009, 03:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->For the most part VT is big box free, but thats changing. We have some strong eviromental regulations that have not stopped but controlled growth. That slow growth has helped us doing this enconomic slowdown. Yes we have been impacted but not as much as most states.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Hey Mike. VT is a beautiful state. Went to see a graduation in Mt Pelier. Very relaxing time and we bought back a ton of syrup. Might visit stowe in the winter.

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[Darryl]

<!--quoteo(post=80435:date=Sep 21 2009, 07:39 PM:name=ds968)-->QUOTE (ds968 @ Sep 21 2009, 07:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Let me go on record here and say this - not taking away any of the merits of mega-companies ( employment of
tens or hundreds of thousands of people, low prices and large selection of items which does indeed benefit the majority of consumers ) .. I detest seeing what this is doing to the individual small businesses that are such an indispensible part of the fabric of this country, and one of its better attributes, IMHO. Where possible, and this is obviously possible less and less with each passing year, I will walk a mile to buy a product or a service from a small business, rather then go into what may be a convenient next door Home Depot, or Walmart, or Starbucks, or what-not, regardless of the lure of saving a few dollars.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


Well said. Dan, can you call some of my customers and homebuyers? The consumer electronics business is tough enough without trying to compete with Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Sears, etc. not to mention, the Internet. I employ 7 people including my wife and we get beat up on a regular basis over prices. People think because they can save a buck or two on the actual tangible product, the service and support needs to be cheap as well...you get what you pay for!

- Darryl

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[MikeVT]

kinda the American way ... max gain for the lowest cost. Except for our toys of course.

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[ds968]

<!--quoteo(post=80584:date=Sep 23 2009, 03:26 PM:name=MikeVT)-->QUOTE (MikeVT @ Sep 23 2009, 03:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->kinda the American way ... max gain for the lowest cost. Except for our toys of course.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Unfortunately our toys market value ( the 968s) is so cheap nowadays, I'm surprised you can't find them at Costco ( a cab and a coupe set , banded together with a plastic tie strap ) for $ 99.99 [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dry.gif[/img]

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