Catherine Sevenau is a writer and storyteller who is out to capture your skittery mind. She's penned three books, compiled numerous collections of family genealogy, and has been a regular columnist in the SUN since 2016. She can be reached at [email protected].
Shopping Queen
Most of us have too much stuff, and it continually creeps into our space. By the looks of the hourly Amazon and FedEx deliveries on my street, online retail is also alive and well. I seldom shop online. When I do, it’s for things I can’t find in town, like Japanese tea or a glass water filter. Nor do I shop in big-box stores. I find Target, Kmart, and Home Depot overwhelming. Costco also does me in, although every five years I forget and shop there anyway. I go for toilet paper, and $400 later I leave with a cart full of items I’d no idea I couldn’t live without, including enough Q-Tips and AA batteries to last me until I die.
My dilemma is shopping locally, versus not shopping at all. I shop here because:
This is my community. Everyone at my bookstore knows me. So do the clerks at the chocolate place, the cheese shop, and the kitchen store. For gifts, there are a multitude of boutiques for cool treasures. Most local restaurants know me and kindly serve me tortilla soup, tom kah or tandoori chicken when I yearn for comfort food. I shop at our grocery stores, including the one with that giant painted chicken; they carry what I need to make chili verde. I’m a regular at the Friday farmer’s market. My physician, eye doctor and dentist are in town. So is my gas station and mechanic, along with my attorney, accountant and the bank that I’ve banked with since second grade. Our clothing shops are always happy to see me, and by the looks of my closet, we’re best friends.
The money I spend here circulates throughout the community, rather than benefitting the likes of Amazon (and yes, I’m without virtue here, as my books are on Amazon, though I continually shoo people to our bookstore).
The businesses I frequent generously donate back to this community. Many are involved with our nonprofits. They advertise in the local papers, magazines, and radio, keeping those ventures vital. They hire our family and friends. They’re helpful and they care. They’re part of our warp and weft, and I’d like them to remain because they’re a giant slice of why I love living in Sonoma.
Before retiring, my business was here (it still is, although I have left the building). Nearly every inspector, contractor and repairman I referred was local. I used Sonoma title companies and lenders. Having been in real estate for over 40 years, it irked me when someone sold with an out-of-town agent. Unless they’re related, a friend, or bought through them, there is little reason to list with someone from out of the area. That chunk of money leaves our community and goes elsewhere.
When we don’t patronize our local businesses, here’s what happens: they can’t keep their doors open. Then we end up with 25 wine-tasting rooms on the plaza, just what every small town needs. The tourists love it, but that’s another conversation.
So when you feel the urge to buy stuff, please, buy locally. Have a glass of our world-renowned wine while you’re out and about. As I don’t care for wine (oh horror), I’ll be at the ice cream shop, having a cone of Lotta Chocolotta.
2 thoughts on “Shopping Queen”
Leave a Reply
Thank you, Catherine! Cultivating a true local economy by frequenting local businesses creates a more diverse socioeconomic environment. Small business owners are the middle class that has been displaced my monopolies.
Bravo, Catherine! Thank you. Every word is so sensible and resonates with me as well. And as a fellow author forced to have one of my books on “amaz0n”, I’m figuring out ways to sign and sell my books directly (even though, since my first book, I said I never wanted to do that). I’m finding that it’s much more personal and rewarding this way.
Let’s have a local treat together next time I’m in town!