Community Supply to Close at the end of the Month

Local Business owner Lisa Willett posted her farewell post on Facebook today. Community Supply is another great small local business to which we are forced to say goodbye. Every time it happens we vow to shop local, eat local and do what we can to keep these businesses afloat. And we try.

Community Supply’s closing is our canary in the coal mine. Small businesses are struggling in Sonoma. The rents are high, tourism is down, and the cost of everything is at an all-time high. I imagine we will see many more of these heartbreaking closures over the next few months. 

Many business owners went into debt to survive the pandemic lockdowns of 2020. Trying to dig out of a hole with the added weight of high interest rates and drastic increases in supply costs has proven difficult for most, and impossible for many. 

The loans, grants and gofundme campaigns of 2020 have dried up, the debts are coming due,  our businesses need help now more than ever. 

I once visited a town in Kansas that had an entire block of empty shops. I asked my host what was happening and he told me that everything closed when Walmart opened nearby. It may not be Walmart in Sonoma’s case, but it could easily happen here. 

The charm and beauty of Sonoma depends on its unique shops and restaurants, like Community Supply. It is these locally-owned gems that make Sonoma what it is. In our town, every bar is Cheers, every restaurant is Luke’s from Gilmore Girls. Our small businesses truly are woven into the fabric of our community, and we know and love our business owners. 

Once we know a business is in trouble, it is usually too late to help in any meaningful way. We have to, now more than ever, put our dollars where our town is. Yes, the prices are higher than at Walmart, but the alternative is unimaginable. 

If you are a shopper in Sonoma, and you can possibly afford to, please spend your dollars locally. The game used to be to get the best deal possible, but the goal now is to keep Sonoma alive. 

If you are a property owner in Sonoma, it would benefit you, our community, and likely our planet, to look at lowering your rents. I know the game used to be to get as much money as you possibly could, but now the goal is to keep Sonoma alive. Maybe the fair market value is what the small businesses can actually afford. 

If you are a supplier, think about decreasing your profit margin if you can, until the economy turns around. We really need to take the “It’s a Wonderful Life” approach to this growing problem. 

If you can afford to charge less, charge less. If you can spend more, spend more. If you can afford to pay more, pay more, so that other people can spend more. The true wealth is living in a thriving community. The following is Lisa’s Facebook post.
— Alyssa Conder

“With a great sense of reflection, and some sadness, Community Supply will close permanently at the end of September. The environment for running a small retail business in Sonoma has become untenable for us.

Community Supply was born of the desire to cultivate the local economy through buying and selling handmade goods while giving priority shelf space to women and people of color. At a time when we can have just about anything we desire shipped to our door overnight, I hoped that our shop could rekindle a love of shopping in person. From the onset, we stocked our shelves with products and items that kept the environment in mind.

We focused our attention on sourcing sustainable products for the home and personal care products free from harmful chemicals and preservatives. We built relationships with dozens of local makers, and circled out from there, doing our best to offer products made as close to home as possible. We consciously chose products with limited packaging and kept a small selection of bulk products to eliminate unnecessary waste.

In our original location on 5th Street West, we hosted several Maker’s Markets where buyers and sellers could meet one another and form business-to-consumer connections. In our new location in Sonoma Marketplace, we offered makers the opportunity to host pop up shops. We counseled and advised countless partners on ways to position, price and promote their goods. We cut our own profits so that we could offer our local providers a fair price for their goods, never asking them to take the hit so that we could profit.

Community Supply embraced the high ideals of promoting and cultivating a true local economy built on dignity and equity. By working with local makers and providing the space and assistance necessary to launch a micro business, we helped people feel empowered and seen.

Small businesses provide more than a variety of places to shop, eat and access services we need for life; they are the lifeblood of a healthy socioeconomic community. Even though it is the end for Community Supply, we will continue to sound the warning bell: SHOP LOCAL!

We are so grateful to the loyal clientele that supported our mission. There are so many people in our community who walked in our door and immediately understood what we were trying to do and did their best to keep us rolling. Thank you, and we love you! I’m forever grateful to my work family: Michele Schulz, Nick Koerner, Wayne Ritchie, and Maria Feore. Thank you for your patience and kindness.

Beginning September 3rd, and continuing throughout the month, we will be doing our best to sell through our remaining inventory. We have so many wonderful and useful things left on our shelves! Please shop early and help us meet our final obligations.”

With love and gratitude,

Lisa Willett
Owner & Founder of Community Supply