The Big Story on Small

There was an article in the New Yorker magazine that made our hearts smile.

The article said that, “Independent bookstores have actually grown about 20% since 2009.  American craft breweries are now outselling the big-Budweiser. The long-running decline of small family farms has leveled off. And, moviegoers spent over 3 billion dollars seeing independent films last year.”

Back in the day…we shopped small and ate locally– because had no other alternative. Before we knew what hit us—retail became routine, restaurant experiences became redundant and the big box guys were crushing the life out of small services and manufacturing.

We didn’t know that once we started having access to “too much,” we’d eventually feel cheated out of the little things we used to have.Turns out the little things we missed were pretty substantial after all. They were the meaningful things, like differentiation, personalization, originality, regionalism, and craft.

I am glad we missed what we had yesterday.

Now we are seeing small shop owners, independent businesses and specialty boutique entrepreneurs, not just hanging on, but thriving again.  Thanks to the tenacious American consumer, the “little guys” are giving their dominant store rivals some real competition.

Today, we choose to find smaller, smarter “better by a long shot” businesses to support–not just to be snarky, anti-big company rebels, but to actually have a better experience and buy better goods.

So before you start shopping and eating out this fall, remember, yesterday is the new today!  Consider what it is you’re giving up in order to save a little.

This fall shop like there is no tomorrow–and shop like you did yesterday.