To start with, sorry Walt, but there was never a fairytale castle at the end of Main Street USA. A castle inspired by a wacky German King. My ugly home town in rural Michigan, still had a main street when I was a child. The kind of a main street with three small grocery stores, a 5 and dime, a drug store with a soda fountain and counter, a clothing store, the town library, a hardware store (that is still there - run by someone I went to high school with), a Ford dealer and a couple of gas stations. The hardware store is about all that is left today. The "supermarket" built on the edge of town in the early 70's rapidly ran the small local stores out of business, then it in turn closed as towns nearby opened larger stores, that were part of larger brands with more efficient supply chains and consumers who would sooner spent an hour driving than pay 10-cents more for a can of beans. While we long for the simplicity of main street, with everything you need (maybe not everything you want) being within walking distance, we let small town America die. In the 60's and 70's we flocked to the malls, marking the near end of small local clothing retailers. Now the malls are closing, replaced by mega markets, who are in turn now being threatened by online retail. Why should I drive to the mall or the big box store when I can shop from home, viewing all of the options and prices, and have it delivered to my door? I can't remember the last time I was in a shopping mall, I have been to Target once in the past three months, but ordered from them online three times. My monthly visit, has largely been replaced by my monthly online order. Free shipping from Prime, means I don't have to have a minimum order to avoid a shipping fee and I don't have to mask up, glove up and put gas in the car.
Yet there are still times, when strolling through small shops is great fun. You know the kind of place where you don't know what you need, until you see it and then can't live without it.
Will the changes of this year, create opportunities for a rebirth of main street?
For a split second there I thought you were talking to me...
ReplyDelete😂 😂😂 I did, too!
DeleteMy childhood home towns, cities didn’t have a Main Street. I always thought the idea was so quaint. When I went away to school, the small town actually had a Main Street just like I had imagined.... Except no castle at the end either, Walt!
And so did Jerry! 😂😂😂
DeleteWCS sorry about that, I was referring to the one that that dead, who my brother has worked for for 42 years.
DeleteMitchell, my undergrad institution is at the end of the "The Avenue" lined with boutiques, nice restaurants, and art galleries.
Delete"You know the kind of place where you don't know what you need, until you see it and then can't live without it." That IS Target. 😊
ReplyDeleteI describe that as collateral damage
Deletesmall main streets are dead and buried.
ReplyDeletemalls are mostly gone too (except for behemoths like king of prussia).
big box store clusters or online it is.
it's probably been over 15 years since I stepped into king of prussia mall. and it's only 7 miles away from home.
I still spend $$ at local restaurants (no chains) and the grocery store (PA based owner).
I'd like to see a resurgence of small local shops
DeleteI grew up in a small town in upstate NY where there was a main street. It has largely disappeared, and it is kind of sad. I would love to live in a town where I could walk to a line of shops on a quaint street and just do some window shopping. No car driving at all!
ReplyDeleteDevelopers have tried creating "town centers" with retail within walking distance of higher density residential, but the pricing of the retail space makes it hard for small local businesses to compete. In the small town I grew up in, the merchants owned the buildings, some lived on the upper floors and ran the business below.
DeleteWhere I live in S. CO ... we do have a Main Street lined with various and sundry businesses! Look up Canon City, CO ... we are small and a tourist trap due to the world famous Royal Gorge Bridge -- you can look that one up, too!
ReplyDeleteAnd you have a tourist train, add that to my list of places to visit.
Deletebeen to canon city, but did not take the train ride. on my bucket list!
DeleteWhere I live now in Noblesville, Indiana, we have a town square that contains a restored county courthouse. The four streets that go around the square contain local eateries, bars, small boutiques, law offices, a old-time hardware store, and a couple of antique malls. It is a thriving area, mainly due to a Noblesville Preservation Alliance.
ReplyDeleteThose areas can be so fun
DeleteI think it will be a very sad day if it happens that we can no longer physically examine what we might buy. We were in a bookshop buying a book for my niece and although a committed ebook reader, I started seeing lots of interesting books and it was tempting.
ReplyDeleteI buy some print, I also see books and buy the kindle edition
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