Bill Lynch: Shop local, it’s good for business

Owning a Plaza storefront is a tough job these days|

While my recent column praising the Vintage Festival as a local treasure (“Vintage Festival, a Sonoma Treasure,” Sept. 23) was well received by many, I know that not every event that happens on our Plaza is appreciated by all.

Recently, I had a conversation with a longtime local Plaza-area business owner who reminded me how much Plaza businesses like his suffer during major Plaza celebrations.

Events in our Plaza are enjoyable and a special part of our hometown, but they do come at a cost, and our small locally-owned businesses often bear the majority of that expense.

Yes, there are a lot of people downtown during an event and that should be good for business. But those people don’t generally shop around the Plaza, and they use up virtually all of the available parking so that anyone who might want to shop will have to park blocks away. This also impacts restaurants and service businesses located downtown depending on the timing of the event.

Even the Tuesday Farmers Market adversely impacts some businesses, especially restaurants.

This is not a new concern. In fact, for several decades, downtown Sonoma merchants have had sort of love-hate relationship with events that take up all the parking and entice visitors to spend their time in the Plaza.

The most recent conversation with a local business owner is just one more reminder of how hard it is for small town merchants to make it in this age of online commerce, major out of town malls and big discount stores like Costco.

When I recall my youth in Sonoma, I also recall that our Plaza was where everyone shopped. Local business owners were part of the community, they knew their customers, and greeted them by name. They were active in community affairs and served on local boards and the city council.

Sonoma’s first alcalde was August Pinellli, proprietor of Mission Hardware for decades at the corner of East Napa Street and First Street East.

August used to remind his fellow Plaza merchants how precious each downtown parking place was and how important it was to make the area easy for locals to shop.

There are not many small, independent businesses, particularly retailers, left in our town. There is an economic reason why many Plaza space have been occupied by winery tasting rooms. Some local merchants survive, barely, in our own small local shopping centers several blocks off the Plaza.

These little mom and pop proprietors are reminders of Sonoma’s rich heritage and charm. Their numbers are shrinking. In my mind they are city treasures every bit as valuable as the artists we name as treasures every year.

Are our small town merchants an endangered species? Yes, I believe they are. Can we help them survive? Possibly.

As we head into the Christmas shopping season, I’d like my fellow residents to make an effort to reintroduce themselves to our hometown and especially to those who need our business to survive?

Sure you can shop online, or drive to Santa Rosa. But why not enjoy a pleasant stroll around the Plaza and our local shopping centers, and discover one of the best things about living in a small town? You won’t find everything you want, but you will discover something that we all might lose.

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