YOUR TURN: When small businesses fail, we lose our culture

Joseph Russell | The Courier-Post

A few days ago, I was devastated to learn that a beloved business in downtown Collingswood was closing. The Nesting House, whose lineup of strollers and racks of clothing have become a fixture at the intersection of Haddon and Collings avenues, explained in an email that “although there was a fiercely loyal customer base, there was not enough general community interest to sustain our business.” They note that “the ease of a Target run or an Amazon delivery is not without a ripple effect” and that “these seemingly small buying decisions have an impact on small business.”

Beyond selling thoughtful, high-quality products for babies and toddlers in a town full of young families, the Nesting House hosted the kinds of events that set them apart from big-box stores: classes full of invaluable information on topics like pregnancy and childbirth, meetups for new parents, and play sessions for kids. The loss of this community hub for local families means more than just losing a place to buy toys and clothing. It means losing an important asset to families that can’t easily be replaced.

For all the talk of making America great again, there’s been little talk about one of the most insidious causes for what accounts for a large part of our diminished greatness. On the national level, pundits love to lament the loss of factory jobs that used to support life in both big cities and small towns, but few critique the big-box stores and internet shopping that helped destroy their commercial cores.

Locally, the vibrant shopping mecca that once was downtown Camden was allowed to rot in favor of the Cherry Hill Mall. And today, downtown Collingswood, along with others like Haddonfield, Merchantville, Westmont or Oaklyn, compete with strip malls on routes 70 and 38 for business.

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The loss of downtown small businesses is the true loss of American culture. When we abandon historic downtowns for corporate highway strip malls, we lose our culture. When we shop online to save few dollars instead of supporting a store down the street, we lose our culture. When we give up the unique experiences that every small business brings to the towns in which they are located in favor of the blandness of gigantic national retailers, we lose our culture.

Supporting local businesses isn’t just a neighborly thing to do, but a requirement for keeping a local economy strong. Shopping locally keeps money in the community rather than sending it out to anonymous corporate headquarters whose only concern is maximizing shareholder profit. When money is spent at a local business, it’s much more likely that it will stay in that community, and that virtuous cycle enriches the area as a whole. Locally owned businesses lay down roots in their communities by cultivating meaningful relationships with their neighbors and learning what their needs are. They may not be able to compete very well with the discount pricing that comes with mass production and shipping logistics, but the humanity in their service and unique place in our communities can never be replicated by Target or Amazon.

When a beloved small business dies, it takes a piece of the community’s soul with it. If we’re ever going to achieve greatness in America, it will begin by supporting the locally owned small businesses that make up the hearts of the places we live.

Joseph Russell is a resident of Collingswood.