I should say in the OP that I was hoping we could use the small businesses people post, so if we can mail order from your faves, that would be great.
Yeah! I just ordered from Etsy and felt like I was supporting a bloke whose small business just uses that platform.
Yeah, not all Amazon is bad. It can be the best option as a platform for sellers, and Amazon taking a cut of some money going to a small business is better than no money going to a small business at all. Same with EBay, same with Etsy. But I think you need to go looking for those listings, or at least understand how to tell where they are coming from. My point is really just that I am trying to be more mindful about where my money is going and spend accordingly.
I kept trying to even think about a small business I use that isn’t like a restaurant or repair shop… couldn’t really come up with one. I do use Etsy sometimes. I liked it better when they didn’t allow the overseas China shops on there, but several of them have been small shops. It’s where I got my desk.
The place I get 90% of my coffee from here in Seattle:
Oh, I can definitely get behind that idea. It’s just that most of the time there simply isn’t a choice. No one here stocks anything I need or want, beyond basic foodstuffs, and as much as I want to support small businesses, waiting weeks for a specific thing and then paying sometimes twice as much for it is simply not within budget.
Agreed! I understand that some parts of the country are definitely more advantaged than others when it comes to local availability of stuff. For that reason I would never actually judge how and where anyone spends their money, and I apologize if I came off that way.
Not at all! I never for a moment thought you were judging. I was just musing on the ways location and circumstances shape our patterns of consumption.
I really like the local bike coop. Whenever I need new tires, tubes, brakes, or whatever, it’s the place to go. If you like biking I would look for a bike coop near you, if there is one. There are two in the area I know of, and both have good prices, used parts (I can’t tell you how useful this was when looking for a replacement seat bolt when my old one sheared off), and a community focus with lots of resources for people.
Anyhow if you are in the Portland metro and need some bike parts, they’re worth a look.
Otherwise Powell’s City of Books is amazing! A bookstore that takes a city block.
I am in love.
Eugene had this Smith Family book store, loved it. We don’t have any like it here, but that was huge. I should check them out. It’s been years since I thought of them.
Homeless Garden Project has a 15% coupon for Cyber Monday: CyberMonday2020
Gonna buy some jam!
In Arvada, Colorado, west of Denver, there’s a used/rare book store called Black & Read (like the joke–what’s black and white and read all over?). Over the years, it has grown and evolved, serving a wider and wider set of punk, counterculture, and nerd audiences. Since the 90s, it’s had a music store attached. Eventually it started carrying RPGs, going all-in on series like White Wolf’s World of Darkness. When board games had their renaissance, Black & Read built the most comprehensive new and used board game inventory in the city. New books, board games, etc. are always sold with a 15-20% discount.
How the hell they have managed to stay in business is a mystery to me. The shop is overflowing with books, movies, records, and games–way more than they have shelf space for (they opened a second location maybe twenty years ago just for overflow used merchandise and online selling, and both stores are still a mess). Young punks who were hired to work the counters are now in their fifties and running the store (the founder died just this year).
Black & Read is a one-of-a-kind place. I bring out-of-town guests there because there’s always something there they can geek out over. If you’re ever in Colorado, stop by.
ADDENDUM: Just found this lovely obit of the store’s founder, Danny Graul, which includes remembrances from Colorado native and friend of the store, Jello Biafra.
Beautiful. Reminds me of several old bookstores in Ann Arbor, all of which I believe have gone away now :(
Man, I have friends in Golden I’ll be visiting in the next year or so, when circumstances permit. Definitely spending some time in Black & Read.
We’re fortunate to have a number of independent bookstores, game stores, and record stores here, but all under separate roofs. I’ll take 'em all, though.
Come to think of it, the small business scene here is really good for a town this size. A great local butcher, one amazing hardware store and a couple indifferent ones, several independent grocery stores (a co-op and three or four “specialty” places), plus the usual artsy boutiques and coffee shops. They do pretty well by not competing with Kroger and Wawmart. Except the co-op, which is badly run and survives mainly on inertia and community goodwill.
@BennyProfane, Yeah, Borders started as a used bookstore there, IIRC.