Our story takes place in a charming small southern town where our good hearted and somewhat quirky military wife and her husband are transferred. Upon settling in to their home, our heroine begins the arduous task of finding a job. After a year long search she takes a leap of faith by opening up a gift shop in her sleepy town. Our lovable military wife falls in love with the town and its people. She immerses herself in her new community. She makes friends, volunteered, and after years of hard work the shop begins paying for itself. Our now happy if not somewhat frazzled shopkeeper hires an amazing staff, adds an online shop, and even wins best gift shop 2 years in a row. Finally, our mildly stressed but optimistic shop owner feels like she can take a deep breath. The American dream finally realized… and then quite suddenly something strange and disconcerting begins to happen.
Our leading lady’s fantastic customers, whom she loves so much, begin taking pictures of the items in her shop instead of buying them. The very items that pay for our heroines business and pay her employees paychecks. The merchandise she has researched, purchased, and is excited to show her customers; suddenly stop selling at the pace they once did. Where the customer once would have bought the item for their friend; more and more of her customers are now snapping a photo and texting their friends, “Thinking of you”. It gets worse, our now sleep deprived shop keeper notices an even more gruesome trend. Like a shot to the heart she witnesses several of her beloved patrons buy her merchandise from Amazon instead of her whilst standing in her little gift shop… she loses feeling in her arm…
Our valiant anxiety ridden protagonist shakes it off and prepares for the Super Bowl of gifting… Christmas. This is the biggest season for gift shops and it’s what sustains many little Mom and Pops during Spring and Winter. But this Christmas something new happens. Despite the amazing energy and hustle and bustle of her happy customers, Christmas comes and goes, and for the first time the shop doesn’t hit it’s goal… the dismayed and now slightly balding shopkeeper reads articles where they explain how for the first time ever, online shopping exceeded Bricks and Mortar businesses. This trend is happening nationally— not just in her shop, not just her block. What will it all mean for a quaint little downtown?
But this is a story of perseverance, hence our brave shopkeeper who now has a mild stress rash keeps her head up, attempts to stay positive while running her business the best way she knows how and waits for things to turn around. She researches what she can do differently, more efficiently, how can she be better? She goes on her annual buying trip and carefully selects and buys for the new year. She comes back home exhausted but inspired and is excited for her customers to see what wonderful things she has found. Per industry guidance she hangs up a sign that reads “No Photography please”. Our hopeful, if not now mildly haggard shopkeeper installs a Digital Rewards Program to reward her customers for shopping local, she enrolls in business classes…and then something else begins.
Buildings in the downtown for the first time in her 8 years, begin to be bought and sold. Rents begin to double and wonderful shops that have been around forever close. Now this is something our shop owner can’t control and this has caused her to hyperventilate into a brown paper bag more than once. She begins to wonder if her shop, her beloved downtown is going the way of the Dodo? Extinct. Unnecessary.
Uncertain of what to do, she gets up every morning and does her best to keep herself and her staff motivated. She works harder than ever on keeping her customers engaged while striving to make her little shop the best it can be. When she reads about people petitioning for a Target she drives herself to the ER with what she is confident is a full on heart attack. Our dispirited girl starts dreaming of those month long desert retreats she hears rich folk talk about…
What would she say if anyone was willing to hear? Probably something like: “Every time you make a purchase you are casting a vote on what is important to you as a neighbor of your community. In the 10 years that I have lived here I have seen it thrive and flourish under a passionate citizenry that shows up to the Sunrise Theater for movies and concerts when it was on the brink of closing its doors. I have seen empty buildings turned into something special by folks who have spent their lives working for someone else; this is there chance to live their dream by opening their own restaurant, or specialty shop. It would break my heart if our downtown became a place where little miracles like that no longer had a home.”
What will become of our fearsome heroine? Will rent increase until she can no longer sustain? Will people buy everything online and remove the need for a friendly neighborhood gift shop? We hope not. We hope folks will realize how important an independent downtown is to our community. We hope the trend of online buying is a fad and folks will once again crave connection and professional relationships. We hope there is a realization that every dollar you spend is the same as casting a vote on what you want your community to look like. For now, our spirited shopkeeper will keep working on making the best gift shop she can for her beloved customers and friends in her favorite downtown, right here Under the Pines…
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