it’s a catch 22--the mega stores have driven out so many of the smaller ones, so you shop online because it becomes easier, more efficient and I suppose in a way your (my) way of thumbing my nose at the megas.  But by shopping online, you find one thing which leads to another and then another (or at least that is what happens to me) and before you know it, you are saying to yourself, well, since I am here (online) and getting this, I might just as well pick up this rather than make a special trip and then you stop going to the small places that you had been patronizing.  I hear you...several places I loved have gone under or just plain decided to give up and it is sad.  I don’t think though they can totally blame the internet....they should ALL consider selling online as well as in their stores, but it is the megas that are driving everyone out.  You cannot possibly compete on price--the only thing you can compete on is service, personality, attention to detail and unfortunately, for most people, they couldn’t care less. Customer service??>? What’s that??  Who cares??  Many wouldn’t know it or care about it if it jumped up and smacked them over the head............ya know?

Yes, I broke down and went to a mega store to get the supplies I needed. In Portsmouth. Grrr. Michael’s—it’s a fun store to browse in, but it’s a lot farther away than I want to travel for supplies. Means I have to keep a list and when it gets big enough, THEN I go. Or combine it with another trip. I guess that’s a mega-store, isn’t it? It’s warehouse sized, anyway.

I still maintain that I live at the ends of the earth. Nothin’ here but a KMart and a shrinking number of tiny shops that mainly cater to the tourists. Not generally useful stuff for everday living. Want a decent spatula? Portsmouth. Want a decent quality piece of cookware? Portsmouth. Want cotton bed sheets? Portsmouth. Want art supplies? Portsmouth. Etc!

I prefer to support local businesses.  And will do so as long as I can.

Cas

Yay, Cassie-b.

We still have a wonderful book store in town. And as long as they are here, they, and NOT Amazon, get my business. Although they do sell books online now. But it was that or perish. Man, do they despise Amazon.

It’s happening here in the UK too, in all sorts of areas. But it’s books and paper supplies that I most mourn the loss of, nothing beats the pleasure of browsing a good bookstore for hidden gems that you just won’t find with Amazon’s dreadful “people who bought this book also bought this dvd so you should too” kind of marketing.

I’ve tried to support local business for years, but the temptation is just too great to do one’s shopping online. I have to be careful with my money, especially since I am a hunter and gatherer (= collector), and all too often products are tons cheaper online. The other day I sent off an order to one of my most frequented haunts and I was able to save almost exactly 50% when compared to the cheapest offer in my area.

In summation, I run around with a bad conscience most of the time.

I shop online, too. It’s getting to be an inescapable fact of life. Mostly for things like software, DVDs, or electronics. The same items I’d have to buy at Best Buy or Circuit City (in Portsmouth, NH). Sometimes, even from their online stores. There are no shops left in the area that sell those types of items. Books...always with my local bookseller. If they don’t have something, they order it for me and it’s here in two to three days. They’ve never failed me yet. Even with the most obscure, out of print titles. We’ve had a 12 year relationship and they know me, my tastes, and will often recommend something that I hadn’t heard of that they know I’d be interested in. Sure beats Amazon’s generalized ‘people who bought this item also bought....’ scheme.

What I found irritating this week, though, was wanting to buy a few art supplies that were new to me. What I really needed to do was see them in person, touch them, try them before buying. You can read a dozen different recommendations, but unless you can actually see for yourself, you’re taking a big chance buying something that will end up not being what you needed or wanted, based on someone else’s perceptions.

And with paper products, I need to feel them and see them first—is the paper the right kind of paper for what I need? Is it the right color? Is it thick enough for liquid ink? One person’s thick is another person’s thin. There are no substitutes sometimes for in person, up close, and personal.

ahhhh, don’t get too hooked on Michael’s cause I just read the other day where it either has been sold or is up for sale!!  I think the only other place I know of that carries the same and is as big is AC Moore’s.  You know where you MIGHT find some of the things you are looking for is in the town I live in--there is a bookstore near the academy that is tiny, but fun--has a fireplace, comfy chairs, usually a pot of coffee and a plate of something or other - I don’t go there often as I hate paying full price, but I do pop in now and again…

here is the link,
http://andoverbookstore.com/

I just realized when I accessed their website they have one near you as well?  Perhaps it is the same one you do go to.........

I can see it happening...eventually I’m gonna have to take the train to Boston for a day, every now and then, to stock up on the stuff that I can’t find anywhere else because stores keep going out of business, or they’re bought, merged and moved or SOMETHING. I dunno. Michael’s used to be much closer, then moved a couple of times, progressively further north. Next stop—through the black hole.

The Book Rack is one of my occasional haunts. It does have some nice specialty stationery, but it’s a pain in the neck to get to. In the summer...fergeddit. (I really need to get a bicycle for downtown navigating during tourist season!) The Jabberwocky is my favorite. One of the best bookstores I’ve ever known. And I’m picky about my bookstores.

I prefer to shop locally but the problem is that my little art store charges so much that it is prohibitive and with the amount of paint I go through....well, just less of what I love to do.  So I compromise...I buy supplies online but I take ceramic classes at the little shop.  Which just about splits the difference.