I love to shop.
I grew up in Brazil, and some of my favorite memories have to do with shopping, mostly with my grandmother and my sister, on Saturday mornings.
We would go to the produce market, and chat with the vendors as we picked up fruits and veggies. Then it was off to a meat market, or to the fish guy. Along the way we usually stopped at the newsstand, where my grandmother picked up the daily paper and maybe a magazine or two, and, if my sister and I had been good that week, we would be rewarded with some comic books.
Eventually we ended up at my parents’ shop: Importadora Jenny, a fabric store named after my mom. I was about 8 or 9 then, and I remember sitting behind the counter, helping wrap up purchases, talking with the customers.
We moved to New Jersey when I was 12, and everything changed.
For the next 15 years or so, “shopping” usually meant going to one of the huge retail stores. When I lived in Jacksonville, every Tuesday was my shopping day. Winn-Dixie and Target and Stein Mart were the regular stops. And then there was the mall. There were actually two malls pretty close to where I lived, and I would go to one one week, and the other the next. I don’t know why I even bothered to alternate, because they both pretty much offered the same stuff, sorta like what you’d find in any can of Pringles.
Every week, I’d come home with bags of stuff. What was in those bags, I can’t remember. I can’t recall significant conversations with many of the clerks. All I really know now is that shopping was no longer as fun as it once was.
But now shopping is fun again!
I’m back to the basics, shopping locally owned, independent stores whenever possible, and I want to share them with you.
Here at Sticks of Fire, I’ll be writing a weekly article to profile a local retailer or service provider, a cool local business group or event or some other aspect of “shop local.”
I’m not not saying we should never shop at the chains or eat at a franchise. There are times when shopping at those places just makes a lot more sense, and it is true – you may run into me at Publix or Target now and again.
But I do hope the column inspires you to take a moment to give local spots a chance. And i want to make it a little easier for you to find the local options.
If you have any suggestions on a great, cool business, or any place that has become an integral part of its neighborhood, please let me know at localshopper@localshops1.com … thanks!!
Your “Local Shopper” is Ester, also the owner of Local Shops 1, a proud sponsor of Sticks of Fire. LocalShops1 encourages you to support your local independent businesses when you can. The businesses mentioned in this column have NOT paid for this, and membership at LS1 is NOT required for a profile in this space.
