Here I Go Again...

I just opened a new store in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, MI. It's not my first store; I have been part of at least four businesses in the Soo since I moved here in 1989. A lot has changed in the retail world since that time. And definitely not for the betterment of small, locally owned businesses like mine. Truth is that people no longer have to go to a store to buy things. You can enjoy the comfort of your own home and purchase everything you need; groceries, pet food, medications, sporting goods, gifts, furniture, appliances, clothing and so much more. In the past 20 years I have seen the inevitable decline of "in person" shopping, directly correlated to the success and popularity of online shopping. Once loved department stores have gone the way of the dinosaur (extinct). Businesses that were able to weather every economic storm for a century are now shuttered. New generations of consumers no longer feel the need to go to a physical location to make purchases. In years past, a city's downtown was the economic hub. Downtown was where we all shopped, ate and played. Today, even folks still willing to shop in person find strip malls and retail mega giants like Wal Mart much easier and more convenient than shopping downtown. It's just a fact of life that many small downtowns have become obsolete. And yet....here I go again, opening a small store in a small town.