Is the grass always greener?
In the past few years I have heard a lot of people commenting on the quality of small boutique shopping in the Buffalo area. Today, a customer (unsolicited) expressed her appreciation for the shops in the area. She told me that she currently lives in Charleston, S.C., and that there are no longer any of the small privately owned shops that used to flourish in the downtown shopping districts. The Gaps and Banana Republics took over the thriving shopping areas and drove the rents up so high that the smaller privately owned businesses could no longer afford their old spaces. I am sure that this is no suprise to a lot of you, but to hear the disappointment in her voice really was quite something. I waver all the time on this subject. Most days I feel that it would be great to have a Gap close by. But every once in a while I imagine these little shopping districts full of chain stores and I shudder. Sometimes I have to take a step back in order to put things into perspective. So, today words of wisdom come in the form of a talkative customer from out of town. Before she walked out of the shop, I told her that I would still not be opposed to having a Banana Republic in the neighborhood. She said, "Be careful what you wish for... we all said the exact same thing at one point."
What Do You Think?
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