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| English: A Bank of America Banking Center at Porter Ranch Town Center, a shopping center in Porter Ranch. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| English: simulated Wal-Mart logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| Old Ruby Tuesday logo and slogan (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Photo from the Gloucester Main Street Association.
The Gloucester Main Street Association decided to send us their Shop Local campaign ad to show us what they think are the benefits they are selling. Shop local,
Wal-Mart,
Food Lion,
Rite Aid, Ollie's, Lowe's,
Home Depot, Big Lots,
Tractor Supply, Applebee's,
Ruby Tuesday's,
Bank of America, Sun Trust, these are all local businesses right? These businesses have local employees right? They get paychecks don't they?
If the employees get paychecks, the buck stays here if they pay local bills, isn't that correct? We can go on and on with local/national businesses that all contribute to the community. That's the issue here that these people just do not get. That is if they really want to get it.
Again we will show the poster that shows benefits for shopping local. You want to show why shopping local makes a difference. Slogans are all fine and dandy when used properly. The slogans are not being used properly. We just showed that above.
If we are shopping for the best price on a new LED
LCD TV with 3D, We are going to go local in Williamsburg or
Newport News. Not Gloucester. The selection isn't here. Wal Mart may have 2 TV's in stock that meet our criteria. In Newport News, we can find a multitude of selections at a number of stores. It's still local for us. It has not left Virginia. Define local. The GMSA is supposed to be promoting the businesses on Main Street right? You wouldn't know it with their campaigns.
Live Local? As opposed to where? Are we trying to kick out the tourists? What message are we sending to the tourists with Shop Local? Go back home and buy your stuff there instead? Bank local. What? No Internet banking? You can't get more local than your own home computer. Anyone have any other great ideas to waste money on? We just keep falling on the floor laughing very hard at the sheer lunacy of this entire farce.
How about fly local. Instead of flying out of some major airport on a major airline, hire a local pilot to fly you to Japan. Golf local. Vacation local. Take in a major Broadway show local? What about local wine? Gloucester has some great vineyards. Drink local. Bike local. Gloucester has some of the best bike paths in the nation. In fact, we are world leaders here. Go to our local amusement parks?
Here's a photo of Gloucester's very own world class amusement park. Future plans may include broken glass, sharp metal objects and rusty nails.
Yeah boy, keep it local. Die local too we would suppose.
What is supposed to be the idea behind shop local is to get customers into local businesses and not the big box national chains isn't it? Is that being conveyed anywhere? No! Another question. Is anyone going to be checking ID's at the local stores to make sure that only local people get the local discounts? Where is the list of local retailers that are participating in the Shop Local campaign?
The GMSA does not have a list. Instead they say see local Main Street businesses for special discounts. Is the Gloucester County government offering any discounts? 10% off your tax bill today only? Free park access passes to area parks that are already free? Free glass of water when you pay your water bill? Get out of jail free if you get busted today? (April 27th, 2013).
WHERE ARE THE BENEFITS! Why should we waste our valuable time? Is the GMSA getting the message yet? How hard would it have been to put together a list of participating businesses and maybe even include what the discounts might be? But then they would have to actually care about local businesses. Quick, everyone run to the GMSA to sign up for all of these great benefits and pay out the nose for that membership. You too can be included in all of these fantastic concepts that waste your money?
Be sure to visit this shop while you are in the Main Street area. They are offering free window tours.
In all seriousness, Gloucester Main Street has some very fine places to shop. Olivia's is a wonderful place to eat as is the Wild Rabbit Cafe. Kelsick market has a great wine and beer selection as well as wonderful foods. We have heard that the bakery in the area is also wonderful. It's more than worth your time to hit these shops and don't wait for the Shop Local campaign to kick in to do so. Anna's has Gloucester's best Pizza hands down. The library is worth a visit and so is the Gloucester Museum of History. We can not forget Rosemary and Wine either. Well worth a visit when you are hungry.
It's worth your time to once again explore Main Street for a few hours. The sidewalks are a serious joke especially with the light poles in the middle of them, but do not let that discourage you. Parking is also a mess, but again, well worth your time to find a good spot. We would love to see a good solid campaign done for the area businesses. Just don't look for it to come out of the GMSA. The area needs one solid business leader to take a leadership role in the area and actually do what has to be done. It's not that hard or that expensive. Time consuming yes. But not at all hard.
It has to be making area businesses sick with all the poor planning yet all the money poured into this joke of Shop Local that was not in the least well executed. Can the businesses get their money back?
It is our best wishes that local area businesses do get benefits from this. We are sure that the GMSA will have an article in the paper claiming it was a huge success. It's not in their best interest not to. If you are one of the local businesses participating in this campaign and do not see a benefit, let the paper know about it. They might even report it. Maybe.
Free MP3 Download. Don Ward - Clear Blue Now is the track. CC Lic 3.0
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