Main Street Matters By Michelle Owens - Executive Director, Tybee Island Development Authority/Main Street
Ever notice how the best Christmas movies always start with a wide angle shot of a charming, cozy downtown where happy shoppers scurry to and fro, and
friendly shopkeepers wave hello?
The hero or heroine of the story always owns the local bakery, bookstore, diner, antique shop, candy cane factory, bed and breakfast or equally quaint mom
and pop shop. And in spite of some great life adversity he or she might be facing, the resilient shopkeeper still creates a magical place that serves as the center
of community life.
By the end of the movie a miracle occurs. Adversity is overcome just in time for a happy holiday ending and we viewers are left wishing that we too could feast
on homemade candy and hot cocoa all month long without gaining a pound.
As far-fetched as life in these seasonal Shangri-las might appear, it’s actually within grasp. No magical pixie dust required.
You just need to don your gay apparel and go find your favorite cluster of locally owned and operated businesses, figuratively, and often literally, referred to as
Main Street.
Main Street needs your support, especially at this time of the year, when everyone’s tempted to order online or shop at the closest mega chain store. When you
spend locally, your money boomerangs around the community like the gift that keeps on giving. In fact, a 2018 study by American Express found that for every
dollar spent at a small business in the U.S., approximately 67 cents stays in the local community.
That’s because the merchants of Main Street are your neighbors or your neighbor’s kids. They donate countless gift cards, door prizes, and man hours to local
causes, even if it means less take home pay for themselves. They know their customers first-hand and stock the shelves accordingly.
When the kid next door needs a summer job, they hire him, even if he is all thumbs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that since the end of the Great
Recession, small businesses have created 62 percent of all net new private-sector jobs.
Just like those shopkeepers on our favorite Christmas movie channel, local merchants take time to learn your name. When you say “gimme my usual,” they
know what that is. They give service with a smile amidst the myriad pressures and worries that accompany small business ownership.
The merchants of Main Street are the heart of the community. They give us fun places to go after home and work. We need these “third places” to hold tight the
fabric of community and cultivate our sense of belonging. Countless urban planning studies recognize that sidewalks are great in a community, but people don’t
use them if they don’t lead to a destination like Main Street.
Imagine a town without a Main Street. It’s worse than a year without a Santa Clause! Worse than being banned from reindeer games. Like a lesson worthy of
George Bailey, we’d quickly learn it’s not such a wonderful life.
The National Main Street Program and Small Business Saturday (held the Saturday after Thanksgiving) are two ways that we show support for small
businesses. Our Tybee Island Main Street program supports small businesses all year long, so if you already shop local and want to do more, check in with us at
City Hall to see how else you can show support.
When you get ready to buy goods or services, please don’t go over the river and through the woods to shop somewhere else if you can find it right here at home.
Our local merchants open their doors day after day to serve our needs in this age of global competition, copyright infringement, online bashing and two-day
shipping. That’s the real miracle on Main Street.
30 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | DEC 2019
MIRACLE ON MAIN STREET