The holidays. It’s a beautiful time of year, I love it so. The atmosphere is full of festive cheer and everyone is collectively in a more kind, generous and loving spirit. As a society, we look forward to taking the time to celebrate and the past year and count our many blessings. And then, you have January, one of my favorite months, where you can take these experiences from the prior year and make plans to reboot and start fresh with a blank slate. December and January are a good pairing, celebration and reflection. With 2025 just around the corner, I can’t help but think about the global pandemic that is coming on its five year anniversary. Boy did that seem like a lifetime ago; from that experience, one of the silver linings is that this crazy time gave people the opportunity to pivot in their life choices and reset priorities. And a lot of those priorities have to do with new jobs and life directions, whether you had to find a new career due to unforeseen circumstances or you had the time to re-envision your dreams, many took this chance to start over. People decided to take risks and leave their “boring jobs” to find their passions. During their time of isolation and self-reflection, people decided to go and do the thing they’ve always dreamed of, risks and all, this was the moment.
This brings us to where we are now, over the years, small businesses have increased (which is awesome). People are going for it, they are making sacrifices, taking the leap and all with the ultimate purpose of sharing their passion with the world. Small business owners basically found something they really love and believe in and they turned this love from a hobby or craft into their career. Whether it’s opening a yoga studio, starting a ceramics shop, opening a neighborhood coffeeshop or becoming a full-time social media influencer, you are doing what you love and you are taking the risk that by doing so will bring you and others JOY. Think of all of the small businesses, whether you are in a small town or big cosmopolitan city, the small curated shops always have a certain vibe. And that vibe is heart, care and passion. I’m not knocking the big chain stores or services, I love Target and Amazon as much as the next person, but only the small boutiques have a charm and personality like no other. Most small business start up because of a want to share their passion and hope that they can make a living off this dedication and if they are lucky enough to be monetarily successful, then that’s just icing on the cake. To me, success is not always determined by the bottom line, it’s what you bring to your community and what fills your bucket; but, we live in a capitalistic society (which I’m all for) so if your small business brings in the big bucks then good on you! Woo hoo!
Elsewhere Brewery - Closed in November 2024.
In this past year, however, I’ve noticed that there are so many beloved small businesses from hospitality to small shops that have closed. Some of these businesses started around Covid times and some have been around for decades, it’s a mixed lot. Of course, many new businesses have opened and perhaps it’s just the nature of the business and competition or maybe it’s the stress and burden of carrying so much on your shoulders year after year. It’s just not easy and often the only thing that keeps you going is the view that you are really providing something special to your community. And often it’s the really neighborhood-y places with regularly customers that have the best chance to survive. These type of places are what make neighborhoods thrive and give even parts of big cities that small town feel at times. You are essentially wearing your heart on your sleeve. You are so vulnerable. This time of year, with everyone doing one final push for sales and marketing with hopes that your year will end on a celebratory high note ( and therefore, allowing you to start off the upcoming new year with a bang), I want to say I’m with you and I see you and all of your efforts. We are in the same boat. That’s why I love when small businesses support small businesses, I see this all the time. Even the places that I curate all of my merchandise for the Curated Collection are from small businesses. I see local craft breweries all follow each other on social media and cheer each other on in good times and pour one out for their compadres when they shut down. Elsewhere Brewing in Atlanta was an example of this and when they had to shut down both locations this year, the love of the community really came across strong during the weeks leading up to their closing. Another local example is when the Seed Factory which was an incredibly popular children’s store in Atlanta, closed this year after over 20 years of business. It was sad and I was glad I was able to do a pop up shop there before they shut down. There were so many restaurants in Atlanta that closed down, the latest being West Egg Cafe after 21 years. Wow, that hurt. We used to go there before we had kids and were young and patient enough to wait in line for Sunday brunch. The examples are endless and every city and small town has their own versions of all of these closures of beloved small businesses.
Examples of small business retailers that closed this year.
On the flip side, there are so many places that I love that I hope will be able to survive the shop small and shop local wilderness. It’s beautiful out there, but it’s a wild ride. If you go to these places (insert your own fave small business), you can tell that they work so hard to keep up the energy in order to keep people coming back, constantly marketing, re-marketing and adapting with the times. It’s exhausting work but so rewarding. At every pop-up market, weekend market, holiday market, you see small business owners come together to showcase their products and services to new audiences. It’s so fulfilling when you get to talk to potential new customers and they express their excitement in finding your business.
Notebooks & Honey at Tinsel and Twine Holiday Market.
One can’t help wonder what will happen to my small business. Notebooks & Honey does not have much overhead and it’s just me … A solopreneur. I have great flexibility as I more or less just have to think about myself and what works with my life at the moment. I can shut down tomorrow and nobody would blink. But I don’t want to. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved, I want everyone that wants one to have a Notebooks & Honey ultimate modern tote bags. Even with the business's ups and downs, I love owning a small business and I need to focus on the big picture which to me is providing a product that is unique that I think the public will really love. To wrap it up, best of luck to everyone at the end of the year and best of luck for another (fingers crossed) great start of the new year. And for those that are visiting, whether it’s an online store/service or brick and mortar shop, don’t forget the personal touches behind each neighborhood small business owner is seen in their merchandising display, candles that make the shop smell lovely, store pop up gatherings and end of the season promotions and specials. Whether it’s your favorite bar, restaurant, studio or shop. Let’s keep supporting small businesses and shopping local!