Valley News Forum for Oct. 22, 2023: Don’t forget about general stores
Published: 10-22-2023 6:16 AM |
The recent changing of the guard at Dan & Whit’s is symptomatic of larger issues out of sight of the public eye. Since the COVID-19 pandemic descended on us, we have heard frequently about staff shortages in schools and hospitals. And for good reason. They fulfill critical needs we can’t do without. The same could be said about municipal sanitation workers, school bus drivers.
But how about general store managers and their employees? While many of us may take them for granted, many general stores play very important functions within their communities. Their unsung and overlooked central presence is the center of community. They are the crossroads for foot traffic and idle chatter that is in itself critical to town life and are the locus of spontaneous communication without which the essence of what we cherish in our towns would wither away.
General stores face a continuous assault from big box and dollar stores that don’t sell what we need. Instead they sell what their parent corporations what us to buy to fatten the corporate bottom line. Profit margins in general stores are necessarily slim. They’re trying to remain competitive in a hostile environment while doing their darndest to meet the needs of their clientele. Big box stores sell a lot of merchandise we don’t really need.
What do we make of all of this? Running small in-town businesses that cater to the local population is a difficult preposition. They operate on faith that they are serving their customers well, and customers who rely on their presence take it on faith these storefronts will always be there. But times are changing. Nothing stays the same for long. We should patronize our local stores to strengthen and enhance their odds of survival.
In a dynamic community such as Norwich, the relationship between community and Dan & Whit’s is essentially symbiotic and based on mutual need and respect. I should know, I’ve lived in the Upper Valley most all my life. Please stop by.
Jim Masland
state representative Windsor-Orange 2
Thetford Center
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