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(downloadable PDF file)
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info@community-store.org
Melinda: 518-891-0197
Gail: 518-891-0182
Community Store Project
PO Box 203
Saranac Lake, NY 12983
Interim Office
HomEnergy Building
33 Depot St.
Saranac Lake, NY 12983
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THE
TIME HAS COME......
We
thank all the community members who have generously found the extra
funds to purchase shares and show their support for the Community Store
- in spite of some tough economic times.
However - ALL
NEW YORKERS can participate - and we need your help - NOW. Help us
with this grand and daring retail plan for Saranac Lake.
Help us shape the economic destiny of our community and set a model for
the world.
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HELP "BUILD" THE STORE!
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EDITORIAL: A Store that's Good for All
Published in the Press
Republican, June 24, 2008
We're pulling in a big way for the success of the Saranac Lake
Community Store. This is a project that can make the village a
beneficiary of its own hard work and sacrifice.
Saranac Lake, like most communities in America, has endured the loss of
commerce and closing of stores.
It collectively decided it didn't want a Wal-Mart there and
successfully deflected the giant retailer's efforts to establish an
outlet.
But what were the residents to do when they needed things established
merchants didn't or couldn't offer? Most likely their best option was
to drive 45 minutes to an hour to Plattsburgh. But that was never
regarded as a good option, even if it was the best one. It has become
an even worse option as the price of gasoline has soared.
Besides, a community that has pride in itself wants to be
self-sufficient to the extent possible. It would have a hard time
abiding the need to drive two hours, both ways, to fetch necessities.
The Community Store concept was born of this yen for self-sufficiency,
as well as frustration at attracting a significant retailer. The idea
was that donations and investments by residents, and perhaps others,
would be collected and put toward creating a store with goods the
community needs at prices it can tolerate. The depth of the residents'
commitment would be measured in their willingness to provide cash
toward the project.
The store would be run by a board motivated by an eagerness to see the
community thrive and be served by a retail enterprise that would be the
best in every way for the residents.
It could actually enrich the community in ways private commerce
probably couldn't. It would be answerable to the board and residents,
rather than stockholders for whom the bottom line is king. It could
carry goods that would serve the customer needs, even if they weren't
the most lucrative to the bottom line.
As for creating competition for existing merchants, the board could
take that situation into account in running the operation. If it were
deemed wise to withhold a particular product because it was offered
down the street, that could be a decision made locally and not based
solely on whether it was good for business.
Community merchants have apparently been enthusiastic about the
project. They have donated prizes to be won in fundraising raffles, for
example. Remember that an anchor store that draws customers creates a
market for all merchants in the area. When downtown Plattsburgh began
to give way to the then-Pyramid Mall in the mid 1970s, the final blow
was the loss of the anchors, which fed the specialty shops.
The Saranac Lake Community Store is about three-fifths of the way
toward its start-up goal of $500,000. We wish the enterprise continued
success and look forward to the time when the entire area is buoyed by
this creative operation.
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