On to the New Era

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish all the members of RoadsideOnline a happy holiday season. I’d also like to thank all the new members who continue to sign on despite last month’s announcement. Thanks to you, the roles have crested the 2000 mark weeks ago.

You may not know this, but the day after Thanksgiving is also known as “Buy Nothing Day.” The fine folks at AdBusters.org promote the day in response to the mindless consumerism that runs rampant every holiday season. Needless to say, the effort hardly makes much of a dent in the insanity. The current economical situation is another matter altogether.

On this year’s “Black Friday,” the Philadelphia Inquirer heralded the dawn of the era of “The New Frugality.” It seems that people have finally had some sense knocked into their heads about our past retail insanity and now look for ways to live more sensibly. Well folks, jump into the pool. The water’s fine.

On the other hand, the article states, “That kind of scrimping may be good for stressed family budgets, but it is bad for the nation’s overall economy - and that has the potential to reinforce the miserly mood.” Will these prognosticators finally make up their mind? For the past decade or more, we’ve heard the warnings about our low savings rate and its dangers to the economy. Guess we can’t win for losing.

So just how will a bad Christmas retail season truly affect our economy? Given that most of what gets bought for Christmas gets made in China, probably not much. The only people who really need to worry about a Christmas slowdown are Wal-Mart stockholders, and for them I’ll shed few tears. We’ve said it before, but it remains truer than ever that you can’t spend yourself into prosperity.

Every year, we encourage you to exercise a little restraint and to give more thoughtfully. By all means, be generous with your family and friends, but think about all the alternatives to the malls and the big box stores. Buy gifts of quality, perhaps even hand-made if possible. Support your local artisans. The best gifts have a story behind them.

Please, do your best to patronize the local shops, the Main Streets, and downtowns that still have a semblance of retail activity. Philadelphia, for instance, remains blessed with the grand department store building that formerly housed Wanamaker’s. Now occupied by Macy’s, the company still maintains the world’s largest pipe organ installed by John Wanamaker and (for the moment) continues the long-running tradition of the light show.

Corny and unsophisticated by today’s standards, the Wanamaker light show graphically depicts the Nutcracker story in illuminated two dimensions upon a curtain of lights three stories tall. Macy’s has even elected to restore this show to some of its former glory. This year, the city added a new attraction, the Christmas Village, modeled after the the example of the German Christmas Markets.

Though downtown Philadelphia still features a relatively active retail scene, some of its neighborhoods have become bubbling retail centers in their own right. Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, and the recently discovered Northern Liberties section now do an excellent job catering to shoppers. I continue to see signs of life in the city’s Mount Airy section.

Add to those the walkable communities Collingswood, New Jersey and Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and other downtowns getting rediscovered by our kindred spirits tired and weary of the whole big box retail experience.

For me, the biggest thrill of the holiday is the pageantry and the opportunity to reunite with friends and family not too often seen. Presents become mere icing on the cake. This is a holiday that should be a celebration of community and a time to reflect on those gifts of real importance, those of friendship, love, and peace.

My newfound fatherhood continues to bring new joys and surprises to the season every year. I always look forward to seeing the Christmas lights reflected in my young daughter’s eyes, but I anticipate a challenge trying to prevent the creation of another mindless consumer who greedily expects a toy orgy every December. I’ll let you know how that turns out.

Finally, we look forward to 2009 and the changes sure to come with the new administration. While walking through town on election day, I overheard one woman say to a campaign worker holding a sign, “I’ll be glad when this election is over.” I looked at her and replied, “I’ll be glad when this era is over.”

Happy holidays from all of us at Roadside.

Sincerely,

Randy Garbin

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In the Trenches

Help Wanted!

We have all seen the roadside signs in front of a nice looking restaurant or diner that say, GOOD EATS, HELP WANTED. That may not inspire many of us to stop in for a meal but you have to understand, some restaurant owners really can’t help it sometimes. We are that desperate for help.

But getting that help we need and then keeping it is a key to every diner’s success. After all, we are only as good as the people we hire. The bigger the staff, the greater the challenges. The less people that we employ the more difference a single employee or hiring becomes. A restaurant with thirty employees can usually get by when a few fail to carry their weight. On the other hand, with only a half dozen employees, a restaurant’s success depends on everyone to carry their load.

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