Something to think about....

I was reading an article in Sunday's NY Times about an independent book store that was closing down in Chappaqua, NY. As an independent retailer, with a small "local shop" myself, the article made me a little sad. It basically spoke about how hard it is for an independent local retailer to survive not only in today's economy, but in today's world of mega stores and the internet. The article discussed that it has become a game to look on the internet to see where you can find the cheapest item you are looking for. I'll admit that I do this myself sometimes. But then the article pointed out that "there are things you lose (when you do this) in ways that are not numerically measurable when a place like this (the bookstore) closes." "Downtown" loses it's vibrancy, it's uniquesness, it's excitement when there is little or no community support. When I think about New York City now compared to how it was when I grew up - it has certainly lost a lot of the neighborhood feel that it once had. There are still some local merchants left that you get to know, say hello to as you walk by and frequent because you know and like them....but for the most part - the drug store is an impersonal Duane Reade or CVS, the bookstore is a Borders or Barnes & Noble, the coffee shop is a Starbucks, there is a bank every other step, the furniture store is a West Elm or Pottery Barn...you get the gist. And it has certainly become harder in the brick and mortar world of Yarn too. While there are of course less "Mega" yarn stores, there are the internet Giants and the internet in general, free patterns, yarn swapping and gossip...all things that make it harder for the LYS (local yarn store - for those of you reading this that are not immersed in the whole online knitting universe) to survive. Anyway, it is just something to think about in general...what is our world going to look like in ten or twenty years from now? Will we ever leave our homes and our computers? Or just have things delivered to our doorsteps and then retreat into our own little worlds? I guess we'll see. And don't forget to sign up to follow the blog - or join us at The Yarn Company group on Facebook!