The Town You Save May be Your Own
From the editor….
Foodland closed their doors forever on July 5th. In the few days prior to their closure, people came from near and far to partake of the going our of business feeding frenzy.
There were great bargains to be had, to be sure, but it was still very sad to watch as people who had never been to the store before, or who had rarely shopped there, packed the parking lot and the aisles of the store.
Ironically, people even came from over across to shop. This store closure was part of a greater scheme to increase corporate shareholder profits overall as 50 stores across Canada were closed in the sweep.
But our store might have survived that drastic corporate cut had it only been a little busier. Facebook was full of comments during this process.
Many people mourned the loss to our community, the loss of jobs, the energy, another retail space.
But there were also many people who said stuff like So What? It doesn’t affect me anyway. I shop over across. I never shopped there. Perth is dying anyway. Who cares.
And so on. This just makes me want to weep, because every business death diminishes us as a community.
And, any person who thinks that losing Foodland doesn’t affect them, if you own a house or property in this village, think again. Your property values go down the more our town fades away.
It’s in your own best interests to support our local business community, but still, many folks are convinced that saving a few bucks by driving over across is in their best financial interests.
In the short term it may seem so, but in the long run, supporting your own community means you are supporting yourself!
And this also brings up the issue of: health care. When you get sick and need to see a doctor or go into the hospital do you go across the line to get it?
America would rather let people die than offer their citizens health care. This translates into corporate savings, so they can sell stuff cheaper.
I stopped into Foodland on the Wednesday before their last day to pick up the final issues of the Blackfly Gazette that they have been selling for us since we began publishing this paper.
Because of the crowd, I had to circle the parking lot several times before I was able to find a space, and then when I entered the store I found the chaos too overwhelming. People were waiting in line for up to half an hour to make their purchases. So, I put off my mission until the frenzy had abated somewhat.
It turns out that this day was the day stuff went to deep discount, and people had begun lining up at the door before 8 am. Because of the construction next door, there were water issues so Foodland was not able to actually open until 9:30 am but the crowd stayed, for and hour and a half in blistering heat, waiting for the doors to open!
So I popped over to visit Carol at Freestyle Fitness. Because of the packed parking lot, her gym members were having trouble finding parking places when they came to work out.
Carol was also concerned over the fact that there was a public mis-perception that she, too, was going out of business.
Someone had posted the store closure story on Facebook, along with a photograph that included the Freestyle Fitness sign.
This picture caused people to believe that Freestyle Fitness was going out of business as well, and Carol had been fielding many calls from concerned gym members.
She wants to report that she is doing fine! In fact, she is looking forward very much to celebrating her second anniversary in business later this year.
Her lease is not affected by what happened at Foodland, and she will continue to operate as always.
In fact, she has some great new programs to offer the public. Some folks have their own equipment at home, but don’t yet have an effective work-out plan.
Carol will teach you how to use your own equipment most efficiently, and design a work-out plan for you so you can work out in the comfort and privacy of your own home.
Stop in at the gym to visit, or give Carol a call to learn more about her membership rates and plans. If you’ve been thinking about starting a fitness program and have never been in to see Freestyle Fitness, I urge you to check it out.
It is seriously one of the finest, cleanest and best equipped gyms in the entire province of New Brunswick, and it’s right here in Perth-Andover!
When I returned to Foodland several days later, it was very sad to see all the empty shelves, stripped bare.
And now, of course, the whole store is empty and gone.
