Think Global, Shop Local

Inspired by my friend Scotty's Facebook page list:

We're losing so many places due to the bad economy, and are at risk of losing so many more. Here are some of the dearly departed, along with some places that could really use your help. Give me comments to update the list!

Gone:
Sam's Wine Shop

Please support:
Solo Vino
The Wine Thief
Alexis Bailly Vineyard (Sam's wife's vineyard)


Gone:
Vera's
Betsy's Back Porch Coffee

Please support:
any local coffeeshop: Anodyne, Nina's, Golden Thyme are just a few


Gone:
Babalu
Cafe Havana
Cafe Indio

Please support:
Pepito's (may be gone soon!)
Barrio (though it's always crowded, it's yummy!)
Masa


Gone:
Jitters
Ground Zero

Please Support:
331 Club


Gone:
The Times

Please Support:
The Dakota


Gone:
Mill City Pizza

Please support:
Pizza Nea
Punch (plus tons of free deals if you follow them on Twitter)
Black Sheep Pizza
Pizza Luce


Gone:
Cliquot Club Cafe

Please Support:
The Birchwood


Gone:
Zander

Please Support:
The Cheeky Monkey

Comments

gerkat said…
Noted. I have a meeting at Nina's tomorrow. Doing my part to save the local economy.
February 26, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Unknown said…
Other places to support: Common Roots, Victor's 1959 Cafe, French Meadow.

Pi, a local club I went to a lot, is also gone.

I'm working hard to spend the little leisure money I've got on things that are local and good - that I want to survive this economic downturn.
February 26, 2009 at 10:48 AM
mk said…
I like the idea of a list. Easy way to be more conscious of our choices.
February 26, 2009 at 11:16 AM
bmadore said…
Absolutely. Thanks, Bethany, for this.

The lure of convenience makes it easy to eschew the local-- which is often the better, both in quality and for the social economy. I've found just a tiny bit of forethought can make shopping local even more convenient by the act of planning. Large and ubiquitous often masquerades as convenience but is merely laziness.

More list St. Paul: Black Dog, J&S (better roasted coffee than Starbux and cheaper than Dunn), Jerabeks, the Strip Club (local meat and produce SP's best restaurant in Dayton's Bluff), Swede Hollow Cafe... many many.

And don't forget book stores which are close to extinction but a vital part of our culture. Buy from an indie, it will save the world, really -- Common Good Books (ordered a book online and got it as fast as Amazon would have gotten it to me), Micawbers, Magers and Quinn (original Hungry Mind David Unowsky's energy here); and please oh please buy books from Louise Erdrich's Birchbark Books, one of the most charming, thoughtful, comfortable, inspiring places anywhere.
February 26, 2009 at 8:17 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brutus

Image
In 2019, we were on our way back from spring break when Cheryl, who Beatrix had interned with at GiffyDog, reached out to us about fostering a pomeranian (since she knew Beatrix loved the breed). The day we got back, the person who had been fostering him brought him over. Brutus sauntered in, grabbed a rawhide as long as he was that Coya had been chewing, and settled in next to me in the chair. Patrick says "I knew at that point he was never leaving." And he didn't. He got the name "Brutus Brewpup" when, as we initially had him and thought we should expose him to people who might want to adopt him, we took him out to a taproom and found he LOVED it. Pretty soon, taking him to taprooms turned into a regular pastime. But he liked other things too. He loved Christmas: And Halloween: And springtime: And snow, especially the first snowfall: And really winter in general: He loved to go up to the cabin (and I'm so glad we got to go up this last weekend): And to sun...
Read more

Choosing Happy

Image
This post is brought to you by a few thoughts from yesterday: First and foremost, Patrick's new book that he wrote for Beatrix for her sixteenth birthday. Available for a hot second before we leave for spring break tomorrow. The response of someone he knows on the internet, who wrote yesterday that he had decided years ago that he would never be happy (and reading his posts, he seems to be right.). It was one of the saddest things I've encountered in a long time. A friend's social media post, in which she discusses another person's comment of " I really think a sizable proportion of the population has become addicted to being angry" with the sage response of " I think a lot of them are doing it because it's more enjoyable to be angry than to be depressed." A nd we finally finished watching this season's Fargo last night. I won't give any spoilers, but it's extremely on theme with this post. So this is the deal. There's a lot on ...
Read more

New Year's Eve 2023

Image
I did not want to be laying in bed, wearing a fleece onesie and still shivering, while my husband and daughter headed out to the several wonderful NYE parties we have planned. I have a beautiful new dress that I got in Duluth for tonight, and was looking forward to the collection of friends we would be seeing. Our friend Whitney in particular is throwing the last party at her B and B, and it's breaking my heart not to go. But I feel logey and coughy, and more to the point, I have a low fever, and I don't want to mess around with possibly getting anyone sick. I'm still holding out hope that I'll miraculously feel better and the fever was a mistaken reading, but I doubt that. And I feel lucky to have 3 sets of people who want me in their lives tonight and who I don't want to get sick. As our yoga teacher Viv says, it's not like a page turns and everything is magic. You get some things that are good, and some that are not, and life is living in the middle. -- In 20...
Read more