The Merchant

Life now is inconceivable without that part of my heart still tied to the warm floor of the coop where I sat administering medicine to 50 cuddly and highly conversational Barbary ducks.... This pandemic-enforced distancing from the world around has helped us to feel more keenly how connected we are to people and place. 

Dear You, “The Meadow” lettering above is made with 24k lemon and orange gold leaf. The flowers are copper. We scoured Amish country to reclaim old barn timbers of hemlock and yellow pine cut 200 years ago from a primeval forest. I toiled for four months to reveal, repair, and enhance the character of a tiny shop in a landmark building...

Together we raised $1,092.01 to aid in the struggle for criminal justice reform and racial justice!  Together we are doing our small part. By sharing proceeds with the Equal Justice Initiative, we are contributing our voices and our dollars to the task of forging a better society.

March 15 we closed our doors to shelter in place and respect social distancing recommendations, and in so doing fourteen years of uninterrupted service in our little shops came to an abrupt halt.

If I could take you on a field trip to show off my favorite places and people in the area, Sokol Blosser Vineyards is one place we'd have to go! Since I can't take you there myself right now, I've asked the Sokol Blossers to share a little about themselves. Read on, and I hope you'll fall in love with them too. Plus, they're offering you 15% off and flat rate shipping!

Happy Mother’s day! You have helped us make a positive impact on mothers facing the loss of their homes through poverty and/or abuse. Together We’ve raised $812.50 and donated it to Rose Haven, a day shelter for women and children facing disruptive life experiences.

Thousands of jobs, shops, restaurants, and landlords. It’s endless ways to connect us with one another. It’s millions of dollars of economic activity that ripple out to the extended community of other independent small businesses that share in that prosperity.

Let's re-organize our civic space and regulatory policy to prioritize “proximity businesses” like shops, restaurants, gyms, salons, etc. Support the proximity businesses in our communities and all the other businesses and jobs will follow. Fail them, and the rest will move to places that do. Here are six ways to advocate for small business in our neighborhoods, and one way you can make a difference every day: 

There isn't enough money on earth to pay our way out of this. The world is built on the backs of small business. We bring the boots-on-the-ground perspective and collective innovation of millions of minds, diverse cultural and economic bag rounds, and an intimate understanding of the peril we and our employees face in the coronavirus economy. So let's acknowledge the role of small  in helping us all solve for a prosperous future.