That's a pleasant description of paradise... And all those people are
descendants of former convicts ? ;-) no surprise that Britain is boring...
-----Message d'origine-----
De : olympus-owner@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:olympus-owner@xxxxxxxxxx] De la part
de Andrew Fildes
Envoyé : mercredi 5 décembre 2007 22:54
À : olympus@xxxxxxxxxx
Objet : [OM] Re: Franchises [was Re: Oboy seller "buybuyeasy "]
I've seen some significant changes here in the last twenty years. I
live in what is essentially a country town on the fringe of a large
city. It would have been swallowed up by urban sprawl already but for
geography - it's in a hilly area full of national parks, forest and
tourist venues.
Even so, the character been preserved only by struggle when the
community works to exclude inappropriate development. What has
happened is that things like hardware stores and similar services
have retreated slightly while gift shops have flourished - the range
isn't whole. After all, it's possible to drive off the hill in ten
minutes to reach a classic highway strip with car yards, supermarkets
and our own version of Office Warehouse.
What has improved is the proliferation of cafés, specialist shops and
so on.
Some of my favorites -
The old Cameo Cinema, now owned by a wealthy businessman who loves
dressing up as Groucho and is a movie fanatic, putting on films that
will never make him a profit because they're GOOD. (he built a small
room for minority tastes with just fifty seats and the summer outdoor
screen has just started, bring your own beer).
Baba Des, the 80 year old 'holy man' who dresses like a wizard and
walks everywhere.
The Manor, a stone house built in the thirties by a doctor who was a
member of a famous architecture and art family and is now a beautiful
cafe/restaurant.
An 'organic' butcher.
A storefront 'witch' specialising in readings and weird merchandise.
A bar/music venue which has room for a couple of hundred - Toni
Collete played it recently.
The tourist steam railway (Puffing Billy) which runs through my
backyard.
The organic pizza joint which makes prize-winning ice cream (sweet
potato and cardamom!), run by the stepmother of the woman who owns
the deli who is married to the guy who runs the café in the cinema...
The hairdresser who likes to dress as a pirate.
The place is full of artists, ferals, mad persons, family businesses
and so on. I can still get my trousers taken up by a genuine
seamstress, a haircut from a real barber, a 16x20 printed on a Fuji
Frontier, a grilled cheese and eggplant roll with a rice and pine nut
pilaff for lunch (yesterday), log on to the net for free in the
library, buy local produce, take a chair and coffee out into the
street and get into a conversation within five minutes. Frankly, I
really can't imagine living anywhere else. Ever.
Andrew Fildes
afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
On 06/12/2007, at 7:45 AM, Jan Steinman wrote:
> We have two Pharmasave stores, a dollar store, and a video rental that
> are franchise chains. Everything else is a locally owned business. I
> like it that way, and support them whenever I can. For smallish items,
> I'm willing to pay double to keep the money in the local economy. For
> larger items, if the local price is ridiculous, they're often willing
> to get closer, if not match.
>
> I did draw the line the other day when I wanted a simple lab notebook,
> with sewn-in pages. Last bunch I bought in a big box Office Warehouse
> store were 3 for $5. The local stationery store wanted $8 a piece!
> Sometimes they make it hard to buy local.
>
> I hope no one take offense at this urging. The deck is currently
> stacked against living locally. But fuel isn't getting cheaper, and
> we're all going to have to re-learn local living eventually.
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