Don't Support Small Business

Yep, you read that title right.  Don’t support House of 1000 Beers.  Don’t support the small, local, independent retailers & services that build our communities.  Don’t support the mom-&-pop hardware store.  Don’t support the little family-run bakery.  Don’t support the single-screen movie theater that shows indie films & old school horror flicks every October.

If you think I have a problem with small businesses, you’re wrong.  I love small businesses.  I have a problem with the word “support”, at least in this context.  To me, the word has the connotation of charity, that it’s somehow an act of kindness & altruism to patronize a small business.  We support charities.  We support our loved ones, our friends & families.  We support the less fortunate.  In a free economy, you shouldn’t be “supporting” a business whose raison d’etre is providing something in exchange for you forking over your cash.  We don’t ask for donations, & expect that, if we are not able to live by trading what we have to offer you, our dear customer, we would not be around.

I get why the sentiment “support small business” exists.  In our current economy, the big players are getting bigger & each year it seems harder for small businesses to compete.  It seems, though, that too much of marketing for small business appeals to emotion - specifically a neighborly kind of love, or, more cynically, fear & guilt.  On the positive, consumers are promised a warm, fuzzy feeling by buying from the little guy with a friendly face who knows you by name.  We think that’s an awesome part of being a small business; we love chatting up regulars, or showing the new guy around.  The sneaky inverse of that, though, is the guilt, that you’re somehow hurting the small business’s feelings by not going there – after all, they’re only human, & how else will they survive?  They’re also a business, with an obligation to give the customer what they want if they expect to get their money.  

And fear is used to caution folks from buying from “the big chain stores”, foreshadowing threats of monopoly & a dystopian society controlled by corporations, devoid of choice, character, or variety. 

Like I said, I get those points, & while they’re not totally without validity, marketing to emotions like those seems intellectually dishonest & manipulative.  We at The House shop at big stores, too, like every other average American.  We also love doing business with the little guys.  The point I want to get across is not why you shouldn’t patronize big stores, or why we feel you should “support” us, but what being a small business allows us to offer you.  We want to appeal to the emotion of awesomeness!

Here’s how:

We call the shots.  We are not beholden to anyone except what our tastes & the tastes of our customers dictate.  We have no shareholders holding our feet to the bottom line.  Sure, we need to make money, but we can decide exactly how we do that, & what we think our customers will think is cool & get into.  Founders Brewing’s motto used to be something like “We brew what we like to drink”.  That’s an awesome business plan, & each day we run the kind of store we want to run, with the faith & confidence that other people will dig it, too.  That control gives us the freedom to do what we want.  If we decide we’re going to have seven tripels on tap at the same time, we can.  If we want to throw western Pennsylvania’s first sour beer festival, we do it.  If we decide to offer a three year, four release vertical of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA for our Christmas party, it’s a go.  If we decide to build a kitchen after a decade on location, who’s going to stop us?  As long as the PLCB doesn’t prohibit it, we can do it.

Our selection kicks ass.  We’re not tethered to only the moneymakers, & our biggest point of pride is having a huge variety, including a lot of beers that you won’t find at other places nearby.  Being small allows us the attention to detail & creativity in our inventory that the hardcore beer geek appreciates.  We have something for everyone, from someone just starting to venture outside the mainstream to connoisseurs looking for those hard-to-find gems.  Those rare birds are not really moneymakers for us, we just get a kick out of being able to carry specialty beers from small, artisanal brewers.  Again, it’s the kind of stuff we get excited about, & are sure someone else is going to geek out over, too.

Good customer service.  Being small, we make sure that the people who work here are cool, friendly &, just as importantly, know their shit.  Every person on our small staff knows & is passionate about beer.  We can help you find what you need, recommend a good draft or bottle, or just bullshit about whether we think Westy 12 is overrated.  We remember faces & tastes, & get a smile when someone plops a bottle of something awesome on the counter.

Good customers & a relaxed atmosphere.  One of the things I’ve always been impressed by is the conversation at the bar.  People come here who know & love beer, & are just as passionate about it as we are.  I’ve seen strangers get to know each other & carry on long conversations over what’s in the glass.  I think our atmosphere is laid back enough that people don’t feel uptight, or that they have to impress someone.  Some might find it a little too relaxed, but again, we’re all about doing things our way.  People just let their hair down & have a good time, & the beer does its job as social lubricant. 

Man, I really didn’t expect this to run so long.  But there you have it: I hope I laid out a case as to why we, & by association why so many small businesses, have a lot to offer by virtue of being small & independent.  So I’ll reiterate: don’t support small business.  Patronize?  Yeah.  Frequent?  Sure.  But do business with small business because of what they have to offer you.  That’s what small business is all about, & we’re proud & excited to be part of that.

Almost forgot!  Small Business Saturday is this Saturday, November 30^th.