“He’ll tell you that GrandGoods will grow the economy, when, in fact, chains like them actually shrink the volume of activity in the local economy. As local business owners, you hire more local workers, purchase more goods and services from other local businesses, and contribute more t
o local charities than a big box counterpart would.” Another strike out. “GrandGoods is supposed to bring competition and choice for the consumer. But what competition will remain when they edge you out of business? A town this size cannot reasonably absorb a store of that scale without considerable revenue losses to existing businesses. And there’s absolutely no guarantee of quality or customer service.” She axed that one from the list and drew a circle around the remaining myth she intended to bust.
“Perhaps most important, they’re going to tell you that GrandGoods and other big box stores like it are the only option for saving your flagging economy. Mr. Burgess is focused on big industry, big box stores, big solutions to an understandably big and intimidating problem. And a lot of people think like he does. But the fact is, there are other solutions. Solutions that will protect and enhance your businesses and create a climate that will appeal to entrepreneurs seeking viable locations for small business investment.”
A hand shot up from the back row. Sandy hair with purple streaks. The owner of The Daily Grind.
“Yes Cassie?”
“That all sounds great, but it also sounds like a really long-term kind of project. Even with a few weeks’ reprieve from a decision about GrandGoods, how can we possibly make enough of a difference to stop it?”
“You’re right.” Norah nodded. “You’re absolutely right. It is a long-term kind of project. And I tell you that because I want to give y’all a hint of the bigger picture. But our goal—I think we’re all agreed on this—is to stop GrandGoods. In order to do that, we need to sway the decision makers to say no. That means the rest of the City Council.”
“And how are we gonna do that?” Mama Pearl demanded.
Norah let her smile spread wide. “You’re going to do what you do best. Share your wisdom with anybody and everybody who comes in your door.”
There was a ripple of laughter at that. One corner of Mama Pearl’s generous mouth quirked up. Her approximation of a grudging smile.
“All of you are here because you’re business owners. As such, you have contact on a daily basis with the citizens of Wishful. I’d wager most of you know the majority of your clientele by face, if not full names with family histories attached. You’re influencers in this community. What I need you to do is spread the word. Get people talking about this situation and be frank about your problems with the proposal. Most of all, it will be your job to utilize whatever gossip trees you have in place to make sure that everybody knows that we’re forming a citizens coalition, and we want them to join.”
Pharmacy girl lifted a timid hand.
Norah pointed to give her the floor. “I’m sorry, what was your name?”
“Riley Gower. What exactly will we be doing with a citizens coalition?”
“I’m glad you asked. Apart from pulling together as many like-minded people as we can, the coalition will have two primary goals. The first will be to continue to spread the word and educate the public about this issue. Our country is notoriously inactive when it comes to taking action on a political front. Most people don’t take the time to educate themselves about the issues and prefer their news delivered in a soundbyte. We need to work to change that here. The second goal of the coalition will be to establish an effective Shop Local campaign. We want you to retain the customer base you have and remind everyone else why local is better, in an effort to get them to spend more of their dollars here rather than taking business elsewhere to places like Lawley or Jackson or online.”
Her audience peppered her with questions for the next half hour. Norah answered them, expanding and elaborating as she could, making note of anything she didn’t know so she could research further before the coalition meeting. When they wound down, Norah spread her hands. “Well, troops. I hope I’ve given you a good information base to work from on this and sufficient reason to act. Can I count on y’all to be my front line recruiters?”
“Aye aye, General!” Cassie Callister called.
Not everyone was quite as enthusiastic, but the prevailing consensus was a yes.
Cam stepped forward. “We’ve got information packets on the table by the door if you’d like to do more research yourself before talking to others.”
For the duration of her talk, he’d hung back, generally out of her sight. She’d been relieved at that, knowing that her gaze would’ve strayed too often to him. But it also meant she hadn’t been able to watch his reactions to her presentation. It was foolish to be nervous about that. She’d accomplished what she set out to do tonight. But it still felt important that he be happy with her work. He was, after all, sort of her client.
Everybody filed out except Tyler, who stood talking with Cam.
“Nicely done, Wonder Woman. I’m not surprised, but I’m suitably impressed.”
“It’s a start,” Norah acknowledged.
“Well, I for one am looking forward to seeing your plan of attack. And to seeing how well you can herd cats, because that’s totally what that coalition meeting will be.” Tyler seemed faintly amused at the thought.
They wouldn’t be the first cats she’d herded. “One challenge at a time.”
“What’s next?” Tyler asked.
“Individual recruitment of other business owners for the coalition.” Norah turned to Cam. “Do you have that list for me? We can split them down the middle to get done faster.”
“I do, but I think it’s best if we go together. A lot of people still don’t know you. They all know me, so I can get you in the door, smooth the way.”
“Can you afford to take that much time away from the nursery? It’ll probably take a few days to hit up everybody.”
“Violet runs a tight ship and this is a priority.”