I walked into my local Petclub Pet Store about a month ago to buy some cat food for my furbabies.  I was having a good day, whistling dixie, all was right with the world.  I love my little Petclub Pet Store.  I like to see the rabbits from local rescues that they house, and kittens too.  I love the resident cats who live there - Miss Kitty is a friendly girl, normally found lying on bags of wood shavings or large bags of dog food.  The other cat is older, a bit skittish, and rarely seen.  In fact, I don't even know his name, I'm ashamed to say.  But I love him all the same.  I love the squawking birds that greet you when you walk in the door.  I love the strange and eclectic murals on the walls in the bathroom, with backward sayings that you have to look in the mirror to read - "Beware of the Bull, my darling" - now what's that all about?

So imagine my shock and horror when I walked in and heard this from the squat little man in the front. 

"This store's closed".

Closed?  I didn't know they were closed on Wednesdays.

"No, closed.  As in, going out of business.  We'll be marking things down as time goes on and we'll have a liquidation sale eventually".

Oh.  Um.  Ok.  What happened to all the animals?

"I don't know.  But they don't live here".

That was that.  I walked out, crushed, deflated.  Had Petclub died because of stagnant economy?  Was it a mix of the economy and the two shiny, white Petcos that just opened in the area?  Did they get bored with owning a petstore?  I doubt that very much.

I have a hunch it's a little bit from Column A, and a little bit from Column B.  In other words, the economy was dragging them down and not enough people were visiting this humble little shop.  Why would you when Petco has so many more items on it's shelves and it's probably easier to get to, right?  Well, I'll tell you why.  Customer service is one - when you really get to know people, the customer service is superb.  You can really develop relationships with the owners and with the community, which brings me to my second point.  Money put into local businesses is money put back into the community.  This is where the 3/50 project comes into play.

The 3/50 project is a local movement based on the thought that the more we support local businesses, the more we get back in our community.  According to www.the350project.net, if  half the employed population spent $50 each month in locally owned independent businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue.  Imagine if 3/4 of the employed population did that!  Also, for every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures.  If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays within the community.  Spend money online and nothing comes home.

I can't tell you how many people came into Petclub afterwards and expressed how devastated they were that the store had closed - myself included.  It was a case of too little, too late.  I think of the times I was too lazy to drive the five miles when there was a Petco right behind my apartments.  If I had just gone to Petclub maybe it would have made a difference.  I don't know if I could have saved it, but it may have made some sort of impact.  Now I will never know.

Only two good things came of this.  The first is that all the store animals did find good homes.  The other is that is that my husband and I bought job lots of dog and cat toys at the liquidation and dropped them off to local shelters.  Of course we felt good, but that didn't make me any less sad, knowing that Petclub couldn't survive in this economy.  While chains are building newer and bigger stores all the while, it's the independent stores, the backbone of this great country we live in, that are struggling and suffering.  Next time you need something, try popping into your local shop.  Say hello to the owner or employee and smile.  Pick up a little something extra if you can afford to.  Let's keep these businesses and shops open and in the foreground, right where they belong.