Lamenting the Death of Trusted Friend and an American Original

Did you know that Borders Books, formerly the world’s largest international bookstore chain began as single, family owned store in my home town of Ann Arbor Michigan?
I visited Ann Arbor earlier this summer to attend my 20 year (Community) high school reunion – yes, no one is more shocked than me that I’m not only soooo old, but that I’ve actually lasted this long, I mean who’d thunk? Anyway…while hanging tough for a week in the stomping grounds of formative years, I was strolling through downtown along State Street one day and found myself in front of the original Borders Bookstore location – a two story retail storefront (now home to clothing store) situated across the street from the department-store sized space that later hosted Borders downtown Ann Arbor media super-store location – and I found myself lamenting the death of not only an true Ann Arbor institution, but the death of the first national media “super-store.”
Books, Magazines, CDs, DVDs oh my! You name the media, and Borders was on it! Revolutionizing the media sales game – and I for one was all about it – I loved the variety, the selection, massive monolith of mass media appeal!
And now they’re gone – poof – like they never existed.
So to have Community News Center (a regional bookstore chain) Tower Records, Warehouse Records and several other large scale media based chain stores gone the way of the Dodo.

Recession Proof Economy

This shift, however, is not strictly a result past half decade’s sharp economic downturn.
Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan, a prestigious and nationally renowned learning intuition that – between students, faculty, services related workers, and peripheral university support related businesses – provides a built-in economic base which has not significantly waned despite Michigan’s cataclysmic economic woes.
In fact, while Michigan’s population has steadily declined due to the Auto Industry speeding off a cliff into fiery decimation and the near death of heavy manufacturing, Ann Arbor population has increased at a solid clip for over two decades – even prompting the construction of a new high school, to support the four existing (two large scale and two smaller) public high schools currently serving the community.

A Sense of Community

The point of all this exposition being that the demise of big chain media stores in Ann Arbor has nothing to do with a lack of economic support – Ann Arbor residents have dollars in hand and they’re more than willing to spend away.
Obviously the rise of ecommerce with Amazon and the like, in addition to the total and complete failure of the aforementioned national media chains to embrace, adapt to, and coalesce with the changing marketplace are contributing factors to the overall demise of said national media chains – but that doesn’t tell the whole story in a community like Ann Arbor.
The death of media chain stores, including home grown Borders, in Ann Arbor are as much a result of their disconnection from the community as any shift in the economy. In the wake of these stores disappearance, commerce is flourishing in Ann Arbor. With over 280 restaurants (pulling patrons from all across South East Michigan with electromagnetic force), a myriad successful independent book and records stores all part of 1,000+ thriving small business (supported by not only Ann Arbor, but by surrounding communities in 30 mile radius) – business is, by all accounts, BOOMING!
And the common thread uniting all of these businesses is their connection to, and place within, the community. They’re not faceless corporation, mindlessly pushing “product” out the door. They’re citizens of the community, and play a role in supporting and servicing the community as whole – something Borders had lost touch with long before their ultimate demise.

Building and Fostering Your Local Businesses Community Connection

The real secret, if you even want to call it a “secret,” to building and maintaining a successful small local business depends upon developing a connection to the community of which your business is a part, and ultimately becoming a trusted and valued member of that community.

How About You?

Please fill me in on the juicy details of your businesses hott community building action! What are you up to in the community in which you operate? And how are you striving to become “one of the guys” who’s “all in the family” as good little business-citizen of your community?
I’d really love to know more.