As this issue goes to press, word reaches me that yet another merchant is closing up shop downtown. Following on the heels of the closings of Cafe Magritte, J. Kareiva, Sound Factory, Huntington Gallery and many others, and along with the relocations of Pink Adobe, Hi-Tech Computers and Yikes/Picante, this is more bad news for downtown Tucson. This time the casualty is Silver Cove Jewelers, a longtime supporter of the Comic News. I have never before used this space to promote any individual advertiser, but Rona and Arnie have been stalwart supporters of this paper. I hope you'll check out their going-out-of-business sale and help to ease their retirement.With yet another departure, this leaves downtown (with no offense intended to those brave merchants sticking it out) almost as empty as Tom deLay's heart. That's not to say that there isn't good shopping downtown, or that it can't eventually be revitalized. But the situation is definitely serious and getting worse. And it's hard to imagine that the City could have handled this any more ineptly if they had tried to.
But it's not just the City that's at fault; it's you, me, all of us. If we care about having options when we shop, about preserving local character, we have to go out of our way to patronize the merchants who give this community its individuality. This week also brings the the news that the Book Mark is giving up the ghost after years of struggle, unable to compete with Borders and Barnes. Let me be clear about this: I'm sure there are some very nice people working for those huge bookstore chains. But the concentration of book retailing is having pernicious effects on the diversity of book publishing, and must be resisted. Please continue to patronize Tucson's remaining independent booksellers, whether they advertise in these pages or not. They will be happy to special-order for you any book they don't have in stock.
As longtime readers know, I've been kvetching about the replacement of local merchants by national and multinational chains for several years now. Which is why it's gratifying to see that someone has applied one of the suggestions I made for dealing with this crisis: getting organized. On the opposite page you will see an ad for an organization called Tucson Originals. It was founded in September by Don Luria, owner of Cafe Terra Cotta, and has now grown to 42 members. By banding together, these restaurateurs are able to achieve some economy of scale in buying from food purveyors and restaurant suppliers. Jimmy Bruer, owner of Daniel's, tells me that there are two requirements for membership, besides being locally owned: serving on one of the committees, and donating fifty bucks to the Community Food Bank.
Most of the members donate far more. Many of the chefs were down at the Salvation Army over the holidays, cooking for the homeless. Tucson Originals is also involved in setting up cooking classes for local kids, and internships for high school students. These restaurant owners are giving back to the community in a myriad of ways. And here it needs to be said again: so too do local owners and franchisers of chain restaurants, who also supply plenty of local jobs. This is not about bashing chains. It's about balance, and the situation is getting dangerously out of balance. But when you vote with your wallet and spend your money with local owners, you are keeping more of your dollar in the community. If you don't want to see your favorite local eatery go the way of Cafe Magritte, Terra Nova, Yoeme Cafe, Ciao Italia, Tao of Natural Foods, Solarium and far too many others, I hope you'll keep this in mind.
Likewise, local merchants don't have the deep adverting pockets of the big chains. Which is why the Comic News is proud to help level the playing field by donating advertising to the Tucson Originals. And in case you hadn't noticed, let me spell it out. The Comic News does not accept advertising from national chains. Never have, never will. To my knowledge, we are the only local publication to put their money where their mouth is on this issue.
And we aren't stopping there. In the back of this issue you will find a new Directory of Locally-Owned Businesses, with listings that go for only 59 bucks per year. Hopefully this will help merchants to connect with an audience that cares about the future of this community. And next issue, look for a profile of the group Tucson Traders, who are working to establish a local currency, which has helped to revitalize the economy of Ithaca, NY, and dozens of other cities around the US. Don't mourn - organize!