By G. Allen Clark   Guest Writer (www.GAClark.com)

Let’s talk certainties.  Let’s talk about self-sufficiency and dependency.  Let’s talk about

small business and Colorado Springs.  Specifically, let’s talk about the certainty of supporting the individual antique dealers who run small shops in all the local antique malls here in town. 

When the average antique shopper walks into one of the Antique Malls here in town, they tend to think of that mall as being “the antique store.”  In fact, that mall is a retail site that houses many antique stores or small businesses, each responsible for their own inventory, their own displays and their own advertising.  Your support of the mall equates to you supporting hundreds of small business owners.  This is a good, because that owner is the same small business owner who buys their groceries from where you work, pays for gas from your service station, which powers the cars and trucks that your son or uncle may have worked on.  The same owner who  collectively employs the staff that works behind the counter when you check out, who helps you load your antique purchase into your car, who later that night, will take their spouse and family out to eat in the local restaurant you own or work in. 

The antique mall you walk in to, be it The Antique Gallery, The Treasure Shoppe, American Classics, the American Indoor Flea Market, the Garage Sale or Willowstone, house over 800+ independent businesses combined.  That is a lot of small businesses, but that’s not counting the hundreds of other individual dealer’s countywide that make up this unique group of retailers.  800+ businesses that supply jobs to the local community.  All they ask is that you support them by purchasing your favorite antique or collectible from them, instead of only ordering from the Internet. 

From the income derived from your purchases, they will pay their taxes that will keep the roads clear and the schools open, they will educate their children in the schools where your son, daughter or granddaughter teaches, and all without extra shipping costs.  These owners buy the homes your family and friends worked hard to build and in doing so, they keep their dollars local.  They are not some outside multi-million dollar conglomerate with virtual offices, where income is a matter of international trade.  They are not the antiques that when you buy from their internet site, some person in India, Germany, Britain or China gets a little richer.  They believe in sharing the wealth and they believe it starts at home first. Support them and they will support you. 

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As my wife and I are proud members of this independent small business community of antique dealers, we thank you all for your continued support and your patronage.  The next time you come in to one of our Mom & Me Vintage Linens & Lace stores; as our way of saying Thank You, pick up one of our permanent discount cards either at the Treasure Shoppe (space B4), American Classics (space B30 & B26) or American Indoor Flea Market (“Found Treasures” in space 301).  If you see us there, say hello.  Let us know how we’re doing.  We’d love to meet you.