Archer Mayor at Phoenix Books

I am having dinner with Archer Mayor tomorrow night and perhaps I'll bring him over to the store for the reading at 7:00 p.m.! If you have not read a Joe Gunther novel then get on over to the store tomorrow night and just sit back and let Archer entertain and regale you with his warm, witty and fun stories about almost anything relating to crime, police and Vermont:) That's the commercial notice for todays entry.

Phoenix Books has been open for just about a year. I think we sold our first book on October 8th, 2007. Our numbers are spot on, and that is the good news and the bad news. Good because I used a good guess for projecting sales and bad because I really thought we would do better. LOL But just like the lovely politicians, the blankety blank wall streeters and the three monkey regulators( see no-speak no and hear no), I didn't see this scary scary melt down coming. So just when I would expect to see sales going up for the holidays they are taking a decided turn down. I hope sales don't go as far south as the snow birders do.

This does lead me to the point, though. Now is the time to tighten our belts but it is not the time to throw our friends and neighbors into the fire. If buying local was important before this conflagration, I believe it is even more important now. Buy less if we must, but buy wisely and frugally. Count the true cost of what we buy...in lost sales taxes for our schools and roads, in lost jobs for our neighbors and friends, and lost safety and security as reflected in lead tainted toys and adulterated baby formula, lost quality of life as we continue to rely more and more on foreign countries to supply us our daily habits, whatever they are, and lost ethics and values as we scramble for the cheapest and mostest rather than the best. I think Tolkien wrote " all that is gold does not glitter" or something to that effect. (Special prize if you can find an earlier reference to this quote). Remember, you can make a difference by where you buy something just as much as what you buy. Buying local keeps the entire process in our community and helps the community become more self reliant, something we will be needing more of not less as this global drama unfolds.

Look for more posts about Phoenix Books and Cafe on a completely arbitrary and capricious schedule as well as the occasional rant about the travails of being an independent bookstore in an age of mindlessness.

Michael,
Owner of Phoenix Books and Cafe