Beside The Point

We all like getting new stuff. Christmas morning is all about getting new stuff. It’s only human nature, and you don’t need to be a child to understand it.

Brownwood residents respond to new things in a big way. Have you ever tried to get a table, or even find a parking space, during the first few weeks after a new restaurant opens?

Brownwood and Early are fortunate. Numerous new businesses have opened in recent years. Many of them are occupying buildings in Brownwood’s downtown business district, but plenty more are establishing themselves along major highways and thoroughfares in each city. Even more businesses are in the works for the near future.

When new commercial operations arrive, plenty of excitement comes along with them. Chambers of commerce hold ribbon cutting ceremonies. People crowd into their facilities. It might be mid-July, but it’s like Christmas morning for those customers, and door-buster sales add to the appeal. The business mix in Brown County is earning our area statewide recognition, and tourists are taking notice.

Many of our popular stores and dining establishments have elevated themselves to destination status. Good for us!

But as new businesses continue to be added, it’s tempting to rush past the other merchants who have been in operation for a few years — or even a few decades. Shame on us!

We shouldn’t forget those more established businesses as new ones arrive.

Retailing is tough. The work is hard enough for hourly wage-earners ringing up purchases at the cash register or stocking inventory. The work is even harder if you’re the store owner who, in addition to all the administrative duties a business entails, might also fill in for employees when they take a well-deserved day off. Increasingly so in recent years, managers have been having trouble filling open positions with willing applicants.

I’m not trying to discourage anyone from applying for these jobs. The fact is, you’re probably not going to find “easy jobs.” Retail can be physically and mentally demanding, but the reward — beyond the check on payday — is helping others find what they want or need.

During 40-plus years in community newspapers, I became as familiar with the ups and downs of retailing as possible for someone not directly involved. The success of local newspapers, on the business side at least, rises and falls with the hills and valleys of local retail. If merchants aren’t enjoying reasonable success, it’s tough for them to boost advertising budgets. Media salespeople will contend that the best time to prime the pump and advertise more is when business is slow, but that can happen only after rent, utilities, and payroll expenses have been met.

It’s been a fact of retail life for decades that the Christmas season is often a “make or break” time for the entire year, spelling the difference between a good or not-so-good bottom line. It’s not an exaggeration to say that our local small businesses are depending on the local consumer to make not only Christmas, but also the entire year of 2023, merry and bright. That’s true for established operations as well as new ones.

Municipal governments have enjoyed several years of unexpectedly strong sales tax receipts, but forecasts for the immediate future anticipate smaller, if any, increases. While not a perfect indicator, sales tax rebates are at least one barometer of how well local retailers are doing financially. If overall sales tax totals are stagnant or down, many businesses are probably experiencing lean times.

The last few months have been rough nationally for retailers, as the effects of a spike in inflation have influenced consumer buying habits. But great news came last Friday in the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index, which jumped an amazing 13 percent. Four months of pessimism were erased in one fell swoop, Yahoo News reported.

At the same time, a wave of optimism was reflected in the Consumer Confidence Index of The Conference Board, reversing three months of decline. Credit can go to declining inflation and rising employment figures.

This weekend, the countdown of days until Christmas drops into single digits. What’s more, many stores won’t be open as usual on Christmas Eve because it falls on Sunday this year.

Our local businesses are typically the strongest supporters of community schools, Scout troops, and other vital institutions that make Brown County a great place to live, work, and play. Almost all of us are buying gifts this month, for others as well as for ourselves. We need to remember these same local merchants when they need us most, because we certainly remember them when we seek support for our various organizations.

“Small Business Saturday” was almost three weeks ago, so you are justified in criticizing me for being tardy with this admonition. Still, it’s not too late. The days after Christmas are sometimes called “the 13th month” in retailing, because shoppers use their days off to spend any Christmas cash they may have received as presents.

Let’s have a merry Christmas and happy 2024 by remembering our “old” friends as well as the new ones when we go shopping.

Gene Deason is editor emeritus of the Brownwood Bulletin. He began writing a column for the Bulletin in 1977, and “Beside the Point” appears weekly. He may be contacted at tgifcolumn@yahoo.com.