There weren't any movies we were excited to see on our usual Monday outing, so Linda and I decided to drive to Sunriver and visit the bookstore there.
We've talked to the owners a couple of times now, and it's very enlightening.
They've recently more or less doubled in space, (lucky stiffs), and have a nice wide room for 'Readings' and 'Signings', of which they have a number of impressive authors lined up. They've curated a great selection of books, and present them in an extremely attractive way.
I can see how all this outreach might work, -- if you're consistent, which would probably get around among authors and provide a steady stream of them; and get around among regulars; and just overall creating a positive impression of your store.
But for me, it's more work, time and space than I could possible do.
Linda realized that we had forgotten our 27th anniversary on the 21st, so we bought each other a couple of nice pens. Linda really likes these -- I call it Pen Envy -- and I like them well enough. There is a very tactile pleasant sensation to holding a good pen. (No Freud here, please.)
So there you have it -- it takes 27 years for the wife to overlook the anniversary for the first time. (Me? Um....no comment.)
They're working on renovating the Sunriver mall, especially the ice rink. We went into Hot Lava Bakery and had coffee and muffins, and talked to the owner.
I think everyone out there is excited by the renovations, but also feeling stressed by all the construction.
How many times have I seen towns trying to get that community gathering place put together just right? It's difficult and mysterious and happens -- I believe -- one store owner at a time.
You can't usually just create it by fiat. It's a slow accretion of viable businesses that act with synchronicity and it is just wonderful when it happens -- but it's partly wonderful because it so rarely seems to happen in small towns, anymore (what with the pressures of malls and big boxes and strip malls.)
I watched it happen in downtown Bend, and I think it was a series of happy accidents. (Just about everyone disagrees with me about this, but dammit, I was there.) It's kind of moved away from it's bohemian rebirth, which I find kind of sad, but still has a wonderful vitality that most downtowns would kill for.
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One of the strongest elements that the US economy has had as been its allowance for destruction and rebirth. That is that we have allowed weak companies to fail (destruction) and that process of clearing out the dead wood has allowed for for strong periods of growth (rebirth). What Bend has today is a downtown where some business fail and when they do they create room for other new businesses. Where there is sufficient energy that people are willing to open new businesses. Contract that to an area where businesses got just enough to keep their doors open, where businesses did not shutdown, but kept hanging on. Leaving no space for new ideas to enter the market.
"I watched it happen in downtown Bend, and I think it was a series of happy accidents. (Just about everyone disagrees with me about this, but dammit, I was there.)"
I agree completely. A good downtown district with an authentic "feel" has to grow organically -- you can't create one from scratch. I think it also needs a certain patina of age.
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