Support your local businesses

Small businesses that sell unique, sometimes hand made items should be very popular with customers. Yet, when I walk into a store downtown, it is most often empty or very nearly so. About every month when I am driving downtown, a store that previously held handmade, tie-dyed clothing or delicious gluten free desserts, is boarded up and there is a "For Lease" sign on the wall.

Small restaurants are also going out of business because everyone is going to Olive Garden, where they sell the same generic Italian food everyone else does. I have been to Italy, and trust me, Olive Garden is not Italian food. Why not instead go to that fun Jewish deli that sells unique dishes you don’t see anywhere else around Olympia, and try something new? Oh wait, you can't. Because that deli went out of business. Not enough people appreciated its unique dishes, and it didn't make enough money.

Maybe you passed by the Matter! gallery on your way to work. That was a fun, individual art gallery that had entertaining and humorous art pieces. But you can't go there anymore either because it was replaced by a tattoo parlor.

This is becoming the story of too many small stores in Olympia. So next time you don’t have anything to do, instead of just finding a video on YouTube, go out and explore downtown Olympia.

This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 6:19 PM with the headline "Support your local businesses."