I walked into Scrapbook Boulevard yesterday to pick up some things, and I was caught off guard by the Store closeout sign. I looked at it for a minute trying to absorb what I was reading. "All sales final, 25% off everything." I then noticed how empty the shelves were through out the store. I wanted to cry. This was more than just a store I bought my scrapbook supplies from, they knew me by name, I knew their names, I took classes, learned things, attended crops, had laughs and made friends.
I felt knumb as I walked through the store putting things in my basket. It wasn't just that I didn't have a place to buy my product from, I have an online store for pete sakes. It was losing something that had become a constant in my life. A place to walk in and destress, it was therapy.
Local scrapbook stores offer us something online stores can't; atmosphere, face to face customer service. Don't get me wrong, online stores have advantages too. Lower overhead which makes the product cheaper most of the time, they can carry a larger inventory and most have online communities. But sometimes you don't want to live in the cyber world, you want to have hands on instruction and sit next to a warm body.
There are few more crops before the close date, I will attend and I will take pictures. I hope the economy picks up, after all people still need to preserve their memories, I just never thought I would now be preserving the memory of my favorite scrapbook store. Vesta and Steve, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for giving us the Boulevard.
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