Due to the pandemic, lots of people are pushing ‘shop local’ this season. Allow me to join the choir.
Recently, I was searching for a particularly hard-to-find book for a gift and not having much luck. So I stopped into the Cape Breton Curiosity Shop on Charlotte St. in Sydney and talked to the owner. No luck there, either.
The owner, however, then offered to call around to try to find it and I said not to bother because she had paying customers in the store. I then thanked her and left.
Later in the day I received a phone call from the owner who had called a friend for permission to get my phone number. The owner told me she found a copy of the book and had it set aside with my name on it, and it was on sale!
You can't imagine how impressed I was that this retail owner took the time for me to fill my needs. In such a busy season no less. You won't get that from big box stores or chain stores very often. This is why my wife and I spend as much of our money downtown as possible.
It isn't the only time this sort of thing has happened but it is the most recent, and in these trying times spending local is more important than ever.
Thank you to Peggy and her staff for going above and beyond.
John Duffy
Sydney