Do you have fannish friends? Wearers of Harry Potter scarves, collectors of Batman statues, or fans of Grand Moff Tarkin who drink out of Star Wars mugs? I’d like to recommend Alien Entertainment, a store in a little slice of Lombard, Illinois. In true Twilight Zone fashion, Alien Entertainment is located on Main Street. The owners never asked me to say a word about them. But I did my annual pilgrimage to Lombard yesterday, part of ongoing efforts to support small, independently-owned businesses.
I’ve missed Hanukkah but maybe I can still reach a few desperate Christmas shoppers. The mall and internet provide quick results for those of us who put things off to the last minute. But local bookstores and toy stores need us so much more than Jeff Bezos and Amazon do. While bookstores are not quite extinct, independents should be cherished like white tigers. Reader, are you still lucky enough to be able to walk into your local Book Bin or Timeless Toys? The loss of a bookstore or toy store leaves a hole in the heart of a town. If we don’t nurture and care for our independents, Amazon Prime free shipping may kill America’s little shops — and those shops are often the last remaining forces keeping our towns from merging into one giant, chain megalopolis.
Please, readers, where you can over the next few weeks, try to shop small.
