Featured Antiques And Economic Development In Rural Kentucky

Businesses along Ky. 7 in Eastern Kentucky collaborating, growing
http://www.kentucky.com/news/business/article76449787.html

Hello folks,

I thought that this article was very interesting. I have long felt that state and local economic development analysts need to pay more attention to the potential of antique shops, antique mall, and flea markets to bring out of town consumers into the area AND to keep local money in the local economy. The growth potential for used good retail venues is enormous and would allow us to lessen our reliance on cheap imported manufactured goods from Eastern Asia.

The local officials around my area see flea markets, resale shops, and antique shops as blighted, nuisance land uses and that view needs to changed through education and more nuanced enforcement. These uses reduce waste, provide employment (part or full time) to vendors and dealers, and keep local money cycling through the local economy rather than going to some manufacturer overseas.

Your thoughts?
Joe2007

 

If it helps, it helps.

 

I agree that such groupings do bring biz to an area. A local area here, which is a main antique and shop destination, just had their lumber mill close after a hundred years.
The town is there because of it. This is a blow that will affect all those who live and work there. It's a good thing the town has this area though I wonder how these job losses will affect the future.

 

I grew up in rural WV where towns were built close to the rivers because of the booming lumber industry. Now those towns are but a shadow of what they once were. All the businesses that prospered during that time are long gone. Many efforts have been made to revive these towns but no real success.

 

The same thing happened here in New England, just earlier. When a town is built around a single industry and that industry dies out, the town's in trouble.

 

Over the past few years Kentucky has placed a lot of focus on its efforts to increase tourism. Lots of recreation opportunities, a growing craft beer/bourbon industry, and a generally beautiful countryside with lots of well preserved small towns give Kentucky a strong foundation to build off of. Antiques and collectables are a great addition that almost perfectly augments the tourism focus that Kentucky is working on implementing.

As a Ohio resident I've seen the tail end of the decline in manufacturing jobs in the rustbelt. There is almost nothing left and some cities that once had 10 to 20 sizable manufacturers are now down to the last few and those manufactures through automation have relatively few employees compared to the good ole days.

 

I've watched "The Matrix" trilogy several times recently. Along with that, watching a documentary about the invention of robots that take the place of humans, it doesn't seem so far fetched that mankind is trying to head us into
this same scenario. Although no mention of the movie was made, it had "The Matrix" written all over it. Real eye opener, not to mention scary. Technology has it's place, but just like cloning, man is going too far.

 

Once factory jobs started heading for China, this country should have tried to find a solution. Widespread unemployment can't be fixed by the President or Congress. This is a free market economy. We can't dictate to manufacturers. We can, however, make it financially better to locate business here than in other countries. That's the first part of the problem. I grew up in a family that worked in the mills and shoe factories in New England and remember when they all closed down. NH still hasn't recovered, although the ski resorts and lakes region have done their best to lure vacationers. It's not enough. The whole area of southern NH is economically depressed. The second part of the problem is, indeed, technology. Every time you create a robot to do a job, you take away an avenue for a live person to support their family. No one is doing anything to solve that issue. I'm not sure there is a way.

Every time someone shops at a Walmart or Target or another box store, they may be supporting a few local clerks and shelf stockers, but the big profits are going overseas. For a few decades the shoppers save money buying cheap goods, but it erodes the overall economy of the towns in which they are located. They aren't putting money back into the infrastructure the way Mom & Pop businesses do. There's a whole generation of young people out there who have been trained by media hype to believe that a $29.99 dining room set from Ikea is better than grandma's antiques. How do you fight that?

 

Well said, Bev!

Like Bev, I grew up in New England watching the industrial base moving away. In the 1950s the textiles were moving south. One cotton, linen, woolen mill after another were closing their doors up there. Finally in 1960 the sheet plastic plant my step-father was connected with ran into serious problems with the unions. It was a life and death decision for the company. The company had to either shut down or move. The Union would not budge an inch and all management from top, middle to the floor foremen were threathened with many needing around the clock police protection - including me. The company could not make enough to justify staying open. The powers to be searched the country for possible other locations. My sf and mother did some of these trips. Several towns/cities in Ga, AL, and MS became candidates because of their tax incentives, location - transportion hubs to railroads and rivers, and available work force. The company settled on Corinth, Mississippi. The state, county and city built the infrastructure of roads, railroad spurs, etc... and gave the company a good 20+years of tax breaks - offer that can't be refused. A huge industrial park/complex developed around that company. When I came south I was amassed to see the many old New England cotton, linen and woolen mill names in the states of NC, SC, GA, Al, MS! Back in the 50s I had thought they had just closed, no they had moved South!

All through the 1960s and 70s this area of the country was flourishing. Even car manufacturers were building hugeeee plants. Today Mississippi has a Toyota, Nissan, and there is a GE plant doing Boeing 787 stuff not all that far south of us. When I'd go back to New England I was shocked at the depressed appearance. Friends and family members visiting from New England were equalled shocked but with the great prosperity down here. They would come thinking to see hardly a paved road, and a multitude of barefooted people in straw hats, bonnets, and bib overalls - Hee Haw clones. To be perfectly honest I don't know of a public dirt road in an over 200 mile radius. Of course they may be one that I don't know about.

Then towards the late 1970s a few manufacturing and assembly plants started slowly creeping away to such places as Mexico and the far east. Some of this started with Carter's signing of the Trade Agreement Acts of 1979. This particularly opened free trade agreements with Mexico, Singapore, Australia and Canada. Within a short time several assembly plants packed up and headed for Mexico. A flood was started to the far east causing like Bev said "big profits are going over seas ... cheap goods." The cork was out of the bottle and no one has a good answer on how to put it back without serious ramifications.

--- Susan

 

I always say that my three favorite cursewords are "made in China".