Up & Coming Weekly

November 24, 2015

Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.

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4 NOVEMBER 25 - DECEMBER 1, 2015 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM This editorial message is a tribute and thank you to the entrepreneurial spirit of all of our privately owned, local Fayetteville businesses. No doubt, creating and developing your own successful business in these hard economic times is a major challenge. I'm talking about real grass root local businesses and not necessarily those hundreds of franchises that have migrated here. You know the businesses I'm talking about. The ones where absentee owners either cling to the elusive dream of striking it rich or revel in the title of "business owner" completely void of any sense of local community. The Internet compounds this situation and contributes considerably to the deterioration of local communities. Sure, "shop local" is a warm and fuzzy sound byte, but my fear is that it has become meaningless and somewhat of a cliché. That shouldn't be. Small, independent businesses are the heart of America and the heart of this community. Yet dozens of new small businesses go out of business each month from lack of direction and support, while more established Fayetteville/Cumberland County businesses struggle to survive under the pressures of a sagging economy, high taxes, excessive rules and complicated ordinances. And, of course, we have to again mention the Internet, which attracts and solicits an apathetic following, while returning nothing to the community. We need to celebrate locally owned businesses and create an ongoing awareness of their importance to our local economy. Alarm companies, printers, clothing stores, restaurants, financial services, pawn shops, jewelers, gift shops, art galleries, automobile dealers and even non-profit charitable organizations are local businesses that respond to the needs of our community. These businesses are the ones that sponsor arts and cultural events, buy season tickets and are asked to contribute to our schools, dozens of charities, festivals and cultural events. These people are committed. They are the ones who care about quality of life and have a true investment in our future. Big-box stores, franchises and Internet businesses siphon revenue, profits, taxes and opportunity from our community while locally owned businesses bear the burden of providing amenities and infrastructure to local citizens. Our local businesses are often contributors to the problem: unpredictable hours, short staff and questionable customer service. Look at downtown on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. People are out and about, but a large number of the businesses are closed! I believe the majority of the local business owners truly care about their customers and the community. The point is this: No one is denying the lure and strength of the Internet. However, we need a greater awareness campaign marketing and promoting the support and consideration for locally owned businesses. A serious and aggressive one. Residents cannot continue to spend local dollars with Internet businesses and then depend on local businesses to support the community. Here at Up & Coming Weekly we appreciate and salute small businesses and the entrepreneurial spirit. Count on us for continued assistance and support. After all, we too, are a small business. Thanks for reading Up & Coming Weekly. PUBLISHER'S PEN Shop Local: Truth or Cliché by BILL BOWMAN STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton editor@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com Senior Reporter Jeff Thompson jeff@upandcomingweekly.com ART DIRECTOR Sara Smith art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Karla Allen karla@upandcomingweekly.com SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com ACCOUNTING Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com Beverly Pone beverlypone@upandcomingweekly.com Melissa Zalaznik melissa@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publica- tion with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/ Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publica- tion consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publica- tion. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and dis- tributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. When you buy from local businesses, you reinvest in the community, which helps build it up and allows local business to thrive. Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Call 910-354-1679 for more info. November 26 Mostly Sunny November 27 Partly Cloudy November 28 Mostly Sunny November 29 Mostly Cloudy November 30 Partly Cloudy December 1 Few Showers THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY HIGH 62 HIGH 65 HIGH 67 HIGH 62 HIGH 61 HIGH 58 LOW 45 LOW 47 LOW 48 LOW 47 LOW 46 LOW 42

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