“Here We Are” with Kim Murray

Kim’s energy and enthusiasm brighten up any day! She created Malisun Boutique with a focus on women artisans, and her “Plant a Tree Program” is a very successful part of her business. Check out Malisun’s beautiful, expanded new space at Vermont Marketplace at Exit One.


Avoiding Amazon

With an uptick in online ordering, I’ve had to work a bit harder to avoid using Amazon. Jeff Bezos doesn’t need any of my money, and just about everyone else does, so I make the effort.

Search engines conspire against this quest. Search for almost anything and the top results, plural, are Amazon. It’s annoying.

When I use it at all, I use Amazon as a free product research tool. I’ll look at product specs, manuals, reviews, Q&As… and then go somewhere else to buy it.


Essential Information: Brattleboro Food Co-op and Covid-19

The Brattleboro Food Co-op is well considered an essential local business and is open for business with limited hours and curbside pickup for groceries, sundries, fresh and frozen foods, wellness supplies, and more during this Covid-19 epidemic.

As a central local business focused on food and health, the Co-op feels it is important everyone in the Bratt community knows the Co-op is making every effort to keep its staff and customers safe and comfortable during this crisis. The store hours have changed temporarily to 2pm-7pm daily so customers can come into the Co-op to do their own shopping. The Co-op has also created a Curbside Pickup service for those who are compromised and don’t want to go into the store. Customers can call the Curbside Hotline at 802-246-2800 to place an order for pick up curbside either that same day or the next day.


Brattleboro Downtown Merchants

Quote: “I’m no economist, but when I hear about downtown businesses blaming their financial woes on the presence of people on the sidewalk asking for spare change, I’m left scratching my head. It seems like if you’re going to run a business, you’d want to know the basics of supply and demand… Like, if you want to make money, you need to offer goods and services that people want at a price they can pay. Sell things people need and can afford. Three-thousand-dollar rugs not flying off the shelves? Rethink your business strategy. I can buy an 80-dollar bouquet of flowers downtown, but I have to drive somewhere else to buy a pair of underwear.”