Organic growth

Local Harvest's Morganford store

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If you get your notions of reality from cable TV "news," blogs, or (worse yet) that great oxymoron of the 21st century, "reality" television, you'd be might be justified in thinking that you were surrounded by heavily armed, angry dolts without a shred of compassion and incapable of rational thought—or, indeed, any thought at all.  You would, however, be dead wrong.

You'd be dead wrong because anything you get from any of the sources listed above is, by definition, designed to attract your attention.  And ordinary, everyday things don't attract your attention because—well—they're ordinary.  Fact is, most people are basically decent and inclined to be compassionate and helpful.  It's a survival trait for our species; without it, we would have exterminated ourselves millennia ago.

I was reminded of this recently by the outpouring of support for Local Harvest Grocery, a small local business specializing in locally grown and organic food.  Back on January 27th the store, which is on Morganford just south of Arsenal, sent out an S.O.S. to its customers via its Facebook page.  "Dear Local Harvest Family and Friends," began the post, "We are writing to tell you that we are in trouble and need your help."  The post went on to say that 2013 had "brought several large blows from which we have not been able to recover" and that unless the store raised $120,000 by February 7th, they'd be forced to close.

The problem?  Local Harvest had expanded too quickly too soon—one of the top ten reasons for small business failure, according to the New York Times.  Having successfully added a café and expanded from their original small storefront to a larger space, they took what proved to be an expensive leap and opened a store in Kirkwood.  It failed, leaving them in dire financial straits.

The short-lived Kirkwood store

In an effort to raise the cash, Local Harvest offered customers a gift certificate to be purchased now and redeemed for 10% over its face value in 2015, along with a year long punch card.  For $100 customers would get a card good for $10 a month at their cafes for 12 months.  They also set up an account with microfinance platform IndieGoGo as well as a fund-raising "Buycott" dinner at the Local Harvest Café on February 3rd.

The response from customers and other businesses in the community was quick and positive.  Lemmons Restaurant on Gravois hosted a "We Love Local Harvest" party on the 30th.  4 Hands Brewing Company (a brew pub just north of Soulard) hosted a twelve-hour fundraiser on the 31st at which $2 of every beer purchased went to Local Harvest.  Blank Space on Cherokee hosted one as well on the 2nd.  Even the local Fox affiliate got into the act with a very positive story on the 27th.

My wife and I did our part as well, purchasing a gift certificate and making a point of including the store in our regular shopping.

The result?  On February 1st, the following status update appeared on the Local Harvest Facebook page: "Update: We just reached our goal of $120,000! Thank you, St Louis. What a week!"  The day of the Buycott dinner, owners Patrick Horine and Maddie Earnest followed that up with a lengthy status update that read, in part: "We understand that now we have a solemn responsibility to you. We have to make good decisions and run our businesses so that they grow and are profitable, so we can be here for you for the next year and for many years after that. We have to continue being a community asset and providing clean, local foods. We have to help food entrepreneurs and small farmers get started and keep the current ones growing."

So, the next time you're inclined to think the worst of the human race, remember this story of the Little Market That Could and all the St. Louisans who pitched in to help them keep going.  If that doesn't warm your heart on these cold February nights, nothing will.