A question for the knife community. Make money and expand Vs. support local community

[cbach8tw]

I would think that by expanding the business and creating jobs that in the end you would be helping local businesses, by the money the jobs will generate and then winding up in the local economy with spending, and allowing other businesses to stay afloat, maybe even create more jobs. It is a tough economy, where some businesses have survived the worst of the pandemic and now cannot get workers to come back, or the workers have moved in to other types of jobs. Also, with the internet, a lot of money does not stay in the area like a traditional business. So I guess I believe in both expanding but also making a conscious effort to buy local, more of the small shops with not much margin for extra cash, the big box stores will do fine, but the small business owners need our business too. Just my two cents.

 

[cbach8tw]

Another thought, what would happen to our local community if the local business sector goes down? There is a chain effect. I guess I am thinking of small to medium size towns where we call home. I am watching the show Hometown Rescue where they are going into a small town in Alabama trying to revive and restore some of the homes and stores of leaders or businesses in the town who might spark a revival in the community. So it does take people in the community, or i hate to say it, it takes a village, to keep the community alive and prosper.

 

[XJ-linux]

We are going into a recession (IMHO). Price is going to matter more for a while, and disposable/discretionary income will shrink for a significant portion of the population. Luxury/custom knives are (for many) in the disposable/discretionary income territory. My feeling would be to do both... local source and charge appropriately for those versions of a design, and source less expensive but quality ingredients for a less costly version of a given design. Some companies (Cold Steel rest in peace) did this successfully offering a given design in everything from 3V to SanMai to 1095 to AUS* steels, which gave people the option to drop a small or large amount on a good knife.

My 2 cents...