Well, it’s been a while (because Carmel has been pretty calm), but….I’m back!
Currently, merchants are participating in “The Art of Wine” event, which does attract a lot of people to the district. But, same as last year, they (you know who you are) obviously didn’t read my article last year. They also didn’t care that street closures starting at 9:45 a.m., (when everyone was told 10 a.m., which is too early anyway) RUIN BUSINESS!
So, I’m sitting in my empty barber chair staring a very vacant street. Bottom line, the people who set up for this event don’t need 7 hours to get ready. We, the merchants, who are here year-round, are put on the back burner for the people who visit Carmel to sell and show their products.
We should not have money taken from our pockets for the sake of accommodating guests. Yes, that sounds dramatic, but as a guy with 4 kids, it impacts me. It definitely doesn’t benefit me or my business. That goes for all the guys in the barber shop, as well as other merchants.
Listen to your local merchants about their concerns and come up with a new plan! Please quit putting the screws to us, and work with us to improve things. We also want Carmel to boom, and we are smart enough to run successful businesses. We might have better ideas than one person, or even a whole committee. Road closures also prevent locals from going about their daily business. More input helps, and I’ve previously suggested creating an email system, or something for merchants to share their input. Or, just stop by and talk to us… I’ve never had one customer in 6 years come in and say how happy they were about the street closures that last for hours. There have already been too many bad decisions made and too much debt created around here, so let’s use our brains and think of a different way.
