Summary:
Oneonta's economy and the shopping scene is very different from the heyday of shopping downtown at one of the fine department stores, and especially different from the earliest settler's stores and businesses. Even the best performing 'brick-and-mortar' commercial chains are always under competition from online retailers, especially a retail giant like Amazon.
Smaller stores have therefore seen an impact with the way shopping has shifted in about the last decade; American Express were the ones to highlight "Small Business Saturday" as a response to Black Friday to shift the conversation (and money!) back to the local businesses in one's community. In our case, it's the small stores downtown and the artisans and vendors located all around Oneonta. There are a variety of antique and thrift stores in the downtown and around Oneonta that are frequented by citizens of all kinds!
This said, Oneonta's situation is unique: there are a variety of stores to shop at in Oneonta, and for some this is an only option or a 'best' option, whereas others will do a majority of their shopping online and then sometimes get stuff 'in-person'. A third option is skipping Oneonta entirely to shop either in Binghamton or Albany.
As evidence, answer the following questions:
Reflect for a minute about your own shopping choices. How often do you find yourself shopping, A. online on any variety of websites, including those that also have physical locations, B. in-person at a chain-retail store or C. in-person at a local store? What businesses are not currently in Oneonta that you believe might thrive? Do you travel out of Oneonta to shop in-person often?
As evidence, answer the following question:
What may be the benefit of shopping at a local business/restaurant in Oneonta? Do you know someone who runs any of these local businesses or used to?
1. ERIC - Economy