Everyone knows my wife, Betsy.  She is an astute businessperson with her finger on the pulse of the community.  Many mornings, Betsy gets up at 5 AM just to go to Chamber meetings and other functions of the community.  I have encouraged Betsy to blog about the community and what goes on here.  She came to me for ideas tonight, and I told her why don’t I just do one of my world famous 5 minute blog posts?  She of course agreed.  Smart girl, that one!!

Many of you don’t know me, or have seen me wandering around her shop at odd times.  I am just an old guy who happens to like to write.  And this is how I make my living.  I am a freelance writer that writes for a top internet company, and do freelance work for other marketers.  We share an apartment above Bella Grande, and I write for the web, and Betsy tends to the ladies of the community.  Her shop is very successful and grows each year.  If we were younger, we would expand our business because the need is here for the community.

We talked about what she should blog about this evening.  She was at odds and asked me for feedback.  Here is how my mind works, and how the process developed.  I always make it a point to watch the NBC Nightly News.   My world view is a bit more global than Betsy’s.  I like to keep my head full of what goes on in the world about me.  I can’t tell you what is going on in the 100 block of our fair city, but can sure give you an earful on the state of the mortgage market, or who is dipping into the bailout money the government has put together for the Wall Street banks.

I mentioned to Betsy that Sarah Palin, Veep running mate with John McCain, stated on TV that she buys her clothing in a consignment shop in Anchorage.  I don’t know how much truth there is in that.  I do know, however, that there has been a real flap recently about the GOP dropping 150K on clothing for her.  That’s quite another story, though!

The thing that was pertinent to me was this – we have lost 317K jobs here in Michigan this year.  Women, at least as I know them, are always doing their best to look good.  If that means going to a nice shop like Betsy’s to shop, then it just makes good economic sense to do so.  Her clothing is high quality, affordable, and comes off of designer racks most of the time.  She is very fussy about what she sells, and it is a testament to her good taste that her shop has done so well.

She is offering a much needed service in these tough economic times.  Not too many women that are worried about the job market and keeping food on the table and gas in the tank can afford to shop at Jacobsen’s.  But they can shop at Bella Grande, and get the same results.  I have always liked her tag line – “look like a million bucks without spending a fortune.”  Fitting indeed.  I am sure that any one of her very satisfied customers would agree with that.  And in the retail industry, that is the name of the game…

Regards,

Alden Smith~