The Little Shops that Could - Online Towns for Buying & Selling

On a spring day, the pink dogwood trees line the quaint little town of Brevard. People come from all over the US and Canada just to enjoy the slower pace of life that Brevard has to offer. It is obvious by the laughter in their voice and the slight bounce in their step that they are visitors in this town. As they stroll down the streets, peering into each shop along the way, they are taken back to their youth and childhood as they glance into each shop that reminds them of an era gone by. From Rocky's Soda Shop to D.D. Bullwinkle's and over to O.P. Taylor's Toy Shop (http://www.optaylors.com/ ), the most unusual toy shop on the planet Earth. Life does not seem to have changed too much in this rural metropolis.

Yet our town hasn't always been like that. It wasn't that long ago when shops were closing and the only thing moving on the sidewalk was tumbleweed. What you see are "recreations" of the history of Brevard. It started when Brevard's first recognition brought itself fame. The 1983 Rand McNally award was presented for the "Best Place to Retire". I didn't realize that that many people read Rand McNally. Practically every year since, Brevard has been in the running for some award or honor. Best Place to Raise Children; Best Place to Play Golf; Best Place to Listen to Jazz; Best Place to Live With a Siberian Husky; Best Place to Live if You Have Nowhere Else To Go; Best Place to Drive if you can Drive Really Slow; and last, but not least, Best Place to Live if You Can Afford to Buy a $50,000 House for $300,000. Welcome to Brevard.

Once Brevard got its recognition, the population of the city and it's surrounding county, Transylvania, exploded. But it wasn't only retirees that moved here. Many individuals escaping corporate America moved here to "retire early". Yet once these young retirees arrived they realized that they wanted to do more than just hike, fish, rock climb, and spend money. Soon they were bringing more than their money to town. They were bringing their dreams in the form of new business ideals. It wasn't long until all the uptown shop spaces were reborn with many new and unusual retailers. You could easily tell which places had been around for long than two months. The older shops were simply named "Harris Hardware Store" or "Rice's Furniture Store". And, of course, there were a few stores with fancy names like "Pat's Shoe Mart". The new stores distinctively stood out with names like, "Ben and Jerry's Nuts and Bolts- the New Hardware" or "Rice and only Rice and Nothing More". Yet my favorite had to be "The Watering Hole". Their stock consisted of only bottled water, or as they called it "Gourmet Liquidized Vapor". These new shops had everything but one- customers. People just didn't feel comfortable in these specialized places. They did not like to shop at "Bras and Drawers". The people, who ran these shops, were nice enough and fit in with the rest of the Transylvanian population, they just didn't sell anything that people wanted. Yet amazingly they stayed in business. The main reason for their longevity was that these shops were not the main source of income for the owner. They were bored retirees who had a dream, a dream to one-day open a "Turtle Food Shop".

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