Painted Rocks and Local Shops
posted by Laura M. Bell | November 29, 2017 | In Arts and CultureLocal small businesses are teaming up to promote kindness, and their own businesses around Fayetteville, NC this holiday season with the painted rock project known as Rock Fay with àSE.
Earlier this year local Facebook groups, such as àSE, began painting rocks, and hiding them around Fayetteville. Rocks can be found in planters downtown, local parks, schools, and even the dog park!
The purpose of the painted rocks is to simply put a smile on someone’s face. With so much ugliness going on in the town of Fayetteville it’s nice to just see a rock that’s painted with something cute. It’s a little piece of kindness in a mean world.
The trend in Fayetteville began this spring, but Toniqueka Stewart, co-found of àSE, had an idea to bring area businesses together for a cause. She had the genius idea to ask for coupons to put on the back of these ‘kindness rocks.’ These rocks are brightening people’s days, but also prompting the community to shop local.
Rude Awakening of Downtown Fayetteville offered free cookies to rock hunters, while the Wine Bar gave a 5% discount on any bottle of wine. Molto Bella Portraits discounted a portrait session by 30%!
These discounts, and giveaways not only demonstrate generosity towards the community of Fayetteville, but they also show how everyone can come together for a positive expression of art throughout the city.
The benefits of the #Rock Fay with àSE project are mutual. The businesses are getting the exposure they may not have been getting. They are also pushing customers to shop at their stores verses going to big-box- retailers such as Wal-Mart.
Small businesses often are overlooked because of cheaper prices that can be found online, or at corporation giants. Around the holidays the United States have created Small Business Saturday as an attempt to lure Americans to support their local business, but it’s often not enough.
The CEO of Target may make 11.6 Million (after a stock-market crash mind you) a small business owner does not. A small business owner in the United States may make anywhere between 34K and 75K per year. Considering how many hours you have to put in when running your business that isn’t much at all.
These business owners have families to support, mortgages to pay and they have to keep investing into their own business. It’s expensive, and it’s a lot of hard work. Small businesses need consumer support far more than these corporate stores.
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