You want some bad news? These days, unfortunately, it’s not hard to find.
On this page Monday you’ll read a column from The Associated Press in Jackson, reporting the dispiriting information that Mississippi’s economic output was lower in 2016 than it was in 2008, when the Great Recession hit.
Also, there were fewer Mississippi workers on payrolls in September 2017 than there were nine years previously, in February 2008.
Worst of all, the state’s population is declining. The Census Bureau estimates that 10,000 people left Mississippi in 2016. It’s a small amount, yes, but other Southern states are growing.
When information like this comes out, it’s easy to be negative. It’s easy to say Mississippi will always be poor, uneducated and divided — a burden that the rest of the country must carry.
I do not wish to be a burden, and no one else does, either. So when the bad statistics come out, it might help a little bit to look around and see if anything good is going on.
If the participation in Thursday night’s Mistletoe & Magic promotion means anything, there is still hope for the local economy.
The Pike County Chamber of Commerce organizes the annual holiday shopping kickoff event. This year, 17 businesses took part, and they reported strong sales and lots of visitors during the evening.
“I think we had a much bigger turnout this year,” said Trisha Ray, owner of Alford’s Flowers. “I would say sales were up 25 percent.”
Ray is doing something new for this year’s holiday shopping. In 2004 she purchased a building next door to her business and is putting all her Christmas merchandise in her second building.
“It’s big and roomy, and I think it’s going to do well,” she said.
Smith has owned the gift shop for nearly 40 years and has seen her share of ups and downs. She said 2016 was a tough year but things have been better this year, and “I think we’re going to finish it on a good note.”
Susan Gibbes of Holmes Stationers agreed. She said her store doubled both its traffic and sales from Mistletoe & Magic compared to a year ago.
“I have definitely felt that business has gotten stronger each year, which is so converse to the history of what’s happened to brick-and-mortar stores,” she said. “I think we’ve made a major effort to provide our area with top-rated products so they don’t have to go online.”
Gibbes said social media helps brings people into the store, but good service and low prices brings repeat business.
“Retail isn’t easy, and we work hard,” she said. “These little towns have to have the businesses. If we close up and go, what’s left? And I think our customers have realized the importance of these businesses and are working to shop locally.”
Tanya Berryhill, owner of Up Front and Main in downtown McComb, has a lot less experience as an owner than Ray and Gibbes. She opened her fashion and accessories store only 14 months ago.
But she too was pleased with the results of Mistletoe & Magic.
“There were so many people I couldn’t keep up,” she said. “I was looking at sales later on and saw names I recognized and didn’t realize they had been in.
“It was just a great, great crowd.”
Berryhill said her sales are a mix of in store and online, and both are doing well.
“Some of my business does come from outside Pike County and outside Mississippi,” she said. “My success right now is a mixture. But business through the door at 114 Main Street is good.”
OK, let’s put the Mistletoe & Magic enthusiasm in perspective. It was only one evening, and the small-business segment of the economy is not going to create a whole lot of jobs.
Nevertheless, there were a lot of people out browsing and shopping locally. If things were better than last year, that implies there is a little more money to spend in 2017.
We shouldn’t kid ourselves. Southwest Mississippi and its small, rural communities surely are dealing with the same trends as the rest of the state: lower output, fewer jobs, people moving away. If the rest of the South and the nation is growing, and we’re standing still, then we’re losing ground.
We can either fold our tents or try to do better. Personally, I vote for Option No. 2, and I will remember that in the toughest of times, there are some small businesses here that are doing all right.
