STL Shop Local 365+: Bradburn's Parent and Teacher Stores

A black fine point Sharpie, it is part of the McDonald family system to manage and control the ever pressing busy-ness of our culture. The system: a giant calendar with a different color pen for each person. I was still shopping at the big office stores in January and bought a 2011 calendar with a set of multicolored fine point Sharpies. Micha chose the black one for his activities and now it is lost. We are dependent on this calendar, so where could I hurriedly go to buy another black Sharpie now that the adventure has begun?

Oh, yes, Bradburn's parent teacher store! I hadn't been there since the children were younger. In those days it was a frequent stop. At Christmas for interesting games and toys:

And when I was in my parent as teacher mode, the educational supplies were the best and what a variety, every subject, every level.

While I pored over the intriguing possibilities, the kids played in the well supplied activity area.

Oh, the choice of paper and art supplies...mmm...inspirational. We all felt artistic just looking at those colorful sheets.

But today my quest was for office supplies!

I didn't need glue,

Nor erasers,

Not even wax pencils.

But Sharpies and there they were...every color, every size.

Well, maybe not EVERY color but certainly enough variety for my need.

When you go visit Bradburn's be sure to notice the picture of Mr. William and Elvera Bradburn over the door at the back of the store. In their home they began Bradburn's School Supply 65 years ago.

Their daughter, Elizabeth Parkinson and her son, Brad, continue to manage this outstanding local business. I got to meet Brad while I was in the store today. He was kind enough to take a few minutes from his hectic schedule to say hello and charm me with stories of working for his grandpa when he was just a little boy earning precious quarters. And then, growing in responsibility, he earned money to pay for college, learned the school supply business, and today keeps this wonderful store as a helpful and contributing member of the St. Louis Community.

I also talked with Mark Kramer who has worked for Bradburn's for 25 years. He spoke eloquently of the challenges facing local businesses as people have come to expect endless variety at rock bottom prices, something only the giant stores on the corner can accomplish. He pointed out that the big stores do a sort of "cherry picking" approach. Having already dominated the office supply niche, they are now choosing the top 100 selling educational materials to offer at their stores, cutting harshly into the harvest of this small business. Because of this, endless regulation, and burdensome taxes Bradburn's has had to close 1 of their three stores in the St. Louis area, so instead of employing 28 or 30 people, they now employ 18 and yet another building has a "for lease" sign in the window.

But did I detect a note of cynicism or despair? Not at all. Mark loves and believes in the work he does, sensing that his job is about more than selling school supplies at the cheapest price. It is about taking time to offer service, answer questions, know the suppliers, know the customers and continually adjust inventory to meet the needs of parents and teachers in St. Louis.