||| FROM DOUG & MICHELL “MITCH” MARSHALL |||
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The Office Cupboard was always more than a place to buy your office, school, and art supplies, or to get your print work done. It also has been a meeting spot, a pause in the day, a place where stories are shared as often
as smiles. From the first morning we unlocked the door eighteen and a half years ago, we hoped to offer something needed to this community that we all love.
Times have changed. With a few clicks, the world now arrives at our doorsteps, faster — and sometimes perhaps cheaper — than a small island business can offer. While online shopping has brought convenience, it has also made it harder for shops like ours to keep the doors open.
During the past few years, our annual sales (on an inflation adjusted basis) have been less than half what they had been a dozen years earlier. That worked for us, but it would not work for most owners.
The reality is that The Office Cupboard had become less and less important to Orcas and no longer was sustainable. We could not find someone to take it over, so our only choice was to wind down the business.
As Doug and I step into our next chapter, we hope you all will look for ways to support this island’s remaining local businesses before they may have to follow suit. Use them or lose them.
We look back with gratitude for all of you who regularly supported us over the years, as well as for those who accidentally wandered in, and for every tourist who carried away a piece of this island when they left. Thank you for choosing LOCAL when you could, for believing in small businesses and for making our journey meaningful beyond measure.
Though our doors are closing on January 27th , we hope the spirit of The Office Cupboard will continue to bring positive memories for each of you.
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Thank you to you both for ALL you have given our community! Enjoy your next adventure.
Many, many thanks to the Marshalls for all their years of Office Cupboard copying, technical assistance, art supplies, etc.! What will Eastsound do without you???
A poignant observation about local brick-and-mortar businesses–especially in a small, seasonal island community! But you have both made the Cupboard so much more than an essential local shop. On-line business can never provide the personal, community value that you have given us. Value? Priceless! Thanks and Best Wishes!
Thank you so much, Michell and Doug, for stewarding The Office Cupboard all these years! I will miss stopping by the shop, chatting with you, making copies or picking up some items. Missing you already! But looking forward to staying in touch.
We’ve been lucky to have Michell and Doug keep the Office Cupboard running for all these years. Thank you for your kind and professional service. I will miss you and the store.
You have been so important to our community and I will miss your excellent service and community presence.
May your Next Chapter be richly rewarding.
Always a favorite spot to stop in and visit with you two!!
You have done so much to enhance many of the businesses on the island–you are always there to help solve problems and help with printing and creative needs.
I am really gonna miss The Office Cupboard.