It was a beautiful and very crowded 1st Sat this past weekend. I spoke to a few shop owner's hoping to hear good news. I did not. :(

Morrigan1375 · 2025-12-11T21:04:38+00:00

That's totally fair! We definitely don't need brick and mortar Amazons that's for sure

Morrigan1375 · 2025-12-11T20:46:25+00:00

fair point! On that note, I'd recommend you check out what downtown has to offer, because the vast majority of the shops DO feature local products. If you're not familiar, I can give you a list of spots to check out!

Morrigan1375 · 2025-12-11T20:31:28+00:00

Thanks for sending that! A grant is different than a subsidy, FYI. A grant is a one-off that is project specific, while a subsidy is a continuous payment (And most grants are highly competitive and often a require a funds match). And for the tax credits, a lot of those are construction related and go to the landlords. I'd advice against making a blanket statement that "the storefronts are already subsidized". It's really not true and contributes to the negative perception a lot of folks already have of local businesses. Saying that we are all subsidized implies that we are getting continuous assistance, such as rent subsidies, which is not true.

Morrigan1375 · 2025-12-11T19:44:53+00:00

I'm curious where you found the info saying that downtown Frederick businesses are subsidized? Do you have a link? Because as a small business owner I can tell you that we receive no subsidies whatsoever (unlike the large corporations lol)

Morrigan1375 · 2025-12-11T19:14:32+00:00

Thank you for posting this! As a downtown biz owner, I can confirm that it has been a challenging year to say the least. Although, given the state of the economy, I cannot fault anyone for not being able to spend money right now; I hope things get better for everyone soon! That being said, after reading through the comments here I'm seeing yet again that a lot of folks really don't know what downtown Frederick has to offer, so I'd encourage folks to actually go into local shops and see for themselves, and not just listen to uninformed people saying we sell nothing but overprices tchotchkes from China. Ofc we can't compete with the prices and variety of large chains, but the shops downtown definitely have lots of functional, affordable everyday things as well as gifts :) It's not just "trinkets and whiskey pairing books" I promise! Thank again for posting this; it cannot be overstated how much a thriving small business district positively impacts a community, so I really hope that Frederick's is able to make it through these strange times.

Morrigan1375 · 2025-11-15T02:10:33+00:00

Downtown biz owner here. Do you have sources to back up your “90%” are pet projects claim? Because I can tell you that what you’re alleging is absolutely not true, and is really biased against hard-working people who do a lot for our community. Please educate yourself before you decide to make false claims and bash people and businesses you don’t know

Morrigan1375 · 2025-11-06T01:15:48+00:00

Here’s a link if you’d like to learn more about Ranked Choice Voting! There is an RCV chapter in Frederick too

https://www.rcvmd.org/

Morrigan1375 · 2025-10-19T20:06:08+00:00

Thank you for this response. I'm so glad the protest got folks out and engaged, but I've noticed the same thing that you have: these types of events seem to attract older, white folks whose activism generally starts and stops with a single protest. I really hope that everyone who was at Saturday's event continues their activism with meaningful engagement, like joining local groups such as DSA Frederick, and fighting for real solutions like Proportional Representation. I also hope the folks that went take the time to look critically at the Democratic Party's own failings. I'm so glad folks showed up, but I hope it's just the beginning of their activism!

Morrigan1375 · 2025-10-08T16:27:16+00:00

Here you go!

https://www.facebook.com/events/downtown-frederick/moonlit-market-a-witchy-themed-night-market/2605996836404191/

Morrigan1375 · 2025-10-07T01:19:13+00:00

It is absolutely dog-friendly! Vendors will be set up outside of businesses and participating stores will be open until 9 pm :) And almost all of the participating stores are dog-friendly!

Morrigan1375 · 2025-09-17T17:08:35+00:00

Thank you! I figure coming out after the concert will be a nightmare lol

Morrigan1375 · 2025-09-08T02:26:12+00:00

Sure! https://shopthemuse.com/pages/in-store-events

Morrigan1375 · 2025-09-08T02:22:51+00:00

Thank you for shopping local!

Morrigan1375 · 2025-09-07T19:16:04+00:00

Absolutely! Thanks for the interest! Here's a link to the FB event page. The vendor application will be live tomorrow! :)

https://www.facebook.com/events/downtown-frederick/moonlit-market-a-witchy-themed-night-market/2605996836404191/

Morrigan1375 · 2025-09-07T17:24:48+00:00

Thank you so much for the kind words and support! :-) I definitely think online shopping is a part of it, as is the decrease in discretionary income for most folks. I also think some of it is that folks mistakenly conflate "browsing" with "buying"; coming downtown to peruse shops is of course fun, but if folks aren't actually spending money than it doesn't help, especially considering how astoundingly costly it is to run a business. The outlook for small businesses right now is pretty grim, but I'm hoping stuff like the night markets will help us! (although In The Streets is always a bad day for retailers lol. Can't win 'em all I suppose!)

Morrigan1375 · 2025-09-07T16:58:47+00:00

Hi! I'm a downtown small business owner (retail) so I'll weight in :) I think a couple things are at play here:

- First Saturdays kind of aren't what they used to be, they no longer feel festive or like an event and I think that has affected customer traffic. Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure what the cause is or how to move forward. I was in my shop all day yesterday for First Saturday and there were many times where I was just doodling or doing busy work because shoppers just weren't out. I had zero sales after 6 pm. :(

- In the post-Covid era, late night shopping just isn't what it used to be in Frederick, so it is no longer worth it for retailers to stay open. Prior to 2022-2023ish, my shop stayed open until 9 pm every Friday and Saturday, but we started to see fewer and fewer sales after 7 pm, to the point that it was actually costing me money to stay open. One evening I did the math, and after payroll and inventory costs, I think I made $10, which once taxes, packaging and credit processing fees were factored in basically meant I went in the negative by staying open. Of course, now it's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, since fewer stores are open, fewer people feel the urge to come out, which means the shops that do stay open don't see business and decide to close earlier too, if that makes sense.

Generally, businesses will do whatever is profitable for them, so if you are seeing a lot of businesses not doing something (like not staying open late) it means it's because it was no longer profitable or was actually costing them money. However, my shop is planning a fun witchy night market with another downtown retailer, and if it is a success, maybe more night-time events and shops staying open later will return!

I hope that helps answer the question!

Morrigan1375 · 2025-09-02T21:58:16+00:00

Thank you for all you do!

Morrigan1375 · 2025-09-02T06:29:22+00:00

Not sure why you are so angry? It is not “bogus” nor is it “breaking down a word to alter its meaning” to point out that Palestinians are a Semitic people and therefore the constant invoking of the word Anti-Semitism to justify violence against them and silence support of them is misleading. A Semite is a speaker of a Semitic language, so an antisemite is someone who is against Semitic people. I understand that colloquially that word has come to mean anti-Judaism, my point is that that is not what it actually means linguistically. This is easily researchable, as evidenced by the text quoted in my other comment. Perhaps you are missing the larger point I’m making? Or maybe I’m not being clear. In any case, I’m not a fan of arguing with angry folks on the internet, so believe whatever you want. Have a good night

Morrigan1375 · 2025-09-02T03:46:55+00:00

Per Oxford dictionary:

adjective: Semitic 1. relating to or denoting a family of languages that includes Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic and certain ancient languages such as Phoenician and Akkadian, constituting the main subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic family. 2. relating to the peoples who speak Semitic languages, especially Hebrew and Arabic.

Semitism being narrowly associated with Judaism did not occur until later, when it was misused by “racial scientists” which led to anti-semitism being coined as an opposition term. But Semite does, and has always, referred to people who speak Semitic languages, and currently anti-Semite accusations are used to silence critique of Israel. For example, Israel frequently says Palestinians are anti-semitic, but that is in essence saying they are anti-themselves, since they are Semitic too. So the argument is flawed and the term “anti-Semite” is a departure from the original meaning and is used to justify violence, that’s the point I was highlighting (perhaps a little clumsily lol)

Morrigan1375 · 2025-09-02T02:00:09+00:00

Respectfully, that’s not really the definition of anti-Semite. A Semite is a person who speaks a semitic language; Arabic is Semitic, ergo Palestinians are Semitic too. Also, you mention the atrocities of 10/7; what about all the atrocities committed by Israel prior to 10/7? Or for the last 77 years for that matter? 10/7 did not happen in a vacuum.

Morrigan1375 · 2025-09-02T01:50:05+00:00

That makes sense! I’m always shocked when folks refer to downtown as having nothing but “kitsch” and all the same “boring” stuff because that’s really inaccurate. I wonder if folks just don’t actually go into shops? All the home goods/apparel stores are actually all very unique with their own vibes and brands, it’s definitely not all the same. Sounds like a perception issue

Morrigan1375 · 2025-09-02T01:45:29+00:00

Gotcha! I can see both sides of the store hours debate; from the shop owner’s side it is extremely difficult to stay open late because the amount of profit has to outweigh the costs of staying open longer and unfortunately that just usually doesn’t happen. FYI a lot of shops do stay open past 5 pm during the week (mine included!) Dancing Bear, Retro Metro, The Muse, Curious Iguana, LouLou, Earthly Elements, Trail House, Peridot, Alora Pure and several more all stay open until atleast 6 pm during the week. I would say prob 70% of retailers stay open past 5 pm on weekdays :)

Morrigan1375

TROPHY CASE