Blue and Gold!

By Wendy J. Miller

So the magic day is here!  For those of us who have been waiting for years for IKEA to open a store in Winnipeg, November 28, 2012 is historic.

As an advertiser, I am grateful that IKEA is supporting Winnipeg's industry by purchasing lots of media and being publicly visible. As a citizen, I appreciate IKEA "speaking" to Winnipeggers - calling us by name and welcoming us to their new 395,671 square feet of home furnishings. As a consumer, I love that IKEA is inclusive and accessible and that they distributed their catalogue right to my door. Normally novel or valuable things don't get delivered to the part of town where I live.

Will I be one of the first to use their 1,619 parking spaces, 800 shopping carts, 40 check-out lanes or to sit in their 651 seat restaurant? No. I think I'll let the first rush move through from opening until the end of the year. The store will never be "quiet" and without significant volumes of consumers. IKEA stores around the world attest to that. I will go, however, when I get a day off work and can wander around at my comfortable speed, taking as long as I like to look and touch and buy.

I do appreciate you being here, IKEA.  Good things do come to those who wait.

Return to the Village

By Pam Hadder

Recently, Wendy j. asked me where I thought things would be headed in the next ten years. Wow! I instantly knew she wasn't talking just about SWJ - she meant humanity and business in the larger sense.

We have seen two years of increasingly tough economic conditions, with the result being a complete re-write of how we define our company and what we must do to be successful! So, I was quiet for several long minutes and, for those of you who know me, I am seldom short of words. After fast-forwarding through significant experiences from the past months, I responded, "I see a return to the village."

As with our team at SWJ, everything we achieve as people is a result of our combined energy and talents. None of us can perform at an acceptable standard of quality and continue to thrive and grow without the support of others or without an exchange of information and ideas.

Humankind is learning, through rather desperate means, that the same holds true for the well-being of our local communities, our national business and trade, and for international relations as well. We are inextricably inter-connected.

So why the return to the village? When my ancestors came to Canada from Europe in the 1880's, they settled on uncleared land in the middle of nowhere. They had to clear the land for agriculture, and they had to grow food on that land not only to make a living, but to feed themselves. They quickly struck up relationships with neighbours, exchanging goods and services, and over time a small community grew. Together, they all moved forward, improving all the while.

Today, we have become much more detached from our neighbours and even our own families. As a society, we live with the consequences: increased crime, widespread anxiety and aggression; increasingly longer hours of work, higher taxation, and higher financial debt. As we move outward from our immediate community relationships to government bodies, distancing trends have resulted in a lack of accountability, inadequate consultation, and patronizing behaviours.

In the villages of yesteryear, when a woman lost her spouse, families nearby would rally to help her feed her young and work her land. Those with goods to spare would share what they had to relieve her burden. Today elaborate social service arrangements attempt (and frequently fail) to fill human needs such as these - our daily papers bear grim testament to their inadequacy.

We need to reconnect as villagers. Self-sufficient family units who do not fear their neighbours, but value and celebrate the strength and value of their interdependence. In the modern village, the basic needs of each citizen are factored in first - food, shelter and their part in the group dynamic. How will the modern village look?

1) Community gardens; green and smart technologies
2) Shared transport and shelter
3) Community schooling and childcare
4) Shared, multi-purpose facilities for community and business
5) Bartering of goods and services
6) Working as needed, versus putting in designated numbers of hours daily
7) All basic needs located in one's local community, within walking distance
8) Community security, requiring each citizen's awareness and involvement
9) Increased green space; less vehicle traffic
10) Increased leisure and recreation time