The Mississippi flag has become big issue for this tiny business
THE MISSISSIPPI state flag incorporates a confederate flag. Is this good for business?
Not according to some. One merchant who is outspoken about the flag is Jan Rideout. Rideout owns a boutique shop in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, a small city of about 17,500 residents that also supports more than 150 independent shops like hers.
Ocean Springs is known for its beautiful waterfront, beaches and picturesque setting and draws tens of thousands of visitors all year round to its art, music and food festivals.
The town’s merchants, however, are concerned that the state’s flag may be hurting business.
Last November – and despite protests – the town’s leaders voted to make it a requirement to fly the flag at its City Hall and other city office buildings.
Unfortunately, the reminder of the state’s confederate past is not sitting well with many of the town’s small business owners.
“I have a lot of local customers who have told me that they are starting to avoid shopping and eating in Ocean Springs, because of the flag going up,” Rideout told local news station WLOX.
Rideout led a march of more than 120 people to protest the flying of the flag this past week and told the town’s Board of Alderman that merchants there “don’t think that flag is good for us or our city.”
She says that she’s met with “several other” businesses in the area who also feel that the flag should be taken down.
Officials don’t believe that the flying of the flag has negatively impacted businesses. In fact, quite the opposite.
According to the WLOX report, the town’s alderman said that revenue from the food- andbeverage tax was “up more than US$ 44,000 and retail sales tax was up US$ 13,350 compared to the last half of 2016.”
The mayor wants a state referendum on the design of the flag.
But Rideout is not swayed. She, along with a local business group, is organising an event later this month for the businesses in the area to show their opposition to the flag and is inviting town officials. She thinks the next quarter will be a better indication of the flag’s impact on the town’s business. “I’ve had people tell me it was a slow Christmas,” she said in this Sun Herald report. “These things take time to build.”