TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) – Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine spoke at the Hilton Hotel Toledo Friday, and expressed his support of small businesses.
Unfortunately, Fleegers Pro Hardware feels that message is coming too late. The store has been a part of the community for 66 years, and is now closing its doors after going from 3 stores to 1 over the years.
It's not only because of big businesses like The Home Depot that lead to small businesses closing down - there are multiple factors at play. Greg Jones of Fleegers Pro Hardware calls it "the perfect storm economically."
That perfect storm consisted of a bad economy, a crash in the housing market, and big businesses taking customers away.
Small business owners want to see action, not hear words.
"I hear people talking about support local business, but we want to see you actually supporting them and making an effort and live in it." Laura Fleeger told WTOL.
Though Dewine's message came too late for Fleegers, they say the government can do one thing for future small business owners, and that is stay out of the way and let the free market reign.
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