Matt
and Gail live in the Community
Matt
went to Junior High School in this community. Both Matt, who
technically works for MG Taylor, and Gail, who works for knOwhere
have offices at home and in the knOwhere store. We work here
and live here.
Matt's
workplace is 18 paces from the front door of knOwhere. Gail's
is on the second level, looking down into the retail area.
Sons Todd and Jeff are a few feet away. It may be 21st Century,
it may be an employee-owned corporation, it may run differently
and have a "new" mix of goods and services, it may do business
all over the world, however, it is still personal, still a
hands-on enterprise and still community focused.
The
Staff
The
knOwhere staff is young, creative and excited about what they
do. They create and get experiences here that can rarely be
found in one business. They run the store and serve a wide
variety of customers with a vast mix of goods and serivces.
Every day is different.
We
have invested over $2 million
Gail
and Matt conceived of the knOwhere Store in the mid 70s. The
Palo Alto Store is the first nearly-complete prototype of
that dream. It has taken personal money to make it real.
knOwhere
believes a new economy is emerging, the era of the knowledge
worker is here and that communities are going to redefine
themselves around these new realities.
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Whose
Model of "Community" is valid?
knOwhere supports the idea of community-serving. At the same
time, we do not believe that any business can ignore economic
forces and that few, if any, can derive their living from
one narrow geographic area. We do believe that traffic can
be lessened, that amenity can exist on the street, that businesses
can serve individuals and corporations alike if they stay
focused on people.
We
chose Midtown because we believe our path and the Midtown
community path are crossing. The story of the old Bergmans
was that if you could not get it there then you did not need
it. Our aim is the same. If a knowledge worker cannot get
it (or make it) at knOwhere then...
We
believe knOwhere belongs here.
Community-Serving
Shopping and Effectiveness of Ordinances
Needed:
an Objective Definition of Community-Serving
The
Palo Alto knOwhere Store
Our
History of Community Support
Recommendations
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