Katherine Raz
@therealkatraz.bsky.social
I own a flower shop in Tacoma called Fernseed. Opening in Centralia, Wa. in 2026. I also write a Substack called Storefront Revolt, exploring the practical economics of running an independent retail business. storefrontrevolt.substack.com
After everything I’ve been talking about for 4 years I finally watched It’s A Wonderful Life for the first time. Wow!
December 14, 2025 at 5:24 PM
After everything I’ve been talking about for 4 years I finally watched It’s A Wonderful Life for the first time. Wow!
It's that heart-warming time of year again where I yell at everyone about how this whole #smallbusinesssaturday business is an ad campaign for the most evil credit card company in the industry.
Please stop celebrating Small Business Saturday
It's just an ad campaign for American Express.
storefrontrevolt.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:39 PM
It's that heart-warming time of year again where I yell at everyone about how this whole #smallbusinesssaturday business is an ad campaign for the most evil credit card company in the industry.
Tacoma lost one of our (if not THE) best and brightest last week. Mattice was everything you want a community focused small business owner to be. Please read the GoFundMe details to understand just how under-supported so many business owners area. Donate if you can.
Donate to Let's Rally One Last Time for our Mayor, Mattice, organized by Lauren S
Let’s rally to celebrate the life of one of Tacoma’s brightest lights.
You … Lauren S needs your support for Let's Rally One Last Time for our Mayor, Mattice
www.gofundme.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Tacoma lost one of our (if not THE) best and brightest last week. Mattice was everything you want a community focused small business owner to be. Please read the GoFundMe details to understand just how under-supported so many business owners area. Donate if you can.
Reposted by Katherine Raz
Trump's Chicago deportation blitz has hinged on aggressive and forceful policing tactics: Shootings, takedowns, chokeholds, car chases, chemical munitions, etc.
To get a better sense of the scope and the impact, we mapped incidents, spoke to those affected and analyzed policy.
tinyurl.com/3nrkaw55
To get a better sense of the scope and the impact, we mapped incidents, spoke to those affected and analyzed policy.
tinyurl.com/3nrkaw55
Tear gas, car crashes, rubber bullets: Risky tactics have driven Trump’s Chicago deportation ‘blitz’
Law enforcement experts say federal agents have displayed a lack of training and restraint. “They’re out of control,” ex-police Supt. Garry McCarthy says.
tinyurl.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Trump's Chicago deportation blitz has hinged on aggressive and forceful policing tactics: Shootings, takedowns, chokeholds, car chases, chemical munitions, etc.
To get a better sense of the scope and the impact, we mapped incidents, spoke to those affected and analyzed policy.
tinyurl.com/3nrkaw55
To get a better sense of the scope and the impact, we mapped incidents, spoke to those affected and analyzed policy.
tinyurl.com/3nrkaw55
What I miss having left Chicago: actual grit, then epic writing about it. Also do what Sinker says and donate to @icirr.bsky.social.
It’s being reported that Greg Bovino and 250 of his goons will be leaving Chicago. But it’s also being reported that he’ll be back, in larger numbers. But Chicago is a boxer, tired but unbowed. I wrote about how we’ll be ready. dansinker.com/posts/202…
November 14, 2025 at 3:21 PM
What I miss having left Chicago: actual grit, then epic writing about it. Also do what Sinker says and donate to @icirr.bsky.social.
Lots of businesses giving back right now during the SNAP crisis. Some good thoughts here on how to direct that to mutual aid / not charity + incorporating mutual aid approach into other parts of business.
Mutual aid as a business model
Waking Giants owner Sera Bonds shares how mutual aid compares with traditional charity and how Waking Giants builds it into the way they do business
www.healthyrich.co
November 13, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Lots of businesses giving back right now during the SNAP crisis. Some good thoughts here on how to direct that to mutual aid / not charity + incorporating mutual aid approach into other parts of business.
I will definitely be attending this webinar, though. Mark Fulop in PDX turned me on to public banking and now I'm all in.
Public Banking Coast-to-Coast Webinar ft. Senator Elizabeth Warren! - CA Public Banking Alliance
A national conversation exploring how cities and states are moving to reclaim public money for the public good.As the federal government cuts core funding for cities and states, people are organizing ...
capublicbanking.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:10 PM
I will definitely be attending this webinar, though. Mark Fulop in PDX turned me on to public banking and now I'm all in.
I would totally go to this if I had infinite time & resources. Go on my behalf and report back.
2026 Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference | Center for Community Progress
Join us in Pittsburgh, PA for the only national conference fully dedicated to tackling vacant properties and advancing revitalization.
communityprogress.org
November 13, 2025 at 5:00 PM
I would totally go to this if I had infinite time & resources. Go on my behalf and report back.
I've been writing about businesses getting access to capital to buy their buildings for 18+ months now. I started by connecting the economic stability of owning the real estate to success in small biz, then *how banks lend* to why it's harder for business owners to get loans to buy their buildings.
November 10, 2025 at 5:49 PM
I've been writing about businesses getting access to capital to buy their buildings for 18+ months now. I started by connecting the economic stability of owning the real estate to success in small biz, then *how banks lend* to why it's harder for business owners to get loans to buy their buildings.
Reposted by Katherine Raz
There is no excuse for giving in to a bad deal —
especially after voters turned out in record numbers last week to elect Democrats on the promise that they would stand up and fight for working families.
especially after voters turned out in record numbers last week to elect Democrats on the promise that they would stand up and fight for working families.
November 10, 2025 at 4:06 AM
There is no excuse for giving in to a bad deal —
especially after voters turned out in record numbers last week to elect Democrats on the promise that they would stand up and fight for working families.
especially after voters turned out in record numbers last week to elect Democrats on the promise that they would stand up and fight for working families.
Reposted by Katherine Raz
This is not what they actually say. This is what they used to say, in the long ago before times when Shaheen learned to do politics. There is no kumbaya median voter anymore. The question you get knocking doors is not "why can't you all just work together?" it's "why didn't / will you fight harder?
Shaheen: "When I talk to my constituents in New Hampshire, you know what they say to me? They say, 'Why can't you all just work together to address the problems that are facing this country?'"
November 10, 2025 at 3:15 AM
This is not what they actually say. This is what they used to say, in the long ago before times when Shaheen learned to do politics. There is no kumbaya median voter anymore. The question you get knocking doors is not "why can't you all just work together?" it's "why didn't / will you fight harder?
Rather, "AI is an easy excuse to trim a workforce and blame inevitability, not our desire for more profit during a downturn."
AI is reshaping retail downsizing and restructuring
Across all industries, AI was the second-most-cited factor by executives for layoffs this month, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
www.modernretail.co
November 10, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Rather, "AI is an easy excuse to trim a workforce and blame inevitability, not our desire for more profit during a downturn."
I finished this last week. Apologies in advance for talking about the smelter plume a lot for the next 6 months. I blame the arsenic in my soil.
Katherine's review of Murderland
3/5: Maybe the book’s title gives enough away, “Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers” has nothing to do with lead, arsenic, cadmium, or poorly designed bridges. I gave the first half of t...
www.goodreads.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:04 PM
I finished this last week. Apologies in advance for talking about the smelter plume a lot for the next 6 months. I blame the arsenic in my soil.
Lot of good stuff in this interview if you ever wondered why there aren’t local stock markets. (TIL there used to be.)
The Plumbing of Local Finance
My first writings on local finance, such as my 2007 Schumacher Lecture, were about the need for local stock exchanges.
open.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Lot of good stuff in this interview if you ever wondered why there aren’t local stock markets. (TIL there used to be.)
Wins.
The Re-Shellacking
By: Main Street Alliance
open.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Wins.
Reposted by Katherine Raz
Its Mamdani coverage makes clear that the NYTimes has fully embraced an editorial strategy of parodying itself. Absurd newspaper. Obscene—and massively harmful—that it has the influence that it does.
November 6, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Its Mamdani coverage makes clear that the NYTimes has fully embraced an editorial strategy of parodying itself. Absurd newspaper. Obscene—and massively harmful—that it has the influence that it does.
Reposted by Katherine Raz
Then make it easier for people to open restaurants.
Pierce County joined others agencies concerned about a rise in unpermitted roadside stands, which they warn can increase risks of foodborne illness.
Surge in unpermitted street-food vendors has WA health departments on edge
Pierce County joined others agencies concerned about a rise in unpermitted roadside stands, which they warn can increase risks of foodborne illness.
bit.ly
November 3, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Then make it easier for people to open restaurants.
Reposted by Katherine Raz
someone invited people magazine to the kitchen and they brought their own knives
November 2, 2025 at 6:00 PM
someone invited people magazine to the kitchen and they brought their own knives
I love this place.
“We always say one more year!” The owners reflect on 15 years serving greater Tacoma, including a segment on the Food Network.
TV fame didn’t change Lakewood’s German-Polish staple or its ‘hangover soup’
“We always say one more year!” The owners reflect on 15 years serving greater Tacoma, including a segment on the Food Network.
bit.ly
November 3, 2025 at 12:44 PM
I love this place.
This is why the Goldman Sachs #10000SmallBusinesses Summit felt so gross and out of touch to me. Celebrating growth and wins—such a disconnect from working people’s experience of the economy right now. #neveragain #10ksb
It’s getting harder to find a job and easier to lose one. 💼
And yet, even as corporate America rains pink slips on its workforces, stocks keep hitting record highs.
And yet, even as corporate America rains pink slips on its workforces, stocks keep hitting record highs.
The job market is getting worse. So why are stocks booming?
The paradox at the heart of today’s economy.
www.vox.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:21 PM
This is why the Goldman Sachs #10000SmallBusinesses Summit felt so gross and out of touch to me. Celebrating growth and wins—such a disconnect from working people’s experience of the economy right now. #neveragain #10ksb
Hey turns out immigrants were still building America until 3 weeks ago. I feel for these businesses—they’re not the problem.
Some Chicago Businesses Feeling the Impact of Trump’s Immigration Blitz
www.nytimes.com
October 23, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Hey turns out immigrants were still building America until 3 weeks ago. I feel for these businesses—they’re not the problem.
In other words why was AI going to save humanity but now is just integrating with Canva.
Drifting Toward the Status Quo — what works
Why do ambitious and unconventional missions so often erode into something more like the status quo?
whatworks.fyi
October 23, 2025 at 3:58 PM
In other words why was AI going to save humanity but now is just integrating with Canva.
I'll be fine walking through the barren wasteland of whatever is left so long as I have a way of listening to Boards of Canada's Geogaddi as a soundtrack.
October 20, 2025 at 7:22 PM
I'll be fine walking through the barren wasteland of whatever is left so long as I have a way of listening to Boards of Canada's Geogaddi as a soundtrack.
This was the post that started my Substack. I wrote it in the Atlanta airport. It's a rant about how everything you see in "independent" boutiques is made in the same places, but also why, as small retailers, sourcing locally is a challenge. This was in 2022, before Trump's tariffs.
Scenes from a trade show
Or, on the horror of realizing we're participating in a global race to the bottom
storefrontrevolt.substack.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:51 AM
This was the post that started my Substack. I wrote it in the Atlanta airport. It's a rant about how everything you see in "independent" boutiques is made in the same places, but also why, as small retailers, sourcing locally is a challenge. This was in 2022, before Trump's tariffs.