A few days ago, while waiting for comment from the General Manager of Unkel Joe’s Woodshed in Flemington, we trekked up and got the pictures ready for the story ahead of time, since it was a sunny day and one never knows if that will hold true on any given day this time of year.

The cropped photo, which shows the building clearly, also missed a bit of the story.

Out of frame, you see, Unkel Joe’s parking lot was packed.

In frame, the front of the building was lined with vehicles — but we wanted to call attention to the number of vehicles present in their lower parking lot.

Where were these shoppers hiding the last few years?

A few years ago, a store — out of the area — that one of our editors liked to travel to had a closing event. The months prior to the event had seen attendance slowly dwindling, and it had reached a point where the owner felt it in his best interest to sell out and move on.

He advertised that final event as such –one last hurrah.

It was packed, with double the people he had seen for months, if not years.

The event was a blast, and left many questioning why nobody had been showing up all along — but by that point, it was too late.

Now, with the closure of the Flemington store of Unkel Joe’s, we see it happen again.

There is a parable here.

Far be it from us to proselytize the dollars in your wallets, dear readers. We have been and continue to be affected by the increased costs of nearly everything, the same as you.

We understand the allure of getting things as cheaply as possible, of balancing the budget and trying to have a little left over for fun afterwards.

But supporting the big boxes and Amazons of the world comes at the cost of our local businesses, most of whom do not have the deep pockets necessary to weather the storm that the nationwide chains do.

And, of course, it is easy to say that, ideologically, you are supporting your own bank account — being responsible with your limited resources — which is, of course, the very business model that the big chain stores prey upon.

Supporting local businesses is hard in this climate. It is difficult to justify spending a 20 percent markup on a similar item –and it is not something that is possible for most people to spend that markup across the board on all purchases.

Customers have to pick and choose, and Unkel Joe’s came up on the losing side of that process.

This is a costly closure to the culture of the area.

Unkel Joe’s was founded here, nearly 70 years ago, and while the company will survive with their second location in Altoona, the Woodshed at the top of the hill was something of a local icon — and something we would wager figures in many LHU grads’ fond memories of the area, even if they never went in the store.

Again, we recognize that it is not always possible to support local businesses as everyones’ wallets get continually more pinched.

But we would ask that those in the region who vote with their wallets remember the consequences of their decisions.

Your favorite store could be next.

Do what you can.