when a business is described as a main street shop it usually is a brick and mortar store located on the main thoroughfare or block in a village or town a main street business is not a chain store but rather a store that provides goods or services in a personalized fashion main street stores often cater to tourists and locals especially in picturesque locations 
of course small businesses run the gamut and include pharmacies hair salons non chain greengrocers clothing boutiques coffee shops book stores bakeries and specialty stores like toy shops 3the pandemic contributed to the decline of many main street businesses such as restaurants and bars however as the economy slowly bounces back in 2021 in particular coffee shops and breweries represent a sizeable chunk of main street businesses as the craft industry continues to grow 45main street vs wall streetmain street may also describe a small independent investment company instead of one globally recognized wall street investment firm wall street firms tend to serve institutions and large investors with multi million dollar assets main street firms provide personalized financial planning and investing services to professionals and families in their locale some people insist that what s good for wall street is bad for main street and vice versa for example regulations designed to protect main street investors are seen as hampering wall street s ability to innovate and profit on the other hand wall street compensation practices and trading strategies encourage short term results and greater risk taking of course when wall street and main street do work together things can go wrong this was seen in the financial crisis that hit in 2008 when lenders and borrowers on main street created a bubble in housing prices that burst on wall street the result was called the great recession so we want main street and wall street to get along but perhaps not too well during a crisis wall street valuations may soar while main street business owners may struggle for example when the pandemic hit in march 2020 people flocked online to order food home goods medical supplies and entertainment during this time many main street restaurants and stores were shuttered or only allowing take out or a few masked customers in at a time corporations like walmart and target found themselves making money due to customers buying in bulk and having items delivered small stores could not compete especially shops in tourist towns or neighborhoods where storeowners livelihoods depend on visitors from out of town even retailers in villages and towns with a robust local economy struggled against competition from big box stores and amazon 6suppose you want to support main street beyond spending your money locally in that case you can invest in main street s smaller entrepreneurs and businesses directly now through peer to peer lending and crowdfunding sites for example you can invest money via an investment platform like mainvest which supports brick and mortar main street businesses or localstake a crowdfunding platform where you can invest in small businesses as well 78main street investments are somewhat different from traditional wall street investment vehicles like stocks etfs or mutual funds but the same rules apply there is a more inherent risk in investing in small start ups or businesses versus putting investment dollars in more robust stock portfolios with large corporations small businesses like a toy or book store barbershop or local deli are not listed on the stock market but you can invest in them via crowdfunding for peer to peer lending heavy hitters like amazon walmart apple and google are driving the stock market which can rise even your neighborhood main street shops are going out of business 9small business owners should investigate the numerous grants complied and listed by the national main street center main street and government programsthere are government programs designed specifically to support main street businesses during the covid 19 pandemic on april 9 2020 the government created the main street lending program to support small to mid sized nonprofits and businesses with 600 billion in loans 10in addition to federal loan programs there are also grants and loans available to small business owners via nonprofits one of these is main street america an off shoot program of the nonprofit national main street center inc a subsidiary of the national trust for historic preservation on its website main street america offers a compilation of private grants crowdsourcing peer to peer lending and federal services and funding opportunities available to main street businesses 11the bottom linesmall business is imperative for main streets to flourish in the u s because strong local economies usually indicate a better quality of life especially in small towns while the covid 19 pandemic hit small businesses hard government loan programs provided much needed support thriving local economies whether in small rural towns or large urban areas offer a healthier environment for communities to flourish investing in main street isn t just about money and it can be as simple as shopping local regularly which contributes to the revitalization of towns and city neighborhoods 