Why I buy things on-line...

if a local business cant compete with any competition, whether internet or mega chains, its their own fault.
Noone is to blame for a failed business except the owner.

my view on internet shopping-I can purchase anything on earth I want, maybe a nut and bolt, maybe a 5000 dollar flat screen tv, maybe a 10000 dollar vacation in europe, all while Im sitting in my bedroom, in my pjs, sipping a hot chocolate, in the middle of a blizzard at 3:am in the morning. Whats bad about that?
 
if a local business cant compete with any competition, whether internet or mega chains, its their own fault.
Noone is to blame for a failed business except the owner.

my view on internet shopping-I can purchase anything on earth I want, maybe a nut and bolt, maybe a 5000 dollar flat screen tv, maybe a 10000 dollar vacation in europe, all while Im sitting in my bedroom, in my pjs, sipping a hot chocolate, in the middle of a blizzard at 3:am in the morning. Whats bad about that?


I agree Allen.

I always give my local hardware store the first shot when I'm buying something but if I can get it substantially less expensive on line or at a borg that's where I'll go.
 
Does anyone remember the old dime stores? Man, you could get almost anything you wanted (well, only if you were a kid).

Yeppers, but they went by 'five & dime' here.

I'm lucky in that, we have a mom & pop hardware that's been here for what seems like forever...anything under the sun could probably be found in the place, if one looked hard enough...Frentz & Sons Hardware....friendly-ist {is there such a word lol} bunch of folks you'll ever find!
 
Yeah, they were five and dimes...I think ours were locally owned...can't remember the names (Roscoe?). And don't get me started on taking the TV tubes to the drug store to test and replace as necessary...life used to be so simple :) Now days, you just throw the whole thing away and buy a new one :dunno:
 
And don't get me started on taking the TV tubes to the drug store to test and replace as necessary...life used to be so simple
That was my job, as for the 5 &10 store ours had a cafeteria and I remember going with my mom and getting roast sliced roast beef on bread with mashed potatoes covered in gravy. come to think of it Wal-Mart is sorta doing the same thing with the McDonalds but not quit as good.
 
I think our Woolworth closed around 1987. Ben Franklin went until maybe 8 years ago? Then someone moved in and kept the five and dime neon and finally closed last year (store still has a bunch of stuff in it). Some days I wonder how many of these things would have hung on, if TV wasn't on 24 hours a day and hocking stuff all night.
 
Ok now you got one for the record. You guys has woolworths???? in the USA.

Thats my favorite store back in South Africa and its still going. Just not sure we talking the same Woolworths. Ours was more like a version of the UK store Marks and Spencer.

Top quality items at very good prices.

Can you believe my Mil is visiting and the one thing i have her bring with anytime she or any other family member visit is to purchase Woolworth underpants (boxers to you guys) for me.:rofl:

Yup best present there is. Here you go.:rofl:

http://www.woolworths.co.za/store/b...Id=cat90270&q_docSort=&addFacet=9004:cat90270

This is the Marks and Spencer i was refering to


Here is the UK version of Woolworths definitely not the same store




Carol as to the store benefiting in the circumstances you mention i think there is payback even in the franchise situation you mention.


Consider this. The person buying online and picking up at the store did so for a reason. The corporation actually saved the store in this situation. Why? Well the person has remained loyal to the store and has actually traveled to the store to pick up the goods.

Now the store owner has the chance to develop a relationship. Find out where he/she is going wrong and did not fulfill the needs of this particular consumer. Offer to cater to them in the future and thank them for the opportunity to meet them and their loyalty to the brand while undertaking to remedy the situation in future needs.


Its to me all about recognising that having a store dont make you entitiled to my buck or a profit just cause it exists.


Bill Satko has this bang on. So does Allen in my view. Stores need to earn their customer support and keep up with expectations and the times. Interest rates are way down low so there is no excuse for not having inventory. Retail cannot sell if they dont have inventory just talk to retail buyers who many times are given quotas to purchase product to ensure the store is stocked.

Local stores need to get their inventory on the internet. They need to answer their phones and deal with the customer not just hang up or have automated systems. They need to be prepared to go the extra mile not just sell the common comodity inventory.


Had Brent found bearings do you think he would have concerned himself with whether or not they were 50cents more than online?

This is what happens when people take buzzwords out of other industries and begin to apply them across the board. Inventory turn and just in time etc do not neccessary belong in local small business. Sure at Home Depot its a different equation and different scale. But as Don points out one pipe???? how low can you go in inventory before you call it zero stock on hand.
You cannot sell what you dont have. And if i am at home and can see what a store thousands of miles away from me has ready to ship next day and you around the corner cannot show me that you have it within a 10 minute drive well you dont deserve to be around.


Money in retail is made on $/Sqrft basis so no inventory no pay the costs.

Employees well i think Frank is dead on they gain by having a job and the sooner they become part of the equation of satisfying the customer the sooner they keep their job.

see a future where there aint no jobs not as we know them now. More a case of life like it is lived in the Maritimes or up in the Northwest on a fishing boat. One person will have the capital to afford the boat the rest will be crew. If crew want to have all the entitlements and not catch lobster/crab when its bad weather then crew will starve as will boat owner. Boat owner will not put up with crew like this for long so new crew will be recruited.

Simple word will be collaboration. We fish together and you share in the catch proportionate to your efforts you put in. No titles and pay scales or positions etc. Just get the job done and pay for part of the costs to get it done. So all need to look after the ship not just the captain. All need to focus on waste not just the captain. Captain also needs to look after the crew or there is no crew left and no one will want to crew for the captain.

This aint no pipe dream. Take a look at what is happening in supposedly communist China where they are battling to get workers to work in certain plants right now at certain wages. Product coming out of China is going up in some cases by as much as 30%. Some of this is as a result of the crew not being able to feed themselves with the food inflation that exists there.

It will all normalise at some point in time but the net is everyone has to become part of the same solution.

Thats my 5 cents :rofl:
 
Rob hit, but brushed over a key point in his post. "relationships" A local retailer has nothing except his reputation to keep and build a customer base on. Ordering, even at low profit margins, is very important to maintaining that customer base. As is doing things that might not be immediately profitable. An example, I have been doing business with the same local gun shop for 30 years. Not happily but it was the only gun shop in the area. A couple months ago I was needing two special screws and went to the shop for them. The owner blew up in my face complaining it would take him time to locate the screws and the sale would be very small, not worth his time. (BTW: if he were orgainized it would take only seconds to locate) Fortunately for me, and many others, in the past couple years four new gun shops have opened. Just looking at the parking lots told us who was busy and not. The old store was a "not".
 
Frank
A few years back I need a bolt for a Brigs and Stration engine, so I went to the local repair place. The guy had the bolt but couldn't find the price. So he cost us both 30 minutes while he searched through all his fish until he finally found it. I kept telling him to just name a price and I'd pay him and let him get back to real work but no he had to find the price as theese bolts were expensive, finally he found it and collected $2.10. We would have both been ahead if he would have given me the bolt. We would also both been ahead if he would have said these are expensive but I think $5.00 would cover it. I would have been happy either way. It wasn't that he was unfriendly just silly about it. You can't waste 30 minutes for $2.10 in a one man shop. Of course he didn't stay in business long..
Garry
 
Hope you don't mind if I toss in another thought about online purchases. In past years, I've seen people comment that they don't like buying online because of having to wait for an item. They'll "drive anywhere and pay anything to get it NOW! Yeah, OK. :dunno:

Sorry, but I like my money to go as far as possible. Transit times can be very short nowadays, so I always opt for Free Shipping when offered. I figure if I can't wait a couple of days for something, I haven't planned very well.
 
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Wow, not only is that delivery fast, but Sharon must not of piddled around with the installation either :p:wave:

She's good at that kind of thing!

Hope you don't mind if I toss in another thought about online purchases. In past years, I've seen people comment that they don't like buying online because of having to wait for an item. They'll "drive anywhere and pay anything to get it NOW! Yeah, OK. :dunno:

The older I get, the less I mind the wait. Plenty to do while I wait for things to get shipped. :thumb:

If it's something though that you need to see or touch, well, it makes sense to buy it local.
 
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