Lack of small stores

We have a newly opened hardware store that looks in their machine to
see if they can get Brand X then ask Qt or Gal? E-mail from HD
informed THEY decided OUR local outlet didn't warrant Zinssers Seal
Coat but I got it at the hardware store!

On 03 May 2004 07:24:10 GMT, [email protected] (Tom) wrote:

>Angelo wrote:> I'm sure I spent more on gas than I would have saved by
>>buying the nails at a small hardware store. Maybe it's time to frequent the
>>specialty stores again.
>
>Thank you. And the "little guy" thanks you. Tom
>Someday, it'll all be over....

Angelo wrote:> I'm sure I spent more on gas than I would have saved by
>buying the nails at a small hardware store. Maybe it's time to frequent the
>specialty stores again.

Thank you. And the "little guy" thanks you. Tom
Someday, it'll all be over....

In article <[email protected]>,
Brian Elfert <[email protected]> wrote:
>"Edwin Pawlowski" <[email protected]> writes:
>
>>I find it interesting that we expect others to work on our day off so we can
>>indulge in our hobby. When I was a kid, this would not be a problem because
>>every store was closed on Sunday. Now it is the biggest shopping day of the
>>week.
>
>>While good arguments are made on both sides for Sunday sales, I still refuse
>>to go to any store on a major holiday.
>
>Some car dealers here in Minnesota want the legal right to open on Sunday.
>
>I have no idea why. This just means they have increased costs. Nobody
>is going to decide not to buy a car just because the dealers are closed on
>Sunday.
>
>Once one car dealer is open on Sunday, they will all do it or risk losing
>sales to the other guy.


that's _why_ they want to be open on Sunday. consider places like Moorehead,
*on* the border. Where the dealer on the 'other side of town' (in a different
state) *is* open on Sunday.

Or even somewhere like Rochester, which is just a 'short drive' from the Iowa
border.


With the right access to motor-vehicle registration data, it *is* easy to
quantify just how much business is _currently_ being lost to 'out-of-state'
sales. And one can reasonably figure that a _large_ proportion of that
'lost business' is Sunday sales.

Also, the cost _to_the_dealer_ for being open on Sunday is *really* small.
Some electricity for the lights, and 'something' for heating or A/C.

And _maybe_ the wages for a receptionist/telephone answerer -- though
in most of the Sunday operations That's left to an auto-attendant and/or
the sales people themselves.

The sales types are, almost universally, all on 'straight commission', so
there's no coast increment there.

I wish we, as bean counters would do a better job of
counting ALL the beans. THEY keep track of all
their expenses and procedes/proceeds, the difference
being their profit. We keep track of only the "price
tag" cost and ignore the rest of the expense (hours
getting our purchase to work - including gas cost,
wasted time, blood pressure meds ...)

CHEAPER often works out to be far more expensive
when all is said and done. The price of a bad customer
experience really needs to be worked into corporate
accounting practices.

Maybe if we became better "consumers" (interesting
label to put on us) the retail business might change-
perhaps for the better?

charlie b

"Angelo Castellano posting" <[email protected]> writes:

>But I ran out of nails. I was short 13 of 3" nails. I was just outside of
>Toronto, and spent an hour finding a store that sold nails. I made sure I
>stayed away from the orange BORG.

I was just in Beatrice, Nebraska over the weekend. The population is
about 12,000. We drove all over town looking for a hardware store to get
a valve for my RV. We finally stopped at a little gas station and found
out both hardware stores closed in the past two years.

It is about a two hour round trip to the nearest Lowes or Home Depot. I
have no idea why a town like that wouldn't have a hardware store.
Problably a two hour round trip to any hardware store.

The town does have a Super Walmart, but they don't overlap too much with
a hardware store.

Brian Elfert

"Edwin Pawlowski" <[email protected]> writes:

>I find it interesting that we expect others to work on our day off so we can
>indulge in our hobby. When I was a kid, this would not be a problem because
>every store was closed on Sunday. Now it is the biggest shopping day of the
>week.

>While good arguments are made on both sides for Sunday sales, I still refuse
>to go to any store on a major holiday.

Some car dealers here in Minnesota want the legal right to open on Sunday.

I have no idea why. This just means they have increased costs. Nobody
is going to decide not to buy a car just because the dealers are closed on
Sunday.

Once one car dealer is open on Sunday, they will all do it or risk losing
sales to the other guy.

Brian Elfert

Foggy thinking. In the limit, all auto dealers should get together and
only open between noon and 6 pm on Wednesdays. If folks couldn't shop
for cars any other time they'd all do it Wednesday afternoon and the
dealer's costs would be minimized.

RB

Brian Elfert wrote:
> "Edwin Pawlowski" <[email protected]> writes:
>
>
>>I find it interesting that we expect others to work on our day off so we can
>>indulge in our hobby. When I was a kid, this would not be a problem because
>>every store was closed on Sunday. Now it is the biggest shopping day of the
>>week.
>
>
>>While good arguments are made on both sides for Sunday sales, I still refuse
>>to go to any store on a major holiday.
>
>
> Some car dealers here in Minnesota want the legal right to open on Sunday.
>
> I have no idea why. This just means they have increased costs. Nobody
> is going to decide not to buy a car just because the dealers are closed on
> Sunday.
>
> Once one car dealer is open on Sunday, they will all do it or risk losing
> sales to the other guy.
>
> Brian Elfert
>

On travel years ago the clrks at a national motel chain had a contest
going to see who could get the most votes in best support for
customers. Refreshing experience, EVERYONE smiling!

On Mon, 03 May 2004 11:20:29 -0700, charlie b <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>Maybe if we became better "consumers" (interesting
>label to put on us) the retail business might change-
>perhaps for the better?

"Robert Bonomi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >Some car dealers here in Minnesota want the legal right to open on
Sunday.

> that's _why_ they want to be open on Sunday. consider places like
Moorehead,
> *on* the border. Where the dealer on the 'other side of town' (in a
different
> state) *is* open on Sunday.
>

Here in CT, the dealers want to stay closed. Right now they have little or
no worries of border crossing. Some of the dealers watched as people feely
browsed the lot looking at cars with no fear of a salesman pouncing on them.
The same people were recognized coming back in th e next few days.

We have a dealer in our "downtown" area. I won't even walk on the same side
of the street when they are open. Made the mistake of just slowing down to
look at a car and WHAM, I was attacked by a salesman, bound and gagged, and
held for a time while I was interrogated.

Liquor stores are now allowed to be open an extra hour. They have not
gained any sales. The last minute shoppers used to come in at 7:45, now the
same people come in at 8:45. No added profit, just added expense.
Ed
[email protected]
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> Not an exception, our local hardware store owner once told me "if you don't
> buy it here, you have to drive 30 miles one way to get it. You will spend
> more on gas, get something to eat or drink while you are out, so if I
> charge more you still save money in the long run." This same store refuses
> to except my tax number for commercial purchases and expects me to wait a
> week for special purchases (gal of mineral spirits is special they sell it
> by the quarts) and pay shipping. The local Lowes (30 miles away) is 20%
> cheaper on average and the people are nicer there.

Seems to be less of the exception than a rule in some areas. We had a
few "locals" that everyone cried over when the first of the BORGS moved
in- Homebase, Builder's Square, Home Depot, and Menard's, and finally
our very own Lowes... The full service, we got it and if not we'll GET
it, knowledgeable, and professional little guy is not only STILL in
business, but just finished a big expansion. They outlasted Homebase and
Builder's Square both long gone and all but forgotten, and will probably
outlast the orange borg if they don't get some better help in there
soon.

The little guy that wouldn't smile, charged an extra 10% or more for
special orders, and was rude has since gone the way of the dodo- extinct
and deservedly so. Sometimes these mom & pop shops die off for reasons
other than being assimilated by the evil empire.

Now if only we could get a REAL woodworker's store to open closer than
the 45 or 60 minute drive....

"Eric Scantlebury" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> On the flip side. I ran out of nails building my son a sandbox yesterday.
> Drove over to the local hardware store and they were closed becuase it was
> Sunday. I wasn't going to drive the 20 minutes to the Borg so I had to
stop
> building for the day. I was very frustrated.

I find it interesting that we expect others to work on our day off so we can
indulge in our hobby. When I was a kid, this would not be a problem because
every store was closed on Sunday. Now it is the biggest shopping day of the
week.

While good arguments are made on both sides for Sunday sales, I still refuse
to go to any store on a major holiday.
Ed

On Wed, 05 May 2004 02:44:59 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski" <[email protected]>
wrote:


>Here in CT, the dealers want to stay closed. Right now they have little or
>no worries of border crossing.

Here in Central CT, nowhere near any borders, about 25% of the
dealerships are open Sunday.

Barry

"Edwin Pawlowski" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> While good arguments are made on both sides for Sunday sales, I still
refuse
> to go to any store on a major holiday.

If I limited myself to that rule I'd be a very rich man - but rather short
of chattle ;)

Brian Elfert wrote:

> "Edwin Pawlowski" <[email protected]> writes:
>
>>I find it interesting that we expect others to work on our day off so we
>>can
>>indulge in our hobby. When I was a kid, this would not be a problem
>>because every store was closed on Sunday. Now it is the biggest shopping
>>day of the week.
>
>>While good arguments are made on both sides for Sunday sales, I still
>>refuse to go to any store on a major holiday.
>
> Some car dealers here in Minnesota want the legal right to open on Sunday.
>
> I have no idea why. This just means they have increased costs. Nobody
> is going to decide not to buy a car just because the dealers are closed on
> Sunday.
>
> Once one car dealer is open on Sunday, they will all do it or risk losing
> sales to the other guy.

Are the dealers in neighboring states open on Sunday? If so then the
dealers near the borders are losing sales out of state.

> Brian Elfert

--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

I'm not sure about your part of the world, but I actually find the
service at the Borg to be better than that at my local "little guy"
shops. We live in a small town with a mom and pop hardware store.
The items are disorganized, the prices are higher than at the Borg,
and the owner always greets you with a grunt when you say "Hello."
The best part comes at checkout - not a single word is spoken. The
owner punches some keys on the register, waits for you to look at the
register to find out how much you owe, and then hands over your change
after you pay him. All of this without a single word, smile, or
"thank you." We call this hardware store the "fire extinguisher" - we
only use it in case of an emergency. Most times we just start a list
and make a big trip into "town" to visit one of the Borgs. I hope this
one is an exception.

Bill




[email protected] (Tom) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Angelo wrote:> I'm sure I spent more on gas than I would have saved by
> >buying the nails at a small hardware store. Maybe it's time to frequent the
> >specialty stores again.
>
> Thank you. And the "little guy" thanks you. Tom
> Someday, it'll all be over....

On 04 May 2004 19:47:06 GMT, Brian Elfert <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>The town does have a Super Walmart, but they don't overlap too much with
>a hardware store.

Sure it does!

Paint, tools, screws, nuts and bolts, lawn care stuff, etc...

Almost everything that commonly sells on a regular basis. All the
little stuff left wouldn't keep the little guy in business.

Barry

Not an exception, our local hardware store owner once told me "if you don't
buy it here, you have to drive 30 miles one way to get it. You will spend
more on gas, get something to eat or drink while you are out, so if I
charge more you still save money in the long run." This same store refuses
to except my tax number for commercial purchases and expects me to wait a
week for special purchases (gal of mineral spirits is special they sell it
by the quarts) and pay shipping. The local Lowes (30 miles away) is 20%
cheaper on average and the people are nicer there.
"Bill" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm not sure about your part of the world, but I actually find the
> service at the Borg to be better than that at my local "little guy"
> shops. We live in a small town with a mom and pop hardware store.
> The items are disorganized, the prices are higher than at the Borg,
> and the owner always greets you with a grunt when you say "Hello."
> The best part comes at checkout - not a single word is spoken. The
> owner punches some keys on the register, waits for you to look at the
> register to find out how much you owe, and then hands over your change
> after you pay him. All of this without a single word, smile, or
> "thank you." We call this hardware store the "fire extinguisher" - we
> only use it in case of an emergency. Most times we just start a list
> and make a big trip into "town" to visit one of the Borgs. I hope this
> one is an exception.
>
> Bill
>
>
>
>
> [email protected] (Tom) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > Angelo wrote:> I'm sure I spent more on gas than I would have saved by
> > >buying the nails at a small hardware store. Maybe it's time to
frequent the
> > >specialty stores again.
> >
> > Thank you. And the "little guy" thanks you. Tom
> > Someday, it'll all be over....

"Angelo Castellano posting" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> The old line that these super large stores save everyone money doesn't
seem to
> hold up anymore. I'm sure I spent more on gas than I would have saved by
> buying the nails at a small hardware store. Maybe it's time to frequent
the
> specialty stores again.

On the flip side. I ran out of nails building my son a sandbox yesterday.
Drove over to the local hardware store and they were closed becuase it was
Sunday. I wasn't going to drive the 20 minutes to the Borg so I had to stop
building for the day. I was very frustrated.