Being a small business ourselves, we feel its important to help other small business owners prosper.
Something we all sometimes take for granted is "The spot down the street" the place you return to day in day out without thought for your morning coffee... and the person behind the counter who greets you with a smile, and refers to you by name.
Lets face it, there are plenty of venues and resources for you to shop, often times being cheaper online, mail order etc. But where will you go when the hour hand is upon you and, you need that "have to have now" item and just cant wait. Yup you'll run right down to "The spot down the street" and not think twice about paying 10 bucks more then at onlinewhatever.com. But will the shop keeper who's just turning the lock stay the extra 15 minutes for you to grab what you need for the weekend? Well if your a online shopper...probably not! But then again...maybe they will.
Just this very week I reaped the benefits of continously supporting a local business, John John and I had been workin 3 weeks straight, getting the boat ready for the season, when we realized the last thing we needed to do was install a petcock on a fuel line. Of course it was 2 mins to 6 and Fred Chall was just about to empty the till and head home. Pulling up to the store they were locking the door behind them, in despair I turned to pull away and was summoned back by the shop keeper..."Hey you need to grab something?" Wow here he was free and clear to go home kick his feet up and enjoy his dinner, but instead opted for us to come inside and grab what we needed not knowing if we were spending 3 bucks or 300. That to me is worth the 10 bucks I could have saved online!
Earlier last year our GPS took a nap never to wake up, costly and extensive to replace, we trotted down to Fred Chall Marine Supply to see why it wasn't picking up satellites. Sure enough the gentleman behind the counter took our unit, hooked it up to a new antenna and had it working in no time. Easily enough he could have showed us some new GPS models and made a small fortune off our misfortune, but instead he got us set up with a new antenna and sent us away without draining our pockets.
So whats my point in all this? Well... had we and others not been loyal patrons of this store, sadly they may have shuttered their doors long ago not able to compete with online prices. A little local knowledge and attention to customer service goes a long way. So next time you think about buying that new device off Ebay... Check your local first, theres a far better chance you'll get the info, advice, and item you wanted, maybe a few bucks more... but how can you put a price on service?
9:23 AM
Scrimshaw Company
