SASKATOON – David Martodam was hoping for a bitterly cold December. But even though the weather was nice, he had a merry Christmas.
He manages Martodams Family Retail store in Spiritwood, Sask. and like many rural retailers, he had bad weather on his Christmas wish list. A cold December means more people shopping in Spiritwood instead of the nearby cities of Saskatoon and Prince Albert.
Martodam attributes good Christmas store revenues in part to a larger drawing area. Store closures in smaller towns like Leoville and Shell Lake have forced people to do their shopping in Spiritwood.
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“There’s been more people running into the cities, yet at the same time we’re gaining some from the smaller towns. Most of the retailers I’ve talked to around here are doing as well or better than they were a couple of years ago.”
It was a good Christmas for the Carman Co-op in Manitoba as well. In fact the co-operative had a record year capped off by a strong performance in December.
Communities bond
“One reason that I guess I’m kind of surprised at how well we did in December is that with the nice weather, generally people hit the roads a lot quicker. But this year we didn’t feel that. We had a good season for Christmas,” said Ken McCullough, general manager of the Carman Co-op.
When times are tough people stay closer to home, he added, and the harsh economic environment in the Prairies has forced small communities to bond together.
But rural retailers are not at the mercy of weather patterns and economic swings. There are avenues for encouraging the shop local concept.
Although they can’t often compete with the larger centres on price and selection, small-town stores can offer better customer service and personalized assistance, said Martodam.
He said small-town retailers have to go that extra distance to keep customers from travelling to city “super stores” and malls. In his case that has included longer store hours. It’s a costly measure, but it eliminates one more excuse for shopping out of town.
McCullough said a key to the success of Carman Co-op is the broad range of services offered.
“If one area of our business is under severe competition, then we can make it up in another area.”
Martodam agrees variety of items is a necessity for small-town retailers. There aren’t enough people in many of these communities to warrant a specialized store, so variety in inventory is especially vital around Christmas when people are looking for that special gift.
“The tricky part is having the products that people want. Nowadays there’s so many different products available. Back in the ’40s, when my dad was first in business, you had your basics and that was it, that’s all anybody wanted.”
