We’ve had a couple of business closures recently in Eston, Sask., and the reasons have become a favorite topic when people get together.
The closures have been popularly blamed on lack of local support.
There is certainly truth in that conclusion. Nothing will wipe the smile off a shopkeeper’s face faster than to have a customer drop in to tell the merchant that she just bought identical merchandise in another community or that she did all her Christmas shopping in the city and just stopped in for a card.
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Nothing is more discouraging than to have a customer look around and say “I didn’t know you carried that” when they’ve said the same thing for the past three or more years.
Nothing makes a storekeeper madder than to have someone who rarely shops in town drop in to ask for a donation, no matter how worthy the cause, or to be asked for a donation or a lower price for goods for a special event when the committee has done its major buying out of town.
That said, there are two sides to every story.
One woman told me she is willing to shop at home, or at least to look at home first, but she is not going to go without if she can’t find what she wants.
Another shopper said shopping at home is fine, but people who own local businesses shouldn’t expect the public to flock to their doors just because they are there. You have to make people want to shop in your store, this shopper said.
Consistency of service was also stressed as important.
The bottom line is that wherever you live, you can’t tell people where to shop. They will shop where they feel they are getting the service they want and value for their money.
This should be a wake-up call to local businesses wherever they may be: don’t be complacent. Take a look at your establishment. Would you want to shop there?
Work with other businesses. It’s silly in a small town to have two or three businesses offering the same thing.
Is the staff as courteous and helpful as they might be? Are you? When was the last time you smiled at a customer and thanked that customer for shopping in your store?
It’s not easy being in business in rural Canada. It won’t be easy as long as people have decent vehicles to drive and reasonable roads on which to drive them.
Small town businesses have to grasp every advantage they have to keep their doors open.
Sadly, in some cases, this may not be enough.
