The Future of Local Retail

“Go Back to Home Depot.”

I can’t believe she said that to me.

Being a grassroots entrepreneur, I always try to support the local businesses. Especially the local retail shops and restaurants… (You won’t find me at Olive Garden).

So this spring, when it came time for my wife and I to buy plants, instead of going to Home Depot or Lowes, we went to Bristol’s, a local place right near my house.

We bought four beautiful plants to put outside our door. They all had equal sun and were watered the same.

One died. The three remaining plants flourished.

I brought the dead one back to Bristol’s with the receipt. I thought that since Home Depot takes anything back, anytime, Bristol’s would at least try to give me an exchange to make a happy customer and compete with the Goliath up the street.

Wrong.

They told me I had to come back the next day to speak to Margaret. She wasn’t in at that time.

So, I went back the next day and explained my situation to Margaret. She told me that I must have not watered it enough. I explained the other three plants are doing well and asked why would this one die?

Then she accused me of repotting it. I showed her the Bristol’s sticker on the pot and squashed that excuse.

Then she said there was nothing she could do. She told that if they replaced every plant that someone killed from lack of water, they would go out of business. (Wait, I thought we already covered the water excuse…)

I told Margaret that this is a shame because I really like to support local businesses and with her attitude and “policy” she was making it difficult.

Then, I tested her for a response. I almost know she was going to say it, but I wanted to hear it for myself.

I said to her, “Geez, I really love shopping here but your policy makes it tough because I can buy something at Home Depot and return it for any reason.”

“Well, maybe you should go back to Home Depot then.”

Yep, she said it.

She had a loyal customer that had been shopping there for years, standing right in front of her and she told him to go Home Depot.

Unbelievable.

Well, there’s my story of my last visit to Bristol’s. It’s a shame, because they have nice stuff. I live one mile away; I am 38 and probably spend $500 a year there. If I continue to live here and live to 75, that’s $18,500 they just threw away.

And I know a ton of people. There goes some good word of mouth advertising too.

I wonder how many $18,500 customers Margaret has thrown away.

My point is not to throw Margaret or Bristol’s under the bus. (Or under the topsoil?)
I simply want local retail to survive. Nothing makes me more unhappy than when I go into a town and the only restaurant choices are Cracker Barrel, Denny’s, Bob Evan’s and Applebee’s.

I want to underdog to win!

Margaret won the battle and lost war.

If that was my store, I would have empathized with the customer, found a suitable replacement and thrown in some plant food for good measure. My goal would have been to have that customer leaving with a huge smile on his face.

I would have wanted him to have felt “WOWED!”

Why? Because he would come back often and talked about his experience to others.

He may have even written about it in his blog….

The only way local retail will survive is to make the customer feel so special. A special feeling that one can’t get at big box stores. They can remember names, birthdays, etc…

But more importantly, they have to stand behind their product.