I know opponents say there never was a Lowe's coming, but there would have been.
There is nothing that can be done now. What is done is done.
People who voted against it were convinced they were doing the right thing.
We can debate that till the cows come home, and nothing will ever be resolved.
We need to move on.
The question on the floor should be ... what do we do now?
I was also thinking about growth. I saw a figure that in 1920 we had 11,000 people in Arkansas City. That is about what we have now. So we have not "grown" in 90 years.
Maybe we are asking the wrong questions.
Do we need growth? Why? Why not?
There is the debate between industrial and retail. The obvious answer should be that we need both. I fear we may be spending too much time debating which one, and accomplishing neither.
What if we changed our focus from growth, pretty much making the retail versus industry debate irrelevant, and concentrated on improving what we do have?
well of course we need industry. that is the basis of all solitary cities. you have to have people at work to spend money "at home" or anywhere else for that matter. we have lost major industries here in the last 20+ years which has affected many people, especially retail business. retail feeds off industry and jobs in the county, not the opposite.
ReplyDeleteWe don't want growth, remember we don't to ruin the 'UTOPIA' we have going here.
ReplyDeleteThere are alternatives to growth.
ReplyDeleteWhat if we took a different dirction?
I think you need to define growth. It does not have to mean more business or industry but growth in the way the people that think about the future. The worst thing that happened to Ark City was the loss of major industry because it gave us the "poor me" attitude. Instead of thinking of what we could do to make things better we took the defeatist approach. We have used those losses as an excuse to stagnate. We also used to have an enormous turn over in the GE management where people were transferred in and out. New ideas flowed in every other year and a new enthusiasm came with new blood. Now, success is a bad thing and something that should be looked at with disdain.
ReplyDeleteGrowth means growing ideas beyond the old norm and hoping that businesses that are in place will grow with the times. Use the internet to enhance a business not compete. We need to take a serious look at what the town doesn't have and do our best to stay away from being just a service driven but equally balanced product driven community. We have to grow our mental attitude first and be more accepting of change and new ideas. No, I am not talking about Lowe's but about what can be done to downtown that will draw people.
We are now a comute community, 98% of the jobs paying a statainable long term retirement viable carear are out of the area.
ReplyDeletethe only people here who want the kind of growth your talking about do not belong in a small UTOPIA feeling of small town life
THAT, friends, is a good post.
ReplyDeletewe need more thinking like that.
LOL just tring to make YUppies think about what they have here with us small town honest folk
ReplyDeleteYea, i think the previous writer was talking more about growth of ideas, and individuals.
ReplyDeleteWe all need to grow. as individuals, and as a city.
Its too easy to just get depressed, and just exist day to day, ... what if we tried stuff instead?
It is very interesting to drive the back roads, which we have done this summer, new mexico to east tennessee ... the difference in small towns is amazing.
I liked your fishing columnist 12 feet of river frontage to fish in a city with 7 miles of river frontage, if City commisoners can't see to grown for free how can we ever do it at tax payers expence?
ReplyDeleteSince many people do commute perhaps we need to reconsider shopping hours and businesses that cater to people returning to town from a long day at work topped by a drive. Different shopping hours would be a tough sell in our town and I understand that, however, if I want to buy something when I return from my commute you got to be open. Is that the reason for some of the success of Walmart? Just a thought.
ReplyDeletePeople thinking about the whole picture will make the difference.
Walmart is successful because of a great business plan, provide the masses cheap goods at a resonable price.
ReplyDeleteWhen we deal with the private sector of Business in consumer goods such as, Jans Sport Shack for example, premium goods at prices above big city prices because of limited competition for those high quality goods in a small town.
There is a Phylosophy that was once told to me by a Chinese Indian Jewish Clam trapper. In a city such as your's you can either Slaughter a sheep once and take the wool and the meat, or you could shear it many times and eat clams
Here is the delima, do you like eating clams and haveing a warm coat every year? or would you like to feast on Mutton and Wear the same coat for many years
In either instance the chinese portion of his clam trapping mentality made me think hmmmmm what the hell is he talking about.
Then i realised that he was part indian too, so there was really no since in looking for a hidden meaning as indians do not speak with fork'ed toungue.
Then it hit me again, he is also part jewish, and this realization cleared the puzzel up for me.
Clams are aready Kosher!
So lets all eat clams and leave the sheep alone and lower prices to compete with chinese goods from walmart, chances are with global warming we will not need a wool coat anyway :D)
so a downtown business should keep hours to cater to those who work late? how about doctors offices or dentists? should their hours be to where it is convient for those people who work past 6:00 or 7:00 pm so they can come in? it costs to have employees, electric, etc. when the "doors are open" hoping and waiting someone will walk into your store and not complain about the price and how wal mart has it so much cheaper but they don't stock it anymore. sorry, i would rather shut the doors than listen to that.
ReplyDeleteSome of those offices have offered those hours but no one wanted those appointments...it interferred with their family time. An hour long appointment is different from shopping for an item on a need basis. I understand what you are saying about the cost of being open. The point being made is that local stores offer customer service and personal attention...not always available at Walmart. What more can be done for the customer? If you would rather shut the doors than listen to the customer (even a complaining one) then perhaps that explains lots.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is about ideas and just that...what can we do right now to grow and be better.
One of the first principles you learn in business is that the customer is always right. The second thing you should learn, is that the first thing you learn is always right.
ReplyDeleteHow can businesses claim to offer customers personal attention, yet refuse to be open when customers need you to be open?
I remember when I was young most the downtown stores would stay open until 7 on thursday nights, maybe they could try doing that again.
ReplyDeletethe fact of it is, a person can literally go broke waiting for people to walk through your doors. we have kept late hours, working the hours ourselves, and like a poster previously posted about the doctors offices staying open late, people didn't want to schedule because it interfered with their family time. bingo. so what is the retailer supposed to do? stay open late, waiting and hoping that a customer crosses their threshold so they can justify being open late and sacrificing the time they could be spending with their family? it's all about business. if it doesn't justify it, don't do it. plain and simple. wal mart does the same thing, just on a different level. and yes. the customer is always right. whatever. they are right to a certain extent. until they start belitteling you (or our hired help) and chastising you for what you won't do or refuse to do. that's where i draw the line. that is when the customer IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT. i don't want that kind of business anyhow. until you have been in business, you may not understand what i am referring to.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't keep the hours for those reasons...lack of customers, etc. What can be done to bring those customers to you? You are right you can't just wait but what can be done to get them to you? I think that is the point of the blog. What needs to be done to grow what we have? When people are downtown capitalize on it. How many businesses were open during the Snake Dance ... yet, people are downtown and might have lingered? Make shopping experience fun...wearing the bulldog or Cowley colors gives you a discount. Make things positive.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like if customers are yelling at you, your customer service skills could use some polishing.
ReplyDeleteit's not about service, it's about pricing. it is always about the almighty dollar. i can bend over backwards to get their business, do things imaginable, yet they always sell out to the fact they can get it cheaper somewhere else. it is NEVER about customer service. it is always about where they can get it cheaper!!!!
ReplyDeleteNever forget that Walmart started out as a small store in a small town...who is going to be next? Could it be an idea or a business in this town. Never quit dreaming, working or aspiring because you never know what the future holds. It can come true...
ReplyDeleteyou are right. sam walton got on his horse and seen the need. it took off for him. but my point is, a person can go broke, i mean broke, trying to get business off the ground or doing something "different" in this town or any small town. with discount store's (like wal mart) you are constantly compared to, and guess who wins out? that's right. now it is the internet. it won't be long and retail business, as far as "brick and mortar" buildings is concerned, will be non-existent. that is the facts.
ReplyDeleteIt seems in saying that saying that customer complaints are NEVER about customer service is a stretch. Every one has need to do better in almost anything they do. Businesses included. The fact that some may not be able to recognize they have room for improvement may be one of the problems. I have spent money in more expensive stores just to get what I want. Walmart started out small. By knocking off some of the profit to sell more product they grew to be huge. I am sure it wasn't easy at first with them either but with time, managment skills and risk taking they grew. Less profit sell more product. Less profit, sell more product. That in turn will mean making more money eventually.
ReplyDeleteOnly if you let that be the case. I will always shop in person before the internet...I hate postage, waiting to receive the merchandise, etc. Like has been said, what can you do to bring customers to you...what can you sell that is not available at Walmart...What about a smile and a warm cup of coffee or a bottle of water or...lots can be done. It is up to you to make me want to be shopping with you. I avoid the parking, etc. at Walmart regardless of the price. I am not alone and I am sorry you think that way.
ReplyDeleteyou misinterpeted my comment. getting the customer to spend money in my store has nothing to do with "my service" to them. i do have loyal customers who appreciate "my service", however, the "normal joe" off the street couldn't give a rats a** about the service i offer. all they care about is the $$$$$$$. that is why my point about staying open later and trying to come up with new and inventive ideas is very hard in this town. take a look at small towns around the nation. many were vital but because of bigger towns (and in our case the internet) have dried up. it is just the case of the life and death of a small town.
ReplyDeletethen why keep trying. i would just walk away if i felt there was no hope. there has to be hope for growth.
ReplyDelete@9:37 am,
ReplyDeleteyou are in the minority, so my comments weren't directed towards you. there are many people in this town who appreciate downtown merchants and what they have to offer. however, taxes, insurance, utilities, etc. etc. continue to go up and it just get worse for the regular consumer and the local business owner. people are under the conception that downtown business owners are flush with money and capital. but that is so wrong. a lot of the inventory you see has been in our stores for years and has not been moved. that's one of the biggest problems. people come in and see all of the merchandise and they figure, "well they are doing well" the fact is it hasn't moved for years. so there are a lot of factors to consider when you walk into a retail shop here in town. all i am saying is take note and don't assume it is all rosy.
Here is something they did in the town i lived in, in south carolina. 3-4 times a year, they had what amounted to a down town open house.
ReplyDeleteNow we had all the big boxes out on the freeway, and a huge city, was just across the river 15 miles away, so ... talk about competition.
Anyways, on the specified evening, all the stores stayed open late, had cookies and coke or coffee. and people visited.
There was not a lot of selling going on, but, people had a chance to walk around downtown and go in the stores, meet the owners, chat with them etc.,
they had musicians sometimes, games sometimes,
maybe they could do that here.
Even the newspaper I worked at participated.
Created lots of goodwill between the store owners and townsfolk.
If you have merchandise on the shelf that is outdated have a sale. Out of date stuff isn't going to make you money and get stuff to put you on the cutting edge. be ahead of the game. You gotta think ahead of the guy up north and old merchandise ain't doing it. We know you aren't flush with money and we aren't either but we have a little to spend and I will spend it with you if you aren't selling me stuff that is ten years old. If it is out of date, I will go to the internet. Truth is, however, I want to be here supporting you but you have to keep working to keep my interest. I will be in to see what you have and to buy. A couple of good experiences and you will see me far more than the other guys regardless of the price. Customer servise is about lots of things beyond the smile.
ReplyDeleteto 10:36 am,
ReplyDeletedone that already. still can't move it. i am not trying to be negative in any form, but if i stock $5,000.00 worth of new cutting edge items (which is probably a minimum order) i will probably trying to get rid of at least $2,500.00 at about 50 cents on the dollar. profit margin is null. like i said, i am not trying to be negative and i appreciate all the input, but i have exausted all conceiveable alternatives to try and enhance our business. we have expanded our business over and over again, only to have big chain stores come in or have internet businesses offer cheaper prices etc. there is only so much expansion one can do before you find yourself up to your eyeballs in dedt that you cannot find a way out. there was a poll done recently on the traveler and it said, " what matters most to you purchasing retail" or something to that affect. the poll stated that all that matters was price. service came in 2nd place. to me that was the people talking. i cannot compete with price. so like a previous poster said. "why fight it" maybe pride. i don't know. but is a constant struggle. until you have been in my shoes, people just don't understand. but on a side note. i know everybody is going through rough times. i hope and pray the economy will turn around so that things are better, but as far as business goes, i probably will not be able to weather it. its too bad, but it is the hard core facts
I drive to Wichita to buy all what I need. I go to Lowes,Costco, homedepo, and every other place in Wichita. I drive up there 2 times a week
ReplyDeleteI love driving. I love to spend money. There is nothing here in Winfield r ark
ReplyDelete