Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I own a gift shop in a small town with very few independent options beyond the chain stores and have noticed this year especially many friends/acquaintances/neighbors have not supported my business in terms of shopping for birthdays, etc and now, Christmas. I'm feeling increasingly annoyed so am wondering am I being petty, or would you feel offended too?
Have they ever shopped at your store? HAve you given them an incentive to shop there? Sometimes people need to be reminded or get excited about a new product or line.
As for me I like to shop local but I am more of a practical buyer even with gifts. Most gift shops don't offer enough practical items for me to shop at.
I have avoided business dealings with people I know as I always felt strange if they wanted to give me a discount, I also felt strange if they did not. Guess I am just strange
The internet sales theory is a bit overstated from a gift shop's perspective given most items involve two or more of the five senses, and never mind at best internet sales account for 20% of all retail sales annually.
It doesn't matter if it involves all five senses ... if I have the option to do my shopping without leaving the comfort of my home, I will.
I'll share my recent experience with a gift store/boutique, in case any of this resonates with the OP. My son's girlfriend's birthday was in Oct. They are serious enough that I wanted to give her a gift, so I asked him for advice. He gave me the name of her favorite store, this gift shop, about 15 miles away from me. #1, their hours were not conducive to shopping on my schedule. No nights, no Sundays. I thought I could order a gift certificate, the web page made no mention of them. I called the store, nobody ever answered. And what really caught my eye, was the "No Returns, Exchanges or Credits" for most, but not all items. Clothing was included though, as were jewelry and accessories. Basically, anything that would appeal to this young woman.
I did get her a joint birthday/Christmas gift certificate this past week. But it wasn't nearly as easy as shopping online would have been.
My town has a huge "shop local" push, and people do support the small businesses here, including myself. The town makes it easier by having three major street fair events a year, and our retails district is quite compact, so those businesses do well.
Yeah, several of our local businesses ran Christmas specials this week. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. From noon until 5. When most residents are at work, from which many don't return until 6 or later. Half day Friday, closed Saturday and today so the owners (none really have employees, the ones that do were open) can get their personal Christmas stuff done.
And they can't figure out why I get so pissed off at them when they publicly complain about the people in town not supporting them.
I live in a small town and there is a very small grocery store. I do not shop there because I am on a restricted way of eating and this little store has nothing in it I can buy for myself to eat. Was the same when the larger grocery store was here and closed down because of lack of business. He did have a little meat products there but oh so expensive. Hubby and I always shopped the sales for food in the next town down that more choices available for so much less cost. I can not afford to shop local. There is nothing else here other then the post office I go to for purchases. I do not go to the bar or the small local cafe. Why pay 10.00 for a burger and fries when all I can eat is the meat patty. For 10 dollars I can get a few pounds of burgers and have several meals. Very few businesses can make it here.
So sorry you had the hurricanes. It seems this sure could be the problem for your business slowing down. I also do not do Christmas so do not go to gift stores. I just hate to shop.
I suspect several things going on. We live in a small town that is constantly pushing the "shop local" theme. And my wife and I really try to. But the local stores (not just talking gift shops here) carry such a limited inventory. Going shopping just turns into a waste of time, so folks just drive the 50 miles to the nearest big city to shop or do it online. So the first thing I'd suggest is "does your inventory meet the needs of the public in your local areas?" Not do you carry what you want to carry, but do you carry what they want to buy.
The second part, which you hinted at, is economic. Many people in small towns are struggling, even without considering the hurricanes that came through your area. They just don't have the funds to buy gift shop items that typically aren't useful but decorative. Our local town had a really cool gift shop that carried the classic gifts in porcelain like Hummel's, china, table decorations, ceramic birds & flowers, so forth. When the economy crashed in 08, people just quite buying those kind of items and he had to close.
I own a gift shop in a small town with very few independent options beyond the chain stores and have noticed this year especially many friends/acquaintances/neighbors have not supported my business in terms of shopping for birthdays, etc and now, Christmas. I'm feeling increasingly annoyed so am wondering am I being petty, or would you feel offended too?
If they're all going to chain stores, and you want to be independent, must you go to a smaller city to find people who will go to non-chain stores? I don't know. If by gift shop you mean things like birthday cards, you know what Dollar Tree will charge. Are they one of your local competitors?
I own a gift shop in a small town with very few independent options beyond the chain stores and have noticed this year especially many friends/acquaintances/neighbors have not supported my business in terms of shopping for birthdays, etc and now, Christmas. I'm feeling increasingly annoyed so am wondering am I being petty, or would you feel offended too?
I have to wonder what your advertising budget is? I advertise surplus personal possessions on craigslist.org at 20%-30% less than eBay prices and virtually none of them buy anything. If they were any more unreasonable they'd be asking how much will you give me to take it off your hands? It seems there's the
mentality that they will only buy off the largest internet sites. Best wishes.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
