Owning a business in Logan as non-LDS (Roy: shop, resident)

[Miborn]

Originally Posted by cracejy

Would this be true of all business? I am considering moving to Utah and continuing my side business in photography. I am also considering opening a studio....do LDS tend to stay with LDS retailers?

Yes, as much as they can!

[debbee]

I didn't see any relation between the "pile of purchases" example and your gallery store either.
I guess we live and learn and sometimes those lessons are painful and painfully expensive. Have you considered selling online? There are some sites like etsy.com that deal exclusively with art. Just a thought.

[Aerorick]

I still love Utah for it's low cost of living, scenery and wide-open spaces. But as far as my attitude for the local "businesses" I'm afraid I'm ruined. I've always been very supportive of small family owned businesses and shop there when I can. But now I make a deliberate effort to buy only at national chain stores including Wal-Mart. And from some of experiances I've read from other transplants, I'm not alone.

[stycotl]

Originally Posted by Miborn

Yes, as much as they can!

that is a pretty exaggerated statement. i would bet my money that it happens *more often* in rural communities than it does in the city, but even then not everyone is that way. people tend to remember the few (minority) retards that they run across and generalize (as the above poster is doing) that everyone is that way.

i have lived in rural towns across utah, as well as slc and provo, and i have rarely seen it happen.

the few people that actually boycott nonmormon businesses are retarded ad ought to go join fred phelp's little gang. but they are few and far between.

one needs to make a case that particularely in small towns, people as often as not ignore one store for the competition because they are friends/relatives/bedbuddies with the owner of the other store. now, that said, there will be more of that in an area where 85% of the population goes to one of three mormon wards. but it still doesn't mean that they are all boycotting a business 'cause "it's run by 'gentiles!"

most of the cases i have seen were old ladies who didn't like the look of the nose-piercings and the dyed hair. give 'em five years and they'll all be gone anyway.

sincerely, and sure to meet a nonmormon store patron today when i go buy watercolors for art class, aaron out.

[providence_native]

Yes, there ARE difficulties with being a non-LDS member of this community. They aren't immediately apparent, but they are certainly pervasive. I'm posting this because lots of people I've talked to about it seem to miss this part of the equation. I assume they take it into account on everything they do, but they don't. So regardless of whether or not it's needed, here goes.
People here rarely deliberately seek out only Mormon owned businesses. However, they know people form church who do whatever it is they need done, and who do they hire? Someone they know or someone they don't? Take a guess.

Regardless of whom they decide on, they then pass on good experiences, or bad, to others in social settings. Who do people socialize with? Often many of their friends are LDS or they are at a Church function (they meet every Sunday anyway), and who so their friends hire? It should also be mentioned that if you know someone well, the business owner is more likely to cut the customer a deal. Who would you go to?

This social networking side of business in Cache Valley wouldn't have such a big impact if there wasn't such an overwhelming majority of LDS people here. Logan is rapidly becoming larger, but it still exists in a very contained space. This makes it more difficult to infiltrate then it may appear from the outside looking in.

The solution? Socialize! Advertize! Sponsor local events! Basically, run the best PR campaign you can, or drown. Do NOT think of yourself as off duty at anytime, you never know when someone might recognize you.

It can be done, it just requires a lot of effort.
Good Luck!

[annem1967]

I defintely agree with Kbucket and rsalgado. people seem to forget this is a college town and there are alot of out of towners that aren't LDS. and unless you advertise you aren't lds who's going to know and for that matter...WHO CARES...as along as you produce good work and decent priced...welcome to cache valley

[RandomPoster]

I just moved here from Alabama, and I am LDS. There are businesses here that do well and are obviously not LDS-owned. In fact, I sometimes here the workers in their almost badmouthing LDS ... maybe their customers aren't usually LDS, but I imagine plenty are. It's actually a fairly high-priced clothing store for this area, too, but there are a good number of transplants and yuppies or yuppy-wannabes in this area ... tourists, transient college students, and snowbirds, too.

I came from a place with less than 1 percent LDS. It is very different here, even if you are LDS. It's a culture shock. As far as success, whether you are running a business or just looking for a job, it's about who you know, not about your religion. It's that way almost anywhere. Networking is important in this day and age. There are more LDS here, but plenty of people aren't anything, or are something else. The Indian, Chinese, and other restaurants do fine here. The coffee shops thrive. Maybe the non-LDS only shop non-LDS? Maybe the bias is on both sides??? I don't know, honestly. I haven't been here long enough. For the most part, I think it's amazing somewhere this agricultural is so young and diverse. Sure, most people are white and/or LDS, but there are plenty of other races (some LDS and some not) and religions of people here mixing and blending. They try to promote the arts here. I think it's wonderful!

I worked for a place a few days as a temp. I was supposed to work there for weeks, but then some old employees and a random family member showed up. They said I didn't do anything wrong. They just wanted to hire the people they knew. I have no idea as to whether they were LDS or whether they knew I was, or whether the other employees were. Right now, I work for a lady that isn't LDS, and is from California. She was hesitant to hire me because I wasn't sent to her by someone she knew, and we didn't know any of the same people. She didn't care that I was LDS. She cared who I knew. This Valley is small, and you see the same people over and over again. Most know each other. That is the clannish part. It's not anything to do with religion, it's whether or not they know you, and it may take a while to get a reputation established.

[RandomPoster]

PS - I have also lived in a place where I was the one that had trouble with some small-minded people because I was LDS. I have lived on both sides of it. There is a tendency among the general population of HUMANS to be less accepting of those who are outsiders or different. The world is changing, but there'll always be silly people in regions where certain groups are more prevalent ... and the media doesn't usually help. Usually they fuel the fires and spread the rumors ... lump everybody into one category. It's like saying because some Catholic priests molest children, all Catholics are child-molesting monsters. It's simply not true. As soon as an LDS person does something wrong, it gets plastered all over the news. It's a person. Leave out race and religion. Humans make mistakes ... just say who did it and leave the rest out ... sorry ... going off my soapbox. I've just heard both ends of this lots. I'm somewhere in the middle. I don't completely fit in with the non-LDS here, nor the LDS. I came from a place where I was the different one and was used to dealing with any problems and jokes about me that resulted. I'm pretty OK with whoever. I think diversity is great and I shop where I want to ... and I don't care whether they like my color or religion or not.

[RandomPoster]

PS - sorry for the typing/grammar/spelling errors and multiple posts. I'd say pick your place based on where you want to live and think you can make a living. It's hard to make money in this Valley no matter what you do. There are politics here that I am only beginning to understand. For example, they won't allow many businesses that pay well, and are similar, to be here. They don't want to lose their own employees. Lots of the people involved in the decision-making (local government officials) are also the owners of businesses.

What you need is a unique business that is not directly competing with others. One thing I can think of is restaurants that are open late. There aren't many, but I imagine if there were, you'd have college students in there at all hours, provided they could afford it and it appealed to them.

[paySON_leROY_Bale]

Considering temple recommend question #7, would the bishop and stake president sign off, if a saint does business with a non-LDS?