The ups and downs of supporting local businesses........ (Phoenix, Mesa: home, camp)

[khuntrevor]

I personally visited two independent agents + a State Farm Agent, the house in question is less than 400 yards from all three.

[azriverfan.]

This has been my experience too. I want to reward local companies by using them but I've experienced the same things you guys have. The local companies provide worse service. They are much less organized. They don't follow up. They don't apologize for mistakes. They are almost never on time for anything.

Case in point, I used the Great Indoors for contract work. They are expensive but worth it. You get your own project manager who oversees the entire project including all of the contractors. You have one point of contact so you don't have 30 people calling you all the time. One of the subcontractors fell through and they replaced that person immediately. The project ended on time and was done to my satisfaction. I could have gotten a better deal from locals but after experiencing bad service with local contractors, I wanted to try a chain and it was well worth it. Peace of mind is worth the additional price in my opinion.

I use locals when I can particularly if they provide good service but I understand where people are coming from.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Just because they have "chain" names does not mean they are chains. Almost all Subways, for example, are franchises owned by someone with a dream. There is a chain restaurant in our area that is owned by one of my neighbors. He is a big supporter of the local schools and kid sports.

I agree. Even though Subways are on every corner, I only go to a certain one because the friendliness, speed, cleanliness and even taste is different depending on which one you go to. They are not all the same.

[ReadyFreddy]

Originally Posted by Cida

I almost exclusively shop locally and I have to say that I wonder how hard you really tried to find local insurance. I called about 12-14 places. How many did you call?

I wonder how many truly local insurance companies there are. I would suspect that they outsource their larger risks to a bigger company rather than self-insure their policyholders 100%.

[SubconsciousMe]

I have had nothing but positive experiences shopping local. Hands down. I live in the area of Central/Camelback, so I tend to gravitate towards that area (hence, shopping local).

Going out to eat and for coffee is a local experience--all the time.

My pet food. This is also local, all the time. My cats need a special food and Noble Beast orders it--as well as their litter--without question. Always calls to let us know when it has arrived. Of course, we are the slackers when it comes to actually going to the store and picking it up. ;-) I have also found them to be much cheaper than PetCo (Pet Smart does not carry their food). They also have a loyalty program.

I had the most amazing experience at Sun Valley Stereo when they installed a car stereo and alarm in our vehicle. Top notch service. Beat the price at Best Buy by far and I couldn't even get a quote at Best Buy because their car audio person was not there mid-day on a Sunday (yes, I asked if they were at lunch... nope... not there at all).

Bookman's/Stinkweeds/Changing Hands have been great resources for music and books. They will order, they will call me back when it has arrived. They even ordered a book in French that Barnes & Noble could not locate.

I've even bought plants for my patio garden at the Phoenix Public Market. They looked much healthier and were even cheaper than Home Depot.

Of course, car shopping, grocery shopping, and the such is a bit more difficult to do the local gig. I do what I can to shop local. I compare and when I do shop--whether local or not--it is about not going broke in the process. Overall, I've been incredibly satisfied and have no complaints.

[stephen431]

It has been a real mixed bag out here buying locally. I've had a few good experiences, but far more bad ones.

[bgray9]

Originally Posted by stephen431

It has been a real mixed bag out here buying locally. I've had a few good experiences, but far more bad ones.

Same here. It really depends from case to case.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by bgray9

Same here. It really depends from case to case.

Agreed, I think the problem in the past has been the local guys feel a sense of entitlement. They think that because they are local and have a creative theme that people should automatically gravitate toward them. And when they don't, they criticize the community for not supporting local businesses when in reality they were lousy businesses that happened to be local. You can't just hang up a shingle and expect to be rewarded and that has sort of been the mentality here whereas in cities like New York or L.A., people understand that your business has to have quality to even have a chance of being successful. Quality is not even questioned.

Case in point, there have been so many "New York style" pizza places that pop up all over the place and many of them fold. Their pizza was honestly mediocre. That's why they didn't succeed. It had nothing to do with people not wanting to support local businesses but they aren't going to support a bad product. Those owners thought that people should go to their restaurant because they were offering New York style pizza in Phoenix and that alone would sell. I see this with a lot of ethnic restaurants. They think that Phoenix lacks so many of them that a mediocre product can set up shop here and do well and when they don't succeed, it isn't because Phoenix residents lack a fine palate, it's because the restaurant was lousy.

However, the local businesses that do focus on quality do quite well. I was at Pita Jungle the other day. It's a great local business that focuses on quality. I go to Changing Hands bookstore and they too provide excellent service.

Ultimately, people want great service and being local doesn't give you an excuse to provide a less than stellar product.

The nice thing about growth in the Valley is that it forced a lot of mediocre local businesses to close and create more competition which led to better products and services. When I moved here, you could count on two hands the number of pool companies etc and you had to deal with them or else. Now, there are so many companies that you can find one that provides great service if the others are lousy.

[Arcadia Camelback]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Case in point, there have been so many "New York style" pizza places that pop up all over the place and many of them fold. Their pizza was honestly mediocre. That's why they didn't succeed. It had nothing to do with people not wanting to support local businesses but they aren't going to support a bad product. Those owners thought that people should go to their restaurant because they were offering New York style pizza in Phoenix and that alone would sell. I see this with a lot of ethnic restaurants. They think that Phoenix lacks so many of them that a mediocre product can set up shop here and do well and when they don't succeed, it isn't because Phoenix residents lack a fine palate, it's because the restaurant was lousy.

This totally reminds me of the experience I had last week at "Brooklyn NYC Pizza" over by Majerle's in downtown Phoenix.

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by Arcadia Camelback

This totally reminds me of the experience I had last week at "Brooklyn NYC Pizza" over by Majerle's in downtown Phoenix.

Brooklyn NYC Pizza had its location going for it, nothing else. It has moved to a less convenient location across the street in the Collier Center, where it will surely cease to exist. In the old location, it has been replaced by Downtown Pizza Lounge, which is operated by Dan Majerle's people. I haven't tried it yet, but hopefully it is an improvement.