One evening after work, a man
drove his secretary home after she had a little too much to drink at a party.
Although nothing happened, he decided not to mention it to his wife.
Later that night, the man and
his wife were driving to a movie when he spotted a high-heeled shoe hidden
under the passenger seat. Pointing to something out the passenger window to
distract his wife, he picked up the shoe and tossed it out of his window.
They arrived at the theater a short time later and were about to get out of the car when his wife asked, "Honey, have you seen my other shoe?"
Many years ago, especially living in Brooklyn and the later
years before the super-super markets and retails stores were born, you could go
into a store and purchase something while getting personal attention. Usually
the owner was present and did the selling. The idea was not to gouge a customer
but treat the person with respect, fair price and hope they came back again and
again.
Then the big boys took over, driving these wonderful mom and
pop stores from the scene, charging what they wanted and all of it impersonal
service. Sometimes if you have a question, there seems to be no one to ask, or
the salesperson is so uninterested in your quest, you never bother to ask a
question.
The Bakery, the meat market, the shoe store, a men’s
clothing store or a dress shop all had personal service, all kind of recognized
you at the least and probably know you on a first name basis. Today, they have
a giant picture of the ‘manager’ hanging on the wall, who is probably long gone
years ago.
Recently TLW, (The Little Woman) and I went to a small mom and pop store called the RUGGED BOOT, 2061 Middle Country Rd, Centereach, NY, a shoe store that the best product they sold was not only quality shoes and boots, but personal service, good, useful and intelligent personal service.
The owner talked about what TLW needed to adjust to a new
pair of shoes for her ruptured Achilles heel, and what would happen potentially
with certain kind of shoes she was inquiring about. It wasn’t a hard sell; it
was a smart sell.
I even got a lesson in shoe talk, ‘orthopedic’ and
‘orthotic’. I can now have a conversation about my orthotic condition, like;
Boy, my orthotics are killing me!
One of the reasons for my including Mountain Top Toys is
that the company is a very nice mom and pop store. They sell toys that help
children grow intellectually, and the owner is a smart and great dad, and the
godfather of my beautiful granddaughter. Patrick Holland I have know since the
early 90’s and he never disappointed me in who I thought he is.
LOOKING FOR GREAT GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN?
Address: 1231 Taft Hwy, Signal
Mountain, TN 37377
Phone:(423) 886-6943
Hours: Open today · 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
DO YOU WATCH THE BIG
BANG THEORY?
You should, your feet
will feel better! Really.
1 comment:
It's nice to know that mom and pop stores still persist in thriving. There is no reason to cut into those kind of establishments, really. We will always find a way to situate them in a landscape, or at least locate and position them in some form. They don't need to go away because they have inherent value, which can only increase with the gentrifications and other phenomenon we have yet to distinguish. Thanks for sharing that! All the best!
Sheldon Ward @ Brett Halvorson & Associates
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