Small Town service

[pwd72s]

Put in a load , soap in the dispenser, puleed the time knob on our front loader, got only a hum. Ah, krap! Last thing I needed, buying a new washing machine.

Cindy called the local appliance store we bought the unit from. Owner Brian said his son was on his way to a service call, would have him stop by.

10 minutes later, he was here. Opened the door, resealed the loose gasket, closed the door...started the washer. Said: "I'm outahere."

No bill.

Gee, now I know why I buy from the small locally owned store instead of a major chain.

[Rusty Heap]

small town shopping and supporting your local mom and pop stores ROCK and good karma follows.

I hate all big box stores, and refuse to go to Wallyworld just on principle alone.

you honestly miss the local auto parts store just to buy a quick quart of oil or other something like brake shoes or rotors, even if they didn't have it in stock, 24-48 hours later they would get it in on special order,..........suddenly they close and now you have to drive ~16 miles round trip to the local "big town".......

once again, SUPPORT the small guy even if you have to pay an extra $.25 cents a quart of oil, now I have to burn $3-4 bucks in gas to just go get my oil.

signed Dave - resident of town about 6,000 people.

[looneybin]

I always support the mom & pop when i can,
you just can't get service from the box stores.
I love the small hardware store around the corner from me, it reminds me of the hardware store in the show home improvement, they even sell fresh corn on the cob when in season

[speedracing944]

Our small town (~3000 people) has an Ace Hardware store. The owner's son is a E36 BMW M3 owner and we chat frequently about cars. I have gotten excellent service on numerous occasions from the store's employees. I live about 15 minutes away, out in the country, but I am about 25 minutes away from the next biggest town which has the big box stores. Here are 4 instances of small town service.

1) I went to purchase about $20 worth of stuff but when I was at the checkout I realized I left my wallet at home. The little old lady running the register told me it was no big deal as she reached into her purse and pulled out $20 of her own money and paid for my items. She just told me to pay her back next time I was in the store.

2) I went in the morning to pick up a couple gallons of paint for the barn. I pulled into the parking lot, went to the front door and pulled. It didn't open. I looked at the opening time and realized I was a half hour early. As I was walking back to my car the owner's son pulled in the parking lot and parked right near me. He graciously opened the store for me so I could buy paint.

3) Just yesterday I went to buy concrete for a foundation project. I remembered the store closed at 8 pm so I left with plenty of time to get there. I arrived at the store at 7:05 pm and guess who greeted me at the door? The owner's son. I guess the store hours changed to 7:00 over winter as a cost saving measurement because sales were down. He let me in and locked the door behind him so I could purchase the concrete.

4) I just finished final exams for Engineering. I had to stay at a friends house on campus because we got 14 inches of snow that night and I didn't want to miss the exam. On my way home the roads were almost impassable on the main highways and I had a hankering my country roads were impossible to get through. I stopped at the local Ace to chat with the owner's son to get a road report. He advised the roads were indeed as bad as I thought and offered to run his plow on his 3500 to clear a path for me. I told him I would try to find a way home and if I couldn't I would be back. The first route I tried I was still 5 miles away from home before drifting was so bad I would have had to walk. The second route I was able to get within 1.5 miles at which point I hiked it the rest of the way. I have no doubt the guy would have tried to get me home if I needed it.

I do what I can to keep the local businesses in business. I would hate to see all the mom and pop shops swallowed up by the big box store.

Speedy

[red-beard]

It's not "small town", but small business. One of the ACE hardware stores here has a US Post Office in the back. It is the best place to go to send packages, etc.

When I used to live in Pacific Beach, I found the crappy rolling bearings for my parents remote gate at an ACE hardware. HomeDespot, etc, don't carry anything like that.

[GH85Carrera]

We bought a 52 inch Sony flat screen TV for my mother-in-law. The TV shop has been in business for 3 generations. When you talk to a guy that has sold TVs all of his life you get intelligent answers, unlike the big box stores. The prices are very competitive. The store has been in the same location in downtown Edmond, OK for a long time. They offered to deliver it to her house 90 miles away. We know we can go back and talk to the same man next year.