I grew up in the small town of Greeneville, TN and can recall visiting the local feed and supply store with my dad from time to time. We’d walk in the doors, past the bails of hay and potted flowers lining the windows of the store front and the owner, a guy named Buck, would stop my dad and talk with him for a bit about how life had been treating them both lately. There was a table in the back, next to the soda fountain, where old men sat playing cards, wasting away the day smoking cigarettes and drinking cups of black coffee.
It was a welcoming store, a place you always felt at home. A few years later, Lowes opened a store on the bypass but my dad refused to shop there. At the time, I didn’t understand why and didn’t really care, but as time has passed and our lives have grown more busy by the days, I’ve come to understand why my dad preferred the local feed and supply store over Lowes, or Home Depot for that matter.
My dad enjoyed his chats with Buck and the guys playing cards. He felt accepted, recognized and valued. He knew where everything was and didn’t have to walk half a mile around the store to find some nails and potting soil.
My wife and I just recently renovated our home and I have to admit I spent a lot of time in our local Home Depot and Lowes. Both of the stores are incredibly busy, unless you’re shopping in the winter months and more importantly, I began to take note of a trend in customer service. More times than not, I had to seek out a store employee to help me and more times than not, when I found the employee, they were surrounded by a crowd of gaggling customers seeking all sorts of answers and assistance. You either waited your turn and lost 20 minutes of valuable time, or you pushed a seemingly well-hidden button that summoned an employee for assistance, only to discover that when they arrived, they referred you to another employee, paging a new assistant over their walkie-talkie as they scooted away and on to better things.
I was driving home from work one day and remembered that I needed something from the hardware store and was dreading the thought of braving Home Depot, Lowes or even Wal-Mart for that matter. As I was thinking of a way to avoid the trip, I passed by the only Ace Hardware I’ve ever known to be in Knoxville and decided to stop.
The moment I walked through the door an employee welcomed me and asked if there was any way he could help me. He directed me toward the isle that I needed. I still needed a few things and upon walking out of the isle a different employee was waiting to ask if I needed help. The store was calm and the personnel were more than accommodating. The floors were well-worn, the shelves were old, the lighting wasn’t the best I’d ever seen but nonetheless, this little hardware store had a little of everything that I needed. I’ve been shopping at Ace Hardware ever since.
For years I’d never shopped at Ace Hardware and always thought less of it because let’s face it, comparatively they’re usually located in older buildings, much smaller than Lowes or Home Depot and in the case of the Knoxville store, it doesn’t look like any one is ever there.
My point is this: it’s the experience that matters. It’s the ease of visiting a smaller store, it’s the customer service you receive when you walk in the door and it’s the fact that even thought it’s not the glitzy hardware mega-store of the new millennium, maybe less is more. Sometimes, you don’t have to try so hard to be the best, just the local feed and supply store. Less is more.
About the Author
Brooks A. Brown is the founder and principal of Shout Out LLC, a Knoxville, Tennessee-based marketing, public relations, and communications firm serving clients throughout the nation.
