Like an extended road trip, most everyone gets a turn at the wheel. They get to choose, within certain limits, where and when to stop for fuel, both for the vehicle and the bodies being carried. When to take a rest break. Which roads to travel, scenic or interstate? Where to eat, fast food or a “sit down”? Where to buy fuel, price or services? At one time or another we all regret the turn we chose. Flat tire on a deserted road. Botulism. Filthy restrooms.
Currently, in Our Country, many people are having problems with decisions made last November. Of course, that will always be true. “Elections have consequences.” The people on the loosing side are hardly ever happy. Why would they be?
But this same act of “choosing” extends to the more mundane, everyday choices we make. Downtown died when the Mall was built on the outskirts. The same shopping center passed away when the “Big Box” stores came to town. Now they are struggling to compete with the “Internet Machine”.
Our choices are reflected in which products and services are available to us locally. It has become near impossible to pick up the item you want or need with a quick trip to town. You can either buy what they have on the shelf, which many times leads to “settling” for something different than what you wanted, or ordering it and paying shipping costs. That may lead to another trip to pick up the item, or just bite the bullet, buy it on-line and get free(?) shipping. The local vendor complains about not being able to compete with internet sellers. They can no longer afford to keep merchandise in their store, which leads to more on-line sales, which leads to less local availability, and on and on. The manufacturer or warehouse doesn’t care about the local brick and mortars, a sale is a sale. Makes no difference to their bottom line as long as a sale is made.
I was talking to a sales associate at a once formidable retailer a while back. He told me that they are constantly reminded that they must compete with Amazon. No one can do that. They need to stake out a piece of the retail where they are more experienced, can offer a good if not superior product, and then defend and expand that base. They really don’t need to have the lowest price. They just need to provide exceptional service, something on-line retailers can’t do. When dealing over the internet, if your lucky, they’ll let you send it back for another and maybe even pay the freight. You’re still back to square one. Need the product and hoping UPS will deliver a replacement that will work. Our local stores sell inferior products so they can compete price wise, if they stock it at all.
It wasn’t that long ago that you would go to buy, and pick-up what you wanted. Maybe it took visiting more than one store, but more often than not you went home with the product, plugged it in, and voila, all was good. Now you order it and hope for the best. Personally, I like being able to see and feel what I am buying most of the time. That way I know what I am getting. I know what it feels like, what it looks like, and if it will fit.
We did this to ourselves and I am as guilty as anyone for creating this monster. In reality, I felt that I just didn’t have the time to physically go and get what I wanted. I was working way too many hours, traveling too many miles for that work, and I actually thought that I was saving money. In the end, after calculating the returns, the problems encountered when attempting to making the on-line purchases work, I hardly ever saved money and time. Now when I try to make a purchase in person, nobody stocks what I want. If I really feel that I need it, I am forced to order and hope for the best. I now have a house, garage, and dumpster full of things that did not work, were a piece of junk not worth installing, or just plain wrong that are not worth the investment of time and money to return or are “not returnable”. And everyday our choices are further limited as evidenced through all the empty storefronts.
We don’t have to accept the world as envisioned by Amazon, Jet and eBay. I have recently added to my long list of “causes” to buy at locally owned and operated stores. The initial monetary costs may be slightly higher, but it is more than offset by the free “therapy” of actually talking to a real live person, face to face. It has freed me from the isolation that is imposed by “living” on-line. I am able to meet and talk to many different people that is impossible over the internet. Communication problems are all but eliminated. If I have difficulties explaining what I am looking for, I can draw a picture or show them an example taken from their own shelves. So far, my new approach has been working out well. I am making headway on projects that have been put off for years because I didn’t want to order the wrong thing and then find the space to store it for eternity.