Where are our local businesses headed?

[Tom Pritchard]

I came home today and read this story on a local news website. The store that is closing is a series of locally owned and operated home improvement and building supply stores that have been in business for at least 40 years. The buying power of Lowe's and Home Depot is too great for them to compete.

What will we do when they are all gone, and we no longer have any choices? I guess that's why we call them the "Borg"! Thanks for reading,,,,



"(Rochester, NY) 10/04/05 - Wegmans announced Tuesday it will close all of its Chase-Pitkin Home and Garden Stores. The move impacts 2100 jobs. Some of the 2100 employees will be offered jobs at Wegman's, others will get severance pay.

Ruth Kowacich chooses Chase-Pitkin over other, larger hardware stores, because she said, she wants the best deal. Many shoppers were surprised to learn all 14 Chase-Pitkin stores, 10 of them in Rochester, will close sometime after 2005.

Shopper Linda Dunn said, “I'm actually shocked.”

Shopper Ray Dunn added “ninety-five percent of the time I'd say it’s cheaper if not the same."

That's part of the problem. Ten years ago competitors like Lowes and Home Depot operated a quarter of a million square feet of retail space in the Rochester market. Now it’s six times as much: 1.5 million square feet.

Chase-Pitkin President Bill Strassburg said, "Part of the issue is, we have to be priced right…our competitors are hundreds of times our size and they can buy things at lower prices."

Wegmans' spokeswoman Joe Natale said that in the short term, it was a very difficult decision for the company -- and the people.

Unlike many service jobs, many of Chase-Pitkin's full and part time employees receive health and other benefits. The jobs are valuable to Monroe County and difficult to replace."

[JayStPeter]

Wow, I didn't think that was still happening.

It happened in the DC area over 10 years ago and I thought we were pretty late to the party. The local chain home centers all closed down and the mom & pop stores that survived have all become Ace or True Value. The builders supply and specialty places are still around and I seek them out regularly.
I don't feel too bad for Wegmans though. They seem to have a similar effect when they move into a new area with grocery stores (and good ones at that, wish we had one around here).

Jay

[Steve Clardy]

Same thing is happening with farming. All the huge farmers are buying out the property the small farmers have, as the small farmers aren't making it.

[Lee DeRaud]

Ok, I obviously don't get the point here. Am I the only one who thinks "14-store 2100-employee chain" is a completely different thing from "mom and pop small buisiness"?

[Keith Outten]

A branch of my familly have been farming on the Eastern Shore of Virginia for almost 400 years and they shut down their farm two years ago. Their farm operation was reasonably large and they didn't stop due to financial issues, it was simply the cost of doing business compared to the value of their crops. The middle-man and retail outlets make most of the proffit and take the least risk.

Last Sunday my familly and I visited my cousins on the Eastern Shore and it was sure sad to see what was once a thriving familly business now just empty barns, the land is now being leased to a huge corporation up north.

This is also happening to Jackie and I at Hampton Roads Online, local Internet Providers are alsmost all gone now and we are in the final stages of closing our Internet Service in Yorktown. An official announcement will be coming very soon :(

[Steve Clardy]

A branch of my familly have been farming on the Eastern Shore of Virginia for almost 400 years and they shut down their farm two years ago. Their farm operation was reasonably large and they didn't stop due to financial issues, it was simply the cost of doing business compared to the value of their crops. The middle-man and retail outlets make most of the proffit and take the least risk.

Last Sunday my familly and I visited my cousins on the Eastern Shore and it was sure sad to see what was once a thriving familly business now just empty barns, the land is now being leased to a huge corporation up north.

This is also happening to Jackie and I at Hampton Roads Online, local Internet Providers are alsmost all gone now and we are in the final stages of closing our Internet Service in Yorktown. An official announcement will be coming very soon :(


I don't like the sound of that Keith.:confused:

Steve:)

[Dennis Peacock]

I don't like the sound of that Keith.:confused:

Steve:)

Just hang with us buddy......just hang tight.

[Bob Oswin]

A branch of my familly have been farming on the Eastern Shore of Virginia for almost 400 years

This is also happening to Jackie and I at Hampton Roads Online, local Internet Providers are alsmost all gone now and we are in the final stages of closing our Internet Service in Yorktown. An official announcement will be coming very soon :(

My Grandmother used to say:
"Pity the man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."
I know what that means now.

Bob

[Steven Wilson]

Suck it up and enjoy it. You are reaping the benefits of your votes at the poles. Oh, and enjoy it when the quality and selection of product drops. You'll also love when service comes at Walmart wage rates.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Bummer, my Dad is really going to miss the place. He does all of his garden supply shopping as Chase-Pitkin since he and my Mom live in Fairport. I agree with Wegman's being a responsible local company. One of my nieces worked there during high school as a cashier and is now the beneficiary of one of their college scholarships. I hate seeing good local businesses have to deal with this type of problem.

[Donnie Raines]

Suck it up and enjoy it. You are reaping the benefits of your votes at the poles. Oh, and enjoy it when the quality and selection of product drops. You'll also love when service comes at Walmart wage rates.

From one member to another, please don't turn this into a poltical thread.

[Dennis Peacock]

From one member to another, please don't turn this into a poltical thread.

We are ok "now".

[Dennis Peacock]

Just a word of warning here folks.....If this turns even "slightly" political? This thread will be <b>removed</b>.

[Joe Pelonio]

We're lucky here, in addition to the big guys we have a local family owned chain of 3 stores called McLendon's that just added a new store. These have staff that actually know wood, hardware, and repair and people in the area support them because they are so helpful. We lost a lumberyard that I used for my business that had a great millwork shop, when the HD cam in down the road.
Many of you probably do that stuff yourselves, but for the rest of us without
the elaborate power tool shop it's been hard to get things done at a decent price.

[Keith Outten]

My Grandmother used to say:
"Pity the man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."
I know what that means now.

Bob

Bob,

I now understand what your Grandmother meant as well. I can't say that I had given her point of view much thought untill lately.

To All,

This isn't a political discussion, it has more to do with financial issues than regulation. The remark concerninig "Voting" was meant to describe voting at the cash register, at least that is how I interpreted the comment.

The world is ever changing, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse but change is a constant we can all rely on.

.

[Bob Oswin]

Yes Keith, you can vote with your wallet.
Voting with an open mind would be nice too but we can't go there. :rolleyes:

[Donnie Raines]

Bob,

I now understand what your Grandmother meant as well. I can't say that I had given her point of view much thought untill lately.

To All,

This isn't a political discussion, it has more to do with financial issues than regulation. The remark concerninig "Voting" was meant to describe voting at the cash register, at least that is how I interpreted the comment.

The world is ever changing, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse but change is a constant we can all rely on.

.

Hi Keith,

I think you may have read the post after it was edited. Prior to editing, it clearly had political direction to it.

[Glenn Clabo]

We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we now know that it is bad economics.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Usually it's just plain economics....the little guy doesn't get the large volume buying power for his materials that the Borg does. I have a local yard that I try to do business as often as I can. This place steered me to the contractor who built my shop shell. Sometimes it can be the attitude of the little guy that drives him out of business. We used to have an unbelieveable hardware store just a couple of blocks from my house. One of the West Coast Borgs came in...long enough to put the little guy out of business...then the Borg went out of business. The remaining little guy hardware store does have a fairly good supply of products but his hours are so out of touch with the average working stiff, that often I'm forced to buy from the latest Borg that has arrived. It's a shame............

[David Wilson]

My signature line says it all

[scott spencer]

HI Tom - I'm sure sad to see Chase Pitkin go....they were slated to open a new store about a mile from me....I've been wondering what the hold up was...they don't usually mess around much. The alarming thing is that Chase Pitkin is a good sized business with 15 stores, and is owned by Wegman's grocery chain which is an incredibly well run progressive company. Much of what you see in modern grocery store conveniences were the done first by Wegmans many years ago. If they couldn't hold their own, who can? I'll miss having a third viable choice that offered competitive pricing, good customer service, and nearly as wide a selection. I didn't shop there exclusively, but did like having another option to Lowes or HD. There goes their lifetime service!

[Andy Hoyt]

A few years back my younger brother told me an interesting factoid about the majority of the big box stores nearby where he lives (an hour north of NYC). He said that practically all of them have to import their low end labor force from NYC because the locals won't work for the wages offered. So everyday a fleet of buses drives back and forth ferrying minimum wage earners.

Says a lot about the job availabilty in the big apple, but says more about the "local work force"; and still more with - well something, not sure what, but this stinks.

[Joe Pelonio]

Andy,

We had that trouble here in the mid-late 90s. Many of the high school students were given new cars and anything else they wanted from Mom and Dad, one of whom (or both) were Microsoft or "dot-com" Execs. There are several fast food places within a block of the high school (in Sammamish, WA) where they had
people taking busses from Seattle to work. Also had a case where the KFC in Redmond lost 8 employees when the INS raided and found illegals. Now things are a little different, the kids still don't want to do fast food but they are looking for jobs, and the cars Mom & Dad buy are more often used.

[Michael Perata]

From one member to another, please don't turn this into a poltical thread.

Donnie - have you thought about changing your tag, or were you really intriqued with the good Admiral and the history of WW2. :(

[Don Baer]

locals won't work for the wages offered. So everyday a fleet of buses drives back and forth ferrying minimum wage earners.



Actuly they don't pay that bad. My youngest son who is working for the Blue Borg in the mill works gets over $15/hr he even get comission on sales, some of those special order doors he sells can cost thousands of $$ so the comission can be pretty good. He's got medical/dental and a matching 401k. Thats not to bad for folks who mostly are HS Grads. He is studying to be a teacher so he is not thinking of it as a career but since he's got a wife and a baby to think about it pays the bills

[Ernie Nyvall]

Donnie - have you thought about changing your tag, or were you really intriqued with the good Admiral and the history of WW2. :(


Ahhh, when all out of facts or good reason, resort to personal attacks.

Ernie

[Matthew Poeller]

While I was in one of my MBA classes. The class is actually very interesting as it is about strategic management of companies and usually we are talking about the big ones.

Every post that I have seen here (that was about the subject, not the other babble that was going on) has been about price. Well in one respect that is certainly the case. There are economies of scale for these larger companies and many of the people that shop there are people that are just there for the price.

What these smaller companies have to do is find another way to compete with the bigger companies. Particularly in the case of retail stores and borgs you are looking at something like customer service to provide you with you advantage. The smaller stores that do not do this are the ones that are going to loose out.

Now I agree that a lot of smaller companies have the problem that there service is really purly price sensitive. (Maybe Hampton Roads online is one of these) As sad as it is, it is the nature of the beast.

The bottom line is that these bigger companies are constantly changing, costantly putting in new stores and competing in new markets. To beat or compete with them you have to offer something they don't. You have to change your business a little too. It is not enough anymore that your pappy's pappy and then your pappy ran the store and made ends meet so you should be able to run the store and make ends meet.

With that said I have a rule that use especially at the hardware store since there are a couple of nice family owned stores around here. If it is something that I know how to do and cost is important I will go to the borg. If it is not something I know how to do and I need help I will buy from the the store that gives me the help that I require in a timely fashion. Around here that is usually not the borg but one of the smaller stores. What I do not like to see is these people that go into the mom and pop place to get the help and then go to the borg for the price.

[Donnie Raines]

I think it is simplier then we make it out to be. The larger stores have better selection, better prices, better inventory, better hours, excellant return policies and in my experience excellant service. I guess the service aspsect is open to interpretation. I am not looking for someone to answer every single little question I have, nor do I expect to see someone in every isle. When I go the store I no what it is I am looking for...or at least a very good idea of what it is I need. I have heard some very ignorant question ask of the employees....things that if did not already no...you should be contracting out the job(or they were playing games with the employee....).

Look, I love the idea of the mom and pop stores....I'm in a family buisness myself. But, the reality is it is very difficult for them to make the needed changes to compete in todays market.