On my usual Sunday grocery shopping excursion this week, I was headed to our local grocery store (I always try to shop locally). While I was driving, my mother-in-law’s voice kept popping into my head saying “ I save so much money shopping for groceries at the Super Center National Big Box Store,” along with the bombardment of commercials touting “Save Money, Live Better” and the average person saves money by shopping at their Super Center – sooooo, I decided I would drive by my local grocery store that has served me so well over the years and save money by shopping at the Super Center. The results: I spent about 20% more on the same items I buy every week. I WAS AMAZED – How could that happen?
Eggs and bread were about the only things I found that were cheaper. Dog Food was a dollar more, store brand soup was fifty cents a can more. Everything I normally buy cost MORE MONEY. After pondering this finding, I began to realize that the mindset of older Americans and other shoppers trying to save some money in this tough economy is this: if eggs and bread are substantially less expensive, everything in the store must be cheaper and we must be saving money! SHOPPERS BEWARE! This is not the case!
As business owners, our “Big Box” competitors are always touting money-saving deals, but buyer beware, this isn’t always the case when you shop locally you get the service, customer appreciation and expertise you deserve. Recently, a customer called and asked us if we could hang a television on the wall at his son’s house. His son had purchased an LCD television at a “Big Box” store without giving us a call first. That’s okay, his dad is a good customer and we agreed that we would get a television mount and hang it before the Superbowl. We hung the television, ran the cables in the wall and hooked up his small stereo system to run his tv and dvd audio for him. In the end, the young man had a $90.00 HDMI cable that he could take back to the “Big Box” store for a refund. He saved the proverbial boatload of money on the installation by using us and not the “Big Box” store. You see, the “Big Box” store made the sale on the TV at a low price (we would have been competitive) but they GET YOU with the accessories and installation making you believe you have saved money and gotten a “Good Deal” - much like the cheaper eggs and bread at the Super Center.
The moral of the blog – Shop Locally! You Will Be Surprised at the Savings, Expertise and Customer Service you will receive. Just because the eggs and bread are cheaper at the Super Center, doesn’t mean you are getting an “All Around Good Deal.”
