Re: Going to your local dealer then ordering long distance
I am going to tell a little story....
Back in the 80's and early 90's, wallpaper for the home was a hot category. I used to have a wallpaper section in my store, and had to pay the wallpaper companies $ 50 to $ 75 for each sample book (in 1985-90 dollars), as did every dealer. Imperial Wallcoverings was the 800lb gorilla of the wallpaper industry, they had the bulk of the category. This was the pre-internet era, when 1-800 ads were in the magazines. The ads said 'We discount, get us the pattern number and name of the wallpaper and save big'. You could pick up any home decor magazine of the day and there were half a dozen of these operations running ads. Imperial compounded the problem by offering volume discounts to its dealers, so the 1-800 guys got a steeper discount that I did in my little speciality store. People would come in and check out the books all the time and I never got many orders. I had about (50) books, probably $ 3K tied up in them. People would also cut the sheets out of them they liked as well instead of asking for samples. After a year or so the books would be shabby, and need replacement. When the sales reps for the wallpaper companies came in and wanted to re-order the books or replace them with newer ones, I would say "no", the 1-800 guys has stolen the business. The reps would say "You need to code your books". I'd say "Who has time for that? Make like 2,000 codes and labels? Why don't you guys kill the 1-800 accounts who steal all the business from stores buying your sample books?" They said they can't...the 1-800 business was too large. So I stopped buying books altogether - so did every other store and dealer. What did that do in the pre-internet era? Well, it took all the samples out - everywhere across the country. Now the 1-800 guys have no where for their customers to go see the wallpaper. The wallpaper business started tanking big time. One day I decided I could use the floor space for something that was actually profitable and threw all the books out, along with the stand and desk I had made for them. People would come into ask for the books to check out and I would say we no longer carry them. This happened at every dealer as well. Imperial Wall Coverings went bankrupt in 2003, killed off by not having brick and mortar stores to show their product.
Now in the internet age, you can see pictures of things. Who is a dealer now? Many of these website presences have no showroom, they operate out of their home and contract their furniture builds to whomever they can get to private label them (Casco Bay is one of those, do a search here to see the fallout on that one). And for that matter, without brick and mortar dealerships mean a maker may was as well sell direct. However, I still think people want to see, touch and try out the frames, at least get a representation of them, and you are only going to do that at a B&M location. Plus, your B&M dealer can go over your plans with you and actually help guide you in what to select. A customer service agent at the end of the phone who is just out of college, probably not so much.
It costs a lot of money to run a store. I just wrote a check today to the County of Fairfax for $ 1,890 for the privilege of operating a business in the County and now have to go get my Isuzu delivery truck which just got a new diesel fuel tank to the tune of $ 2,634. There is a very real cost to a B&M operation and I respect that - so I will never encourage someone to go in and use their facilities then order from my store or any other discounter, it's unethical and disrespectful. Having said that I realize we all want to save a buck when we can - I do as well. I think you have to balance the cost of buying locally and supporting your area businesses (yes, they DO help pay for your schools and infrastructure in your community) vs distance buying. If you are going to be a distance buyer, at the very least don't tie up some salesperson for half a day when you have no intention of buying from them. Respect their time and that they have to make a living as well.
Ultimately, it depends on the dollar spread obviously and whom you want to trust with your order.
Last edited by drcollie; 03-11-2016 at 04:26 PM.
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.