Dear Brick and Mortar Business Owners

​I just convinced myself not to write an article to help save the dying brick and mortar business. Why? Because all things that have outlived themselves should die. I certainly don't want to live past my usefulness date. And, because most problems take care of themselves if you have patience - something I'm catching onto late in life.
And the problem is taking care of itself but could use a little of your help ...

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​Younger, still enthusiastic and open-minded, new business owners are taking advantage of what the old codgers began taking for granted: A public looking to spend its dollars in a way that makes them happy in a world that seems to be slowly going mad.

It's not just introverts and youths that flocked to online shopping and single-handedly began the destruction of the big stores (quite frankly, the stores did it to themselves,) but I think something could be learned from why people prefer to shop online: It's a far more pleasant and efficient experience. Shopping from home, we don't have to deal with harsh lighting, loud or abrasive music, chemical smells, long lines, could-not-care-less employees, or could-not-lie-more salespeople, and we don't waste time trudging from store to store looking for something no one has locally. Sure, we have to deal with the "what if I have to send it back" mailing pains, but so far those mailing pains have been worth it. Besides, Internet shopping may have saved the US Post Office from extinction.

But, there are products not conducive to online shopping for a variety of reasons, safety being one of them. Consequently, we are best served from a local brick and mortar for things like lighters and matches for candle- or smoke-loving folk. Extremely fragile items are ghastly costly to ship and still risk breaking, so local artisan shops are much handier and will employ, well, local artisans. Then there are the items we sensitive people must touch before buying because we can't wear certain fabrics. Clothing that touches our skin, then, is best bought from a brick and mortar boutique clothing store. Personally, I will be delighted to see many small shops that love what they sell and are customer-friendly, neighborly, and take advantage of local craftspeople from machinists and seamstresses to bakers and florists to one-of-a-kind works of art that could be anything from your favorite, custom-designed coffee mug to works of art to adorn the body or walls at both home and office - many of which are in the same brick and mortar building, now that we are becoming a nation of freelancers working from home. 

Online or in-person, what none of us needs or wants is to deal any longer with employees who don't care about anything or anyone but themselves. In their defense, no one needs shoppers like that, either. If I have a message to send it is to all business owners: Stop hiring people who don't care! It's like a contagion that destroys happiness - and your bottom line!

What could cure much of the shopping woes is simple caring, kindness, and courtesy - starting with the business owners and their employees: Be a shining example in your community of what caring and basic etiquette (or civility) look like. Amazon gets that, even if they falter a bit in getting things right. Brick and mortar owners need to get that if they want to be a friendly, reliable place for their customers who are their neighbors - and if they want to generate genuine customer loyalty. Hire people, then, that actually like to work and who like what you have to sell. It will pay off in dividends impossible to record on a ledger, both yours and your buyers, from your warehouse suppliers to the little old lady down the street buying for her cat. Oh, and tell her I said hi.