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Wednesday – Seeking out The Hometown Grown
Apr. 7th, 2010 01:10 pm.
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My husband and I were discussing last night where we should shop for food now that the local family owned store is gone. We started shopping there, originally, out of a belief that it is a good practice to shop from local vendors over big, national chains, whenever possible. We kept shopping there for other reasons.
“They were just so nice,” Jeff said. “When you walked in, they always said, ‘Hi! How’re you doing?’ You could be 20 feet away and they always made a point to talk to you. You walk into any other big store, no one cares that you’re there; you’re just a face in the crowd. And the cashiers at Klein’s didn’t ignore you and talk to each other like they do at the other stores.”
“They talked to each other, but they included you in the conversation,” I said. “It was sweet. They made you feel like you belonged.” Generations of local people worked there over the years. The teenagers who worked there grew up, moved on, married, and when their own kids needed a job they went to work for Mr. Klein, as well. He would remember their parents and I suppose that was job reference enough. It was a family thing. Those of us who were customers were part of the family, too.
( You pay for every penny you save. )
.
.
My husband and I were discussing last night where we should shop for food now that the local family owned store is gone. We started shopping there, originally, out of a belief that it is a good practice to shop from local vendors over big, national chains, whenever possible. We kept shopping there for other reasons.
“They were just so nice,” Jeff said. “When you walked in, they always said, ‘Hi! How’re you doing?’ You could be 20 feet away and they always made a point to talk to you. You walk into any other big store, no one cares that you’re there; you’re just a face in the crowd. And the cashiers at Klein’s didn’t ignore you and talk to each other like they do at the other stores.”
“They talked to each other, but they included you in the conversation,” I said. “It was sweet. They made you feel like you belonged.” Generations of local people worked there over the years. The teenagers who worked there grew up, moved on, married, and when their own kids needed a job they went to work for Mr. Klein, as well. He would remember their parents and I suppose that was job reference enough. It was a family thing. Those of us who were customers were part of the family, too.
( You pay for every penny you save. )
