My threats of bodily injury finally got my fiance to the store to replace the fluorescent bulb that lights the kitchen counter. What took him so long? Fear of a dreadful hardware store experience.
No, really.
Men like Christopher who are not handy hate two things more than anything: the futile search in the hardware store aisles to find the widget or gadget they need, and the equally futile search for a knowledgeable human who can help them find it when they, inevitably, can’t.
So, after much procrastination and dread and trying to figure out the size of the bulb to be replaced (“probably irregular”), etc., he decided to take the bulb with him. Though I was not there, I can picture him, armed with old, dead bulb, walking reluctantly into the local hardware place, called, not inaccurately, True Value.
“Need one of those?” he was asked, one second after entering, by a nice man pointing at the bulb in his hand. He hardly had time to answer before he was handed a replacement, checked out and leaving the store.
Imagine!
Independently owned small businesses often shiver at the news of big box retailers or other major chains coming to town. The cavernous stores seem to contain everything one might need for a journey through
life, all at “low, low prices.” What they do not do well, and where I feel they simply cannot compete, is with the seemingly unteachable proactivity and vigor of customer service you find in small shops, even a franchise such as the H & B True Value store in Mayflower. They don’t have “good customer service.” Their employees fulfill your needs faster than you can articulate them.
I won’t try to save pennies by going anywhere else.
