We have a local store that has been here since the 60’s. Auto parts and home hardware. I’m friends with the three brothers that own it, good guys. But I don’t do a lot of business with them anymore due to their business practices. When the local coal mine shut down, they lost half or more of their business. They cancelled everybody’s charge account, business and personal. I had a business account with them for years, in good standing. No matter, everything became due and payable right then. I seldom carried over a $100 balance a month, mainly I would just charge stuff between paydays and then pay it off before the months end. But that wasn’t the worse of it, they raised their prices. On everything.
Now, unless it’s something I need right now, I order online and wait on the postman. I get stuff for about 1/2 what they charge locally. I’ll still buy small stuff like belts and hoses and nuts and bolts there, but most everything else I order online. Most of the time the chain stores have to order it anyway, so I just order from their website and cut out the idiot store help.
I understand the need to make money to run a business, but you can’t penalize your customers because you lost a big customer. They depended on that mine business too much, and when it was gone, they suffered. They knew that the mine was like construction, working to an end, they just didn’t figure it would end when it did. It hurt a bunch of people in the area besides them, those that got used to the big money, then it wasn’t there anymore.
What’s really funny, me and one of the brothers were talking one day, and he said he’s got to where he orders stuff online a lot, too. He can’t afford his stores prices!