pretty distressing....

Mikey the Flower Guy

Mikey the Flower Guy

It's a GREAT DAY to live, and love!
Nov 10, 2002
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Dundas, Ontario, Canada
www.hamiltonflorists.com
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Ontario
so, our daughter calls and says..."mom,dad, are you by any chance going to WalMart??.....NO,"...we answer.
Well, IF you were, Jaxon's (grandson) favourite milk is on sale (it's Oat Milk, in cardboard cartons)
This is NOT the story...it's the reason we went there (I dislike WalMart)
We pull in, there's a few cars around, we walk into the giant superstore grocerystore, the greeter is standing there, looking a little forlorn!
We see, maybe 10 customers in the WHOLE place...we think "GREAT, we timed it just right...in and out pronto!!"
We get what we need, head back to the checkouts, and see ONE LIGHT ON...so we go there!!
The cashier is standing, twiddling her thumbs as we enter the lane, she looks up, and smiles, and I ask "hey, you need a customer??"....
She loudly says..."YES PLEASE"......we checkout, and I ask," boy, did we ever time this right, to get through so fast?"....she says " I've been here since 6 (it's now 8:25pm) and your my 4th customer!!:(
Don't be sad if your shop ain't busy...imagine the overhead of THAT one......:spin
 
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I stepped out of my comfort zone last night and went to a" financial planning" town hall type meeting in a neighboring town. He really believes we can expect another 5 to 7 years of this. My brain pretty much turned to static when he talked about the high preasure on commodities is bad and until the housing market turns around, we won't see any significant growth.

On the positve side the SBA has 2 new loan programs that started this month - the app. is suppose to be simple and quick and one of them is geared towards balloon payments and property value issues. Also I sat with a great photographer and caterer and was able to do some networking. ( I suck at this but am trying - thanks Rick)

o and Mikey, I HATE WALMART
 
Mikey the Flower Guy said:
[walmart]imagine the overhead of THAT one......:spin
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Yep Mikey... they too are seeing the impact of the recession, coupled with consumer awareness that shopping big boxes is not in the communities best interest.

Walmart announced a couple days ago, they will be building "Walmart Express" stores now, the first one is underway in Arkansas.... they are to be 1/10th the size of regular super centers... signs of the times...
 
KABERS said:
I stepped out of my comfort zone last night and went to a" financial planning" town hall type meeting in a neighboring town. He really believes we can expect another 5 to 7 years of this. My brain pretty much turned to static when he talked about the high preasure on commodities is bad and until the housing market turns around, we won't see any significant growth...........MIikey, I HATE WALMART
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Me tooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

He's so right. We won't see anything of significant until 2014 or better. We are in a "changing economy" that will cause all of us (including Walmart) to look at how we do things and then consolidate and modify. Our customers are getting frustrated with flowers and are turning to other methods of gift giving. So we as professional florist have to do things different than others in the industry that show's we are a step ahead................

On another note, Jenifer, after meeting you, you have the personality, strength, demeanor, professionalism and business insight to take your business anywhere you want it to go. (I saw the light bulb getting brighter last week) a classic example is your M&M thing from the other day, looking at everything around you and then applying it to your business somehow, thus making you different from your competitors. Marekting is all about showing that what you do is the best (not always price) and you are truly the leader in your industry and in your area. That is better than some industry "print outlets" writing articles and telling us how to do things 3 years after everyone in the market as been doing them. You go girl....................
 
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Our city is getting a Walmart!! Yes, it's true. Lowes already put the local Hardware store out of business. Now let's see how many more will be gone with Walmart.

There is a little band of Citizens trying to fight the giant... Can't see any hope in this as money talks the best. The city can't balance the budget.. so here is their answer. So Sad!

But.. they are bringing 300 new jobs.. but how many will be lost elsewhere??

Did I mention.. I don't care for Walmart.. Never shop there???
 
We have 6 Big Walmart Supercenters within a 15 mile radius of my house (But none right near my house thankfully because we live in the protected downtown historic district). They are always slammed. The south loves Walmart. I like the prices but it's too difficult to get in and out of there quickly and I don't have a lot of time. I read the article the other day about their plans to open a lot of smaller stores and this was one of the reasons is because they are losing some sales to Walgreens and Dollar Stores because smaller shops are more convenient. Geez. They are trying to take over.
 
We had a strange thing happen here. Walmart used to be in one of the oldest malls in town. (Town and Country). It was always busy and hard to find a parking spot anywhere it that mall. Then they decided it was time to expand so the whole mall was torn down and rebuilt and called Uptown. All the huge big box mega stores went in there- most of them are currently the biggest stores in Canada for Walmart, Future Shop, Best Buy, etc etc. Anyway since it was redone I avoid the place because I don't like shopping in airplane hangers which is what they all look like now. I had to take my computer in to my computer store which is just next to the new mall so I dropped in there to take a look and to my surprise the whole mall was virtually empty. The parking lot for Walmart was about a quarter full and in the parking lot for Future Shop there were two other cars besides mine and that lot will accommodate hundreds of cars. This was at 2:30 pm on Monday. I found out later the new mall has been dubbed a white elephant and Victorians are avoiding it like the plague. I'll bet a lot of the stores there are regretting moving in now.The new mall has been open about 5 months so it's not like it just opened yesterday.

Dianne
 
We have 3 super centers in this area, I prefer to shop at the smaller, more specialized groceries. They have cut back on how much cut flowers and plants they carry, the smaller stores haven't though. The Costco here is always packed, and they sell lots. Sorry to hear they are moving into your area, it has it's good and bad points.
 
LOTAKIDS said:
I forgot to mention.. Costco is 9 miles away... I never shop there either. I think if I had money to burn it still would not be my first choice for shopping... Too Big and you have to buy to much!!
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you know, I go by gut feeling,and when MY gut says I'm "uncomfortable" in these huge warehouse style stores, you can bet I'm not alone!!
 
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