Customer Appreciation

Whatever has happened to customer appreciation? As someone who works in retail and owns a shop, I have to say that I appreciate every customer whether they spend less than $10 or more than $100. I make sure to thank each person and try to give top service to each one. Sometimes that's easier said than done, but I make the effort and so does my staff. But I was thinking back into the past this morning about things that used to exist that seem to have gone the way of the Dodo bird.

My mother collected Green Stamps. I remember her bringing out grocery bags full and we would sit down with bowls of water and cloths, wetting and pasting the stamps into full books. She would then go to the Green Stamps store and exchange the filled books for some household item. I think that she got a few table lamps, maybe some serving pieces (trays, gravy boats) and an alarm clock or two this way. But I was young and don't remember clearly what she got. I remember getting the stamps though. We got them at the grocer, the gas station, the drugstore, basically at most places that we shopped. It was one more way for Mom to save pennies.

We didn't have a lot of excess money when I was growing up. Mom collected

green stamps and also some of the others in this picture. But green

stamps were the real winner in her eyes.

Speaking of gas stations, at that time they were all full service. You would drive in and they would fill your tank, wash your windows and check your tires. You didn't have to ask them to, you didn't have to get out of your car, and you didn't have to drive your car to a different place in the lot to check your tire pressure. Service with a smile. The gas crisis of the 1970's coupled with economic downturns and increased pricing wars dictated the end of full service and the advent of self-service. Even Mom got to the point where she could pump her own gas, but she never liked the fact that she had to do it.

The neighborhood butcher and neighborhood pharmacy have given way to big box grocery stores and corporate pharmacies. Department stores have morphed into "store within a store" concepts. The "new" retail is a return to the old, smaller and more specialized store. But the location is now within the larger store. Once again we are re-inventing the wheel. Now if the big stores would re-learn the concept of true customer service, if they actually seemed to appreciate each customer walking through their doors, then maybe it would be fun to actually shop again instead of shopping at my computer screen and keyboard. Just saying.....