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Edited on Sun Jan-18-04 04:37 PM by HEyHEY
Earlier someone posted asking if "you boycott Walmart" I do. And I boycott any other Big Box stores as well. Reason being, I was raised with money earned from a small business. When my Dad was 30 he quit his well-paying government job and started an office supply company.
He went around Vancouver as a cold call salesman on his own, and in the beginning it didn't work so well. So he got in to selling food and other supplies to businesses in Eastern British Columbia. He used to pack up his delivery truck and head off for a couple weeks at a time. Because of this, when I was a young child I hardly ever saw my Dad. But he knew that, and so whenever he wasn't working he always made sure to spend time with my sisters and I. Sometimes he'd even take me with him on his long delivery trips through the province. These trips are some of the best memories I have. And I'm sure they took the stress off my mother who was having to work to make ends meet as well as care of us kids while my Dad was away.
After a while my Dad had earned the reputation in Vancouver as being honest, and having the best prices in town. So he stopped his long delivery trips, but still worked 16 hours a day. So I still hardly saw him. But again, he always spent his spare time with me even though I'm sure he'd rather be watching TV or just relaxing. He paid his employees a fair wage, and even gave them a paid day off on their birthday.
We went through more hard times in the late 80s/early 90s. Big box superstores were starting to come in to Vancouver. Office supply big box stores like Office depot and Staples came in, flooded the market with advertising, and their slimy sales people lied to some of my father's customers about how much better they were.
My Dad almost lost his business. Something I am sure he could not have taken, when he was a kid his father started 7 failed businesses and my Dad grew up in poverty. By age 16 he had moved 23 times in his life. At 16 he had to leave home for good. I know if he had gone through the same failure his Father had - he may have never recovered emotionally.
Eventually more hard work by my Father and his reputation paid off. He managed to save his company. And when the Big Box stores couldn't shut him down, they came to him in an attempt to buy his life's work from him for a paltry sum. My Dad told them where to stick it. He then diversified and started printing business cards and flyers to help fight the superstores.
Now, the business has stabilized because the big box fad has worn off on his customers, many have said they would never switch because we offer the best service and prices.
My sister has halfway taken over the company. She is not the workaholic my Dad is, but has so much knowledge of the product no one would ever leave us.
I wrote this because I wanted to make the point that we would have been out on the street had it not been for certain customers sticking by us throughout all these years. Big box has the money to advertise and they say whatever they want. In the field of Office Supplies they are almost always more expensive. But our customers compared price s and found out the truth. Just remember people you can make a difference. By not shopping in Big Box stores you support the people whose hard work is the kind that deserves to be supported. Anytime you are thinking of going to a big box.... compare the prices at a independent business first. Then weigh in all the other factors.
I refuse to support any major US-owned big box store and that's why. I know that by doing so, there is a hard-working honest person like my Father getting screwed more and more with every dollar big box stores drop in to their filthy registers.
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