Sunday, May 19, 2013

Borrowed from Chelsea Menswear's Blog. It's Worth Reading!

It happens every day. Or, too many days; close enough - - - In this case, a man from Wyandotte,who says he has been here for 20 years, came in and bought some Tommy Bahama stuff from us. He had never been in the store. Regardless of what business you're in, revelations like this never go without remark. "What the heck? How could this be possible?" In this case, the man also told us that he was glad - - - he liked it that he now had a place he could try on and see in person, because he bought all his Tommy Bahama on-line. Of course we're SO grateful that this one man has now found us, and we him. Yet we are stunned by the lack of connection that led to this one man buying on-line, completely unaware that we are here. The responsibility lies not with our new customer and all the others that go elsewhere. CHELSEA needs to learn how to reach more people, more consistently. Or we won't be here. What we hope for, too, though, is that the reverse is true - - - "I've got to support these local guys or they won't be here". Stores like ours are not anachronistic relics. We provide a service that goes far beyond selling clothes. Chelsea (and Willow Tree) exist for the relationships we cherish and hope are cherished by others. We don't sell things to people they don't want, we never mislead. We are trustworthy, reliable, honest resources in our specialty, and we TALK to people. We LIKE people. We like to shake hands, share jokes and anecdotes, and simply BE the integral part of our community that we are. As long as WE still value that connection, we'll be here, doing our thing. For ourselves, sure, but for the people we really care about and that rely on us, too. We know so many people, marvel at the network of who knows who and who is related to whom. A community is an awesome thing. We hope that people feel this same sense of connection, not just with us, but with ALL of the businesses and people in the community we call home. Whether it's Wyandotte or Downriver, it is powerful stuff, friends. We're here for a reason, indeed. Check out our other business, a new business called Love Wyandotte. This new venture was formed specifically to strengthen our community, by calling attention to this issue and more. www.LoveWyandotte.com and/or www.facebook.com/lovewyandotteIBA.