To emphasize the value of carrying distinctive merchandise, Art Freedman tells a version of this story in our book, Making Money Is Not Illegal, Immoral or Fattening:
“There was a retailer in Colorado named Mike losing sleep at night because there’s a new competitor coming—Lowe’s. I know that Mike is one great retailer. As we’re driving the short distance to visit the Lowe’s store, I’m thinking that Mike’s store is going to take a hit, but Lowe’s isn’t going to put him out of business. I’m thinking that Mike is too good a retailer for that to happen, I’m thinking that I want to be ready to build Mike’s confidence when we visit Lowe’s.
“As we walk in, I see that the first 96 feet of the store is nuts, bolts, and other fasteners. The entire floor layout of a Lowe’s store is done for a reason. They’ve thought it through, and the store they open today is better than the store they opened yesterday because they evaluate those openings closely.
“We walk right up into the fastener area. While we’re standing there, a gentleman from Lowe’s comes around the corner. I see from his name tag that he’s David. He greets us with a great smile and asks what’s going on. Then he notices that we have on Ace shirts. He asks, ‘Are you guys from the Ace store right down the block?’ I say we are and introduce Mike as the store owner.
“David, with that great smile, reaches out to shake hands with Mike and says, ‘I love your store.’ Then David looks over and says, ‘You wouldn’t believe all the stuff he’s got that we don’t carry.’”
If you’ve read the book, you know that Art has lots of tales from his on-site retail consulting.
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