>> THEY ARE EVERYWHERE IN AMERICA TODAY.
BIG, BOXEE, EVERYWHERE THERE A CERTAIN CONCENTRATION OF PEOPLE.
THEY ARE NOT TO BE FOUND ON MAIN STREET WERE SMALLER INDEPENDENT STORES STRUGGLE ON IN THE PUNISHING SHADOWS OF THE BIG BOXES.
DOES THE FUTURE HOLD ROOM FOR BOTH?
FAIR QUESTION, BUT THERE IS ALSO A RIGGED BOX STORE SIZED IRONY, CALL IT THE CHEERS FACTOR.
WHILE MOST OF US WILL NOW AND AGAIN POP INTO BIG STORES FOR THEIR PERCEIVED CONVENIENCE OR LOWER PRICES, WHEN WE GET INSIDE, WE ARE OFTEN AWARE OF WHAT WE ARE MISSING.
A PHYSICAL SCALE THAT IS NOT AS OVERWHELMING.
A PLACE THAT FEELS MORE LOCAL, MORE FAMILIAR, AND WHERE, JUST MAYBE, THEY MIGHT ACTUALLY KNOW YOUR NAME.
>> HI KAREN.
>> THEY WILL TRY TO CHAT AND BE PERSONABLE.
>> YOU HAVE GOOD RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEM.
>> DEFINITELY.
>> IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION, BOB OR ROBBIE WILL HAVE AN ANSWER.
I’M NOT SHY ABOUT ASKING ABOUT THINGS.
>> BOB’S GRANDFATHER BEGAN TOWN LINE HARD CARE -- HARDWARE.
NOT SURE IF THIS IS BOB’S FIRST DAY ON THE JOB, BUT IT IS FULLY FOR GENERATIONS NOW.
BOB’S SON HELPING TO RUN THINGS NOW.
IT IS LARGER THAN IT LOOKS AND FROM PAINT TO PLUNGERS, YOU WILL FIND EVERYTHING YOU EXPECT, AND SOME THINGS YOU WOULDN’T.
WHO KNEW THAT $7.99 WAS THE GOING PRICE FOR A CLASSIC WASHBOARD?
WHEN WAS THE LAST THING YOU SOLD ONE?
>> WE PROBABLY SAW ONE EVERY COUPLE YEARS.
>> SERIOUSLY?
>> SOME PEOPLE JUST LIKE IT FOR THE NOVELTY, BUT IF YOU NEED IT, WE HAVE IT.
THEY DO, BUT LIKE WASH BOARDS, STORES LIKE THIS -- >> WE ARE DISAPPEARING SLOWLY BUT SURELY.
INDEPENDENT HARDWARE STORES ARE ONE OF THE TWO OR THREE RACHEL BUSINESSES HARDEST HIT BY THE WAKE BOXES.
-- RETAIL BUSINESSES HARDEST HIT BY THE BIG BOXES.
>> OFTEN, AMAZON GOES WITH THIRD-PARTY PLATFORMS.
THIRD-PARTY RETAILERS PROVIDE STUFF ON AMAZON.
THEY ARE NOT ANY CHEAPER AND A LOT OF THEM WILL MATCH THE PRICE.
IT IS A HUGE MISCONCEPTION.
>> IS THAT FRUSTRATING?
>> THE SMALL BOYS ARE SLOWLY DISAPPEARING.
>> NOT EVERY SUCCESSFUL INDEPENDENT RETAILER IS NECESSARILY SMALL.
IF YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL ENOUGH AND AROUND LONG ENOUGH, YOU COULD END UP LOOKING JUST LIKE A BIG BOX STORE.
>> IT IS A UNIQUE LEND OF OLD AND NEW.
NOT SMALL MOM AND POP AND NOT OVERWHELMING BIG BOX STORE.
>> BRIAN IS THE THIRD GENERATION OF THE WORCESTER HARDWARE BUSINESS HIS GRANDFATHER OPENED IN A SMALLER STORE IN 1914.
IN 2016, THEY UNVEILED THEIR LARGEST EXPANSION, SOMETHING THAT THE FOUNDER’S SON DOESN’T MIND MARVELING AT.
>> IT IS REALLY AN ACCOMPLISHMENT.
GOOD SERVICE, GOOD PRICES AND A GOOD STORE.
>> THEIR LOCAL BUSINESSMEN AND WOMEN AND WE SEE THEM IN THE COMMUNITY.
WE KNOW THEY ARE NOT GOING TO LET US DOWN, BECAUSE WE ARE NOT ANONYMOUS TO THEM.
>> IT IS A FAMILIAR FACE.
THEY RECOGNIZE YOU, THEY KNOW YOU.
PHARMACIST PAUL, HIS SISTER AND HER HUSBAND BEGAN WORKING HERE DECADES AGO, CONTINUING THE FAMILY’S LONGTIME LOCAL INDEPENDENCE.
INSIDE, THE COSMETICS DEPARTMENT IS LONG GONE, SO IS THE SODA FOUNTAIN.
THOSE ALL-IMPORTANT FAMILIAR FACES ARE STILL HERE.
>> OUR FOUR KEY EMPLOYEES HAVE BEEN HERE SINCE THE 70’S.
>> AND A LOT OF PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, MEANING GOOD SERVICE FROM A NEIGHBOR TO A NEIGHBOR.
>> A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE A SOFT SPOT IN THEIR HEART TO AN INDEPENDENT.
>> WEATHERED HIS PRESCRIPTIONS OR PAINT.
>> I