Scott Schuckert
In article <CF48ED6D.A8DDB%ghost_topper@hotmail.com>, George Kerby <ghost_topper@hotmail.com>wrote:

George Kerby
THAT is EXACTLY what people would do to me when I was a store manager for a local mom n pop store here. Even though, Nikon, Olympus and Canon would give us deals and quantity breaks in wholesale to us, folks would come in and waste hours of my and my staff's time and then leave and buy from B&H or some other mail order outfit back in the late 70's.

Scott Schuckert
Me too, with three stores that survived into the mid-80's. We had a used department, we had a public darkroom, we had rentals, we had a DIY mounting and framing area, we had a gallery, we had contests, we had free training, we had free friggin COFFEE - but at the end of the day, people basically sucked it up and bought from the big New York stores.

Then of course they'd bring their new toy in for help or in-warranty repairs; at that point, the pretense was off, so they'd whip out a copy of Shutterbug before they buy so much as a filter.

(Gee, bitter much, 30 years after I went out of business...?)

The worst part was, the not-customers usually weren't really being mean or selfish - for the most part, it never occurred to them I had rent and salaries to meet: "Geez, Fred, it was seventeen damn dollars! I'm always here for you, and you don't even give me a chance!?"

Then you'd get the blank look, and explain to them about profit and loss: "Doesn't Nikon pay you to demonstrate their stuff?"