It’s so easy to throw around statistics, especially if you make them up yourself.

Twenty-five years before husband FCE ever considered working for WalMart* (and I was a mere child) a trend was identified and discussed in cafés, diners, the media, and yes, even in the break rooms of the retail giant itself. Small businesses seemed to close up shop when WalMart* opened. Back in the early eighties, WalMart* was focused on small-town USA and seemed to shun the big city lights.

Thinking back to what some of the smaller “mom and pop” type businesses were like back in the late seventies and early eighties gives us pause to consider how they operated.

FCE and I walked into a small independent hardware store in Gulport, Mississippi. There was no one in the store other than the proprietor and his wife. They greeted us and asked if they could help. We told them what we had come in for and the gentleman got up from behind the counter and walked us over to the shelf and handed FCE the item. We paid for the item, enjoyed a brief conversation, and left. It all took about five minutes. The difference here was that this shopping experience happened in 2005 and the store was located about a mile from, not just a WalMart*, but also a Lowes. Two giant big boxes and yet this small business was thriving.

On our next visit, FCE (who never learned not to speak to strangers) asked the woman about their success. She quickly pointed out that having the big boxes nearby had made them take a closer look at how they did business. They had become better business people and still gave the time-honored customer service that had been a hallmark of her husband’s family business for generations. She and her husband were proud of their accomplishment of not only surviving, but thriving in the shadow of two retail giants. I sighed with relief when she didn’t offer FCE a piece of candy.

Flash forward to 2011 and Sylva, NC, home of Kel-Save Drugs, Eastgate Pharmacy, and a recently opened Marks Healthmart Pharmacy – all independents. Again, these guys are not only surviving, but thriving in a town of barely 30,000 that also plays host to a WalMart* Supercenter.

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