Merchants are not Mind Readers; Consumers are not Telepaths

Wouldn’t it be easier if local retailers just “knew” what I wanted and stocked it? But they don’t. And they won’t unless I tell them. But I’m a little shy and I am way busy, so I begin to rationalize like this: Whose responsibility is it to discover what ‘sells’ in Haines? Is it the merchant’s responsibility to survey the consumers; or is it the consumer’s responsibility to communicate needs and wants to the retailers?

Either way, engaging in that potentially mutually beneficial dialogue costs time and maybe even money. This is true from both perspectives. As a consumer, can I take the time to petition each retailer to see if they will bring a pet product to town for me – especially when I know I can pick it up at Freddy’s on my next trip through Juneau? As a merchant, do I want to have those “what if” conversations (as in, “What if I stocked brand X? Would you buy it?”) with regular and potential customers? Or could it be that initiating this two-way communication is just not “optional” if we are all committed to building a sustainable local economy?

Rationalize though I may, I can’t escape the conclusion that just like this is “our” town, it is “our” responsibility to find a mechanism that makes it easy in Haines for retailers and consumers to let each other know what they have and what they want to have. The mechanism should be efficient. It should spend as little of the merchant’s and consumer’s time and money as possible.

So here’s an idea: How about a public electronic bulletin board where consumers can post names of products they are interested in buying? Merchants can check every so often and “feedback.” Maybe there is a good reason why that particular product isn’t stocked in Haines; maybe the merchant just requires enough expressed interest to “tip” him or her into pursuing acquisition. I am sure that there are many private conversations taking place every day between any one merchant and any one consumer. We do, after all, talk to one another. The point is to bring the conversations out in the open so that merchants don’t lose business because a consumer doesn’t know that Store X can actually get that product. In fact, I have a neighbor who was nonplussed to learn that my new appliances came through a local retailer. Since those appliances did not appear in the retailer’s store, she assumed they were unavailable so ordered from an out of town supplier – obtaining no particularly wonderful price advantage and forgoing what I consider the advantage of letting someone else deal with freight companies and delivery options.

I think that a belief in “mind reading” is probably relationship Enemy #1. We have all heard our spouses, partners, boyfriends, girlfriends, children exclaim, “How could you NOT know how I felt about x?!” Not knowing is a function of not telling, not communicating. I believe that a successful “Buy Local” campaign will need to include a strong commitment on the part of both Haines merchants and Haines consumers to build a good relationship. And I have no doubt that that relationship will flourish if it is built on good two-way communication – happily devoid of mind-reading and telepathy.

So I’ll get us started. I just adopted a kitty. I would like to be able to buy Good Mews kitty litter. I can get it at Fred Meyers for $7.49/30 lb. bag – not including a $73 round trip ferry ticket. Can anyone help me buy it locally?