Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Posting and honoring store hours

THERE HAS BEEN talk about downtown businesses and honoring posted store hours. There is nothing more frustrating than going to a place of business, assuming it will be open, only to find the doors locked. There is someone inside but no one to help you out.

At Second String Music, we try our best to be here before 10 a.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m. Saturdays. We stay open until 6 each night. If I'm doing lessons, we may keep the doors open later.

Why yes, we were open late last Saturday!
(Bad Wolf Media pic)
Many times on a Saturday I look at the clock and say, "Let's just shut it down and go home early." And Sheryl will say, "Nope. We are open until 6. You never know who is going to show up." It's every important to honor your store hours. We tend to get a lot of customers late on Saturday and also on Monday when other music stores aren't open. When a customer finds your doors locked, they drive to your competitor or buy online.

We love that people come to us.

Downtown Quincy is usually quiet after 5 p.m. and it would be great to have a bustling retail center down here as the sun goes down, but most store owners will say, "We have to go home sometime." We try to cater to a later lifestyle with jam sessions and store parties to help encourage our patrons to keep supporting our businesses. Enough said.

Also, small businesses are often mom and pop shops. Or, in our case, me and my wife, and not necessarily in that order. If we are sick or have appointments or want to get away for a few days, it's not always easy to find help or make arrangements. There's no such thing as paid vacation days when you own your own business. We are extremely lucky to have Steve Rees to help us out when we need to get away.

Every business and clientele is different. You can't make a business close and/or open at certain times. But you should expect businesses to honor posted business hours.

We want you to have a positive experience shopping downtown. We are open until 6 p.m. at night Monday through Saturday, and we'd love to have you visit.

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