I want to thank all my loyal customers, friends, and family who have supported me and the store during my journey over the last seven and one half years! Some of you have only discovered the store or me recently...many others have been with me over the long haul. I sincerely thank you for standing by me through thick and thin.
I am a retail merchant. I have to say that out loud to believe it. This is not something I really ever dreamed of being. This is something I have become. And it has not been easy.
This is not my first foray into retail....exactly. Once I worked for a major retail corporation....but I was a cog in the wheel of the corporate finance department. I had a bird's eye view of the merchandising decisions, the successes and failures, the plans and executions. I shared in the excitement of the marketing fervor and the reality of the numbers. I got a free turkey at Thanksgiving and free cookie cutters and candles at Christmas. I got an expense account to purchase and wear the company "uniform" of designer clothing. The really great thing about working as a cog in the wheel....was I didn't have to work weekends and holidays as do most retail employees.
Also I once was married to a retail chain store owner. That was something new for both of us and we both changed our careers for his new opportunity. That is when I realized that retail means working nights, weekends, and holidays. It meant staying up late to be sure the payroll got processed and the checks got printed and the taxes got paid. It meant following up on thefts and embezzlements and robberies. It meant real estate ownership and leases and more taxes and dealing with partners, suppliers, landlords, and lawyers. Sounds like headaches.
But the joy in all of this was the people who patronized the establishments and the employees who poured their hearts and souls into pleasing the customers. It is no different for me today in my micro-business, as I like to call it. You have heard of "small business," well, mine is a micro-business.
I digress.
I am so grateful to all of you, and you know who you are, who have gone out of your way to shop in the store when you need something for lunch, dinner, or just a snack. I am grateful to those of you who have stopped in even when you didn't really need to buy anything, but just wanted to say hello and catch up on how things are going. Many of you are local area residents. You may have jobs in other towns or cities and plenty of shopping alternatives on your way to or from work or school. I really appreciate your support.
Please know that I seriously want to offer the community a store where they can find what they need at the right price and when they need it. I spend countless hours and plenty of money trying to get the best quality products at the best price on the store shelves and in the coolers and freezers.
The sad news is that we live in a small town, and the population is insufficient to support a grocery store if the only needs served are for those occasional purchases of that one consumable or perishable that people run out of once a week or once a month. You know what I'm talking about....that lemon to squeeze on tonight's fish dinner that you bought at the big box store.....or the coffee creamer you used up over the weekend....or the loaf of bread or gallon of milk.....or the can of cat food or that roll of toilet paper....or that fix for your sudden sweet tooth.
Keep in mind, that on a gallon of milk that costs $4, the supplier gets $3.85 for the milk, and the store gets fourteen cents for keeping it cold and standing around waiting for a customer. Usually I give away more milk than I sell. Same with bread. For that $2.59 loaf of bread, the store makes about 40 cents, and I give away more than I sell. It would take a very large population of occasional bread and milk shoppers to make this worthwhile for a small store to be selling bread and milk. But I have it here for you in case you need it. Yes, I lose money on milk, bread, fresh vegetables, baking supplies, crackers, cookies....pretty much, anything perishable. At some point, I may have to stop carrying these products. That is not something I want to see happen. Also worth mentioning is that the county health department charges several hundred dollars a year for the store to be "licensed" to sell refrigerated food and another couple hundred a year for the store to have a food service license. This is the same fee that a 24,999 square foot grocery store pays annually.
The good news is that the store is located on a busy commuter highway between Granville, Newark, Johnstown, Mount Vernon, and points north such as Loudenville, Bellville, and Mansfield.. Most of my customers are just passing through on their way to or from work or school, or they are working in this vicinity doing farming, landscaping, construction, distribution, or other skilled trades. Many customers are just out exploring and are intrigued by the little store in our picturesque, remote, agricultural community. I spend countless hours and plenty of money trying to please those customers as well. We carry many unique products such as specialty foods to satisfy the curiosity seekers as well as the many convenience products to satisfy all the commuters seeking a meal, snack, or beverage.
More good news. Some of my local customers actually shop for a day or a week's worth of groceries at the store. You know who you are, and I appreciate you very much. I would love to have more locals shopping here. You know you can buy local and regional specialty foods, meat, poultry, seafood, dairy products, bread, vegetables, fruit, pasta, bread, sauces, baking supplies, gourmet foods, hardware, household cleaning products, personal care products, pet food, ice, batteries, tobacco, pop, juice, tea, coffee, alcoholic beverages, you-name-it. So far, my prices are not as high as most "convenience stores" for these types of products. Granted, they are not as low as Walmart or the Dollar Store, but please consider the convenience, personal service, small store-convenient access and short distance--and the support of your local community tax base. You save not only time but also cost of gasoline and contribute to the good of the community to have a local store available.
Recently, thanks to the votes of the residents in this township, despite the "dry" status of the township concerning the legality of the sale of alcoholic beverages since 1921, Homer Village Market has been authorized to sell beer and wine, including beer on Sundays as of February 2014. This has huge implications for the possible survival of the tiny store in this sparsely populated area of the county. It is still too early to tell, but the prospects of success look promising at this stage. We are only a couple of months into this new endeavor, and I am still trying to learn the needs and desires of the customers who might purchase alcoholic beverages. Even so, I am encouraged by the number of new customers coming into the store to purchase these new products! It will take a great deal of support from these new customers to make this a "going concern" so to speak.
Once again, with alcohol and tobacco sales, the government fees are high, and the profit for the store owner is low, and the costs of carrying these products is high. Let's hope this will give the store a sufficient revenue and profit flow to stem the losses and ensure a bright future! Here's a reality check: For every $100 of cigarettes sold, the store makes about $7 to help pay for the annual $125 cigarette license fee. For every $100 of beer sold, and $100 of wine sold, the store makes about $20 and $33, respectively, to pay toward keeping the beer cold and wine stocked and to pay for the annual renewal of the $628 license fee. (This is the same fee that Walmart and the big gas station convenience stores pay for their much larger volume of annual alcoholic beverage sales.). Keep in mind the government can raise these fees at any time with the stroke of a pen, as Ohio did raise the cigarette license fee from $25 to $125 just a few years ago.
Again, thanks to all of you who have been shopping in the store over the years and to date. I am deeply grateful for your support. Please continue to let me know what I can stock in the store to make your life easier, more fun, or more nutritious. Personal service is something you will NOT find in the big stores most of the time. That willingness to specially source for you the products that you want to buy is what I mean by "personal service".
I can tell you from my personal experience shopping in our local smaller chain and independent stores, my requests always went unheeded. Maybe I was asking too much.....or maybe, as I am learning now, from the perspective of a store owner, that sometimes it is just not possible to meet a customer's need and still make a profit. After all, if a store cannot make a profit, it cannot exist. There has to be some rational decision making about that. It is difficult to tell a customer that you cannot meet their need. Sometimes it is the only sensible decision in the long run, however. It is particularly difficult knowing that many customers do not think, know, or care about supply and demand or the economics of pricing or scarcity or volume purchasing. That's OK. I do know their heart is in the right place and so is mine. I make every effort to meet the needs of my customers. Sometimes I meet those needs even though I lose money....In the short run. I want to keep my customers and I want to earn more customers by treating them right!
