In his thriller “Falling Down,” novelist R.A. Mathis wrote, “There may be no secrets in small towns, but there are no strangers either.”
Likewise, small town folk often make no secret of who they prefer to do business with.
Have you ever noticed this? We are loyal to our preferred local providers.
Over dinner last week, a friend told me about the two funeral homes at his hometown in Northeast Texas.
We’ll call them “Crabtree’s Funeral Parlor” and “Morton’s Mortuary” for the sake of anonymity.
“Before my mother died, she was very clear,” he said. “’Don’t bury me with Billy Crabtree!’ she’d say. ‘You take me to Morton’s. I don’t want Billy to get my business.’”
He said he didn’t know why his mother preferred Morton’s over Crabtrees’s. And she sure didn’t know what difference it would have made to his mother— in the end.
“Billy Crabtree was the nicest man in the world,” my friend said. “But the family had always used Morton’s and, by George, my mother wouldn’t have it any other way. We buried her with
Morton’s and you’ll never guess who the first one through the line to pay his respects was— Billy Crabtree. He wanted to tell us how much Mom meant to him and the community.”
The musings make us chuckle, but we see it every day.
In Cooke County, when it comes to BBQ, folks are either Dieter’s people or Smoke House people.
We have no shortage of Mexican food joints in the community, yet— when polled— everyone has their preferred place, forsaking all others.
You are either La Hacienda, or El Patron or Manuelitos— or maybe you drive all the way to Krum for Miguelitos. Maybe there is a place in Gainesville.
You are loyal. Sure, you might grab a bite at the other place if someone else invites you— especially if they are buying— but you’d rather be at your place.
When I was a kid, there were two grocery stores in Whitesboro (down from five just a generation before), and my mother was loyal to one. I don’t remember ever going in the other place.
“I shop with Charles Busbey,” she’d say. And she did— forsaking all others.
These loyalties are proof-positive that all business is relational.
Our pets go to Dr. (insert name), we buy tires from (insert name), we buy pizza from (insert name), we get our car fixed by (insert name)— we are loyal because of those relationships.
We know they have our best interest at heart. We trust them.
Warren Buffett said, “Trust is the most important part of any good relationship.”
Local business thrives because of these relationships and communities thrive as a result.
I encourage you to foster those relationships.
Whichever local business you are loyal to, continue to support them.
Shop local. Every dollar spent locally stays in the community to be spent seven more times.
That is the exponential power of fostering local relationships.
Austin Lewter is the owner and publisher of the Whitesboro News-Record. He is also an instructor of journalism and broadcast at Tarleton State University where he also serves as the director of the Texas Center for Community Journalism. He can be reached at [email protected].