On 2013-09-01 11:26:16 +0100, Jake said:

On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 23:35:12 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

Not so long ago I told Ray that I'd read of a wholesale nursery going
belly up. Today, he learned a bit more about it and said it was
because it had a £3 million order from a supermarket chain which
suddenly decided to halve that order. Then it said that if they potted
the remaining order on, they might buy them. They didn't.
Personally, I don't understand why anyone puts their entire future and
livelihood into the hands of one customer. But neither do I understand
the morals of a customer who will do that to a supplier. The more I
hear of this sort of thing, the less inclined I am to use supermarkets
and am minded to go back to the old days of shopping at small
individual shops for every need, wherever possible. It's less
convenient, it takes longer and it may well be a bit more expensive but
if supermarkets can do this to their suppliers, it's a short step from
that to "you can only buy what we offer you, there is nothing else" and
all our high street shops are gone and so are our choices.

Anyone running a business, indeed anyone, who is unaware of the power
of the big supermarkets has had their head in the sand for years. For
example, the arguments about farm-gate prices haven't exactly been low
profile. That nursery took a risk and lost out. Such is life. I would
seriously question the business acumen of anyone who allowed a
situation where their existence depended on a single order. Perhaps
they were too greedy to see the risk.

I don't begrudge the higher prices at the local farmers' market or at
my local butcher, the extra 1 or 2p a litre at the local garage (which
is actually 1p cheaper than the nearest Tesco at the moment!). And
cheese made by a small producer tastes way better than the
mass-produced crap in the supermarket. But, and it's a big but, I can
afford all this and have the time. So many people cannot and are at
the mercy of whoever is the cheapest or the place where they can do
all their shopping in one go. Hence the so-called power.

I well understand the power. I think it wrong to offer someone the
carrot and then beat them with the stick - big business tactics or not.

And IME, the demise of the "corner shop" is as much the result of the
attitude of the owner as anything else. I've seen it here and back in
Cardiff where I used to live. With the right attitude, these little
shops can thrive, even if they back on to a large supermarket's car
park! The common denominator seems to be ethnic!

Our local ironmonger has been running against the 'big business' tide
for years. It changed hands two or three years ago but the previous
owners were 'warned' by reps from various companies that they wouldn't
survive unless they started selling everythinig in small packets
hanging from stands, or smartly displayed in sets of 6 spanners when
someone wanted only one, etc. They haven't changed their ways, the
business is under new ownership and you can go in to buy two nails and
a tea pot and if they haven't got the saucepan you want in stock,
they'll go through their catalogues and find it and order it. From all
apparent evidence, it thrives, always has loads of people in there and
not so long ago, opened up the 'back room' as another display area.
It's not dissimilar to the 'four candles' type of place, though some of
the merchandise is a bit more exciting!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk