Shelf Awareness
"I came upon the term 'hand-selling' on Elinor Lipman's Facebook page, where she was extolling the virtues of booksellers who recommend books to customers…. It's interesting that a special term has been coined for what used to be a pretty basic interaction between clerk and customer--an exchange most of us took for granted. Once again, our experience of the modern world gallops far beyond our lexicon….
"Recently, a nearby big box hardware store folded because it never managed to attract the necessary volume of customers to make the targeted profits corporate headquarters had in mind. Customer loyalty to our downtown hardware store where you can get everything from pot holders to Dremel tools--as well as priceless advice about how to solve household problems--was simply too strong.
"I don't know if there's a word for this sort of conscious trading, but if there isn't, there should be. Every small store downtown that's supported by the conscious choices of its customers is a victory for the good life. Perhaps if we're careful to name these experiences, we'll be less likely to lose them."
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| Stephanie Greene | |
"I don't know if there's a word for this sort of conscious trading, but if there isn't, there should be. Every small store downtown that's supported by the conscious choices of its customers is a victory for the good life. Perhaps if we're careful to name these experiences, we'll be less likely to lose them."
--Stephanie Greene, in a commentary on Vermont Public
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