ReallyRedding

This one is making the rounds, but in case you haven’t yet seen it. It is interesting and thought provoking. Watch the explosive growth of WalMart over the years since inception. I can’t embed the video here, but you can witness the spectacle at the link below. Well worth viewing:
http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/
What does it remind you of?

My parents tell me the newly expanded China Mart in Redding on Dana Drive dwarfs their huge Anderson store. I haven’t been in it. But I was looking for a new camera recently. I shopped online, did my research and found one I liked. I wandered into Costco and saw a big stack of the exact model camera I had researched online. It was priced very attractively. I was tempted. But I didn’t buy it. I called Frank at Crown Camera and told him about the deal I’d seen at Costco.
“I hate to do this to you Frank, but money’s tight. Can you match the Costco deal?”
“Yeah we can do that,” said Frank, “plus, we’ll do it better. We’ll throw in a free camera class, and a year of free prints.”
Now that’s a real bargain! Not only is it a great deal for me, but the money I spent stays in my town. If I hadn’t checked, I might have missed it. The camera is awesome. Thanks Frank!

Fellow Chamber of Commerce member Crown Camera is just one store of many I would dearly miss if they were gone. Their business is continually pressured from the big chain stores, and squeezed by economy strangling online sales, but they survive. They do so by giving stellar service. You can’t find that at the alternatives. But it’s important to remember those local merchants who struggle to win your shopping dollars. There is a movement you may have heard about called the 3/50 Project. They say it better than I can. Check it out by clicking on the image below.