People Are Funny

Art Linkletter became famous and made a tub of money proving what folks already knew ... people are unpredictable, especially kids ... funny too! You just never knew what they would say or do! A lady came in one day looking for a specific chest which we sold for $190. "Fox Furniture gives 10% off for cash! What's your discount?" she asked. To which I replied "All of our prices are the cash prices so there is no discount, but if you want to have anything financed, we will be happy to have that arranged for you. How much does Fox charge for the chest?" "Well, their price is $259.95 but they give 10% off for cash!" ... "Yes, buying it from us will still save you over $40!" "No thank you, I'll buy it from Fox and get my discount!" ... she did, and we never saw her again. Another lady came into the store that very same day, desperately looking for a certain Victorian piece ... she found exactly what she was looking for, only the fabric was green and she just had to have it in rose; and that day too! It was an emergency, she said. She was frantic, beside herself and made somewhat of a scene ... she couldn't understand why we only had it in green when she needed it in rose!! Hearing all the commotion, I came to the rescue of my brother who was having trouble handling the situation ... what he didn't know was that indeed we did have it in rose, having arrived that morning and still in its box. I had Joe bring it in and she watched in silence as he took it out of its container ... the Rose Victorian piece she wanted so badly! "What time would you like to have it delivered?", asked me ... "Oh, I was just looking ... hope I didn't put you boys to any trouble" said she ... and with that she left, another who never returned. Regency Galleries was certainly more than a little different from others and it didn't take long for us to realize the need to get our message out ... to let folks know who we were and what we were about ... we did, they didn't! Word of mouth is the best way God ever invented for doing that and that's where we placed our faith, but it takes time ... and it's a lot like watching the pot when you trying to boil water. Pot watching got old real fast, so we advertised ... in the town's fishwrap, and on its top two radio stations too. I wrote a weekly piece for the paper, about 25 over six months ... hopefully humorous stories with a point ... it was fun to do but there was no apparent reaction, none save some appreciative laughter from the paper's business editor on occasion and Dennis Hodge, owner of Dennis Hodge Office Supply. The pieces haven't survived but most were intended to be informative, somewhat in in an attempt to differentiate our store from others ... like one explaining some of the differences between furniture quality levels called "Always Select The Best Wheat, Lest You Get The Shaft!" ... another about the store that ran its "Going Out Of Business" Sale for so long and so well that it became the oldest and most successful store in town! And yet another "Beware of the Odiferous Fire Sale" ... about stores looking for quick solutions to their problems. One small chain, of which I wrote, found it so effective that they held several over the years! I remember a few others too, especially one titled "The Vanishing Buffalo Herd!" ... about the rapidly becoming extinct bargains and the unwitting bargain hunter. It focused on how, what with so many folks becoming bargain hunters and only buying "bargains" ... stores were radically raising their regular prices in self defense and setting their special "Sale" prices at levels equal or above the old regular ones. I followed that with one called "Save the Buffalo!" ... introducing our "Item of the Day" where one specific in stock item each day was selected and specially priced for one day only ... the item for Monday was always advertised in Sunday's Paper but the other days were usually unadvertised. Again, as per usual, there was no apparent reaction to these pieces, though people acknowledged having seen them, when asked. Dennis offered a possible explanation ... had asked around and knew folks were reading them. They found them refreshing, a different kind of advertising! He said the problem was that they were too well done ... he said folks thought they were all syndicated, probably written by some firm in New York! Forewarned is forearmed and while I only had two, I decided to take matters into my own hands and put a stop to that nonsense. With forewarnings to no one, my next piece was very personalized, referencing over a dozen of the local townsfolk with tidbits about each, including my jeweler and my preacher ... but focusing on my friend Dennis Hodge! It was a hoot ... Dennis was a good business man but more than that, he was truly a character ... everybody knew Dennis. He claimed we were cousins, and maybe we were ... Mama's Mama was a Dennis. The Monday after the story appeared in the paper, Dennis called ... "Well, you'll get reaction to this one ... bet I've had a dozen calls, all wanting to know why them folks in NY were writing about me and if I had to pay to get them to do it!" I apologized to him for doing it without his permission ... "That's alright cuz ... it was good advertising ... you could've called me an SOB, so long as you spelled my name right!" Indeed it was good advertising ... for Dennis Hodge's Office Supply! It's still going strong, methinks, but we never received any reaction in our store and I stopped writing the stories soon after that. The "Item of the Day" was a different story and some folks looked for it in the Sunday paper, waiting for their favorite pieces to be selected. Once and only once, was I late getting the "Item of the Day" advertising copy into the paper ... having to call it in at the last moment. It was a large Mahogany Secretary by Craftique with a SMRP (Suggested Manufacturer's Retail Price) of $1,100 that we priced at $888 ... the "Item Of The Day" price was a dandy ... $488. The ad in the paper ran "Crafty Mahogany Chip 'n Dale Secretary, now at Regency Galleries for one day only for $88" ... compounding matters was the fact that the two radio stations with whom we advertised, ran with newspaper's copy, as was the agreed upon custom! At first, I was embarrassed and upset, more over having folks think I was stupid, confusing "Chip 'n Dale" for Chippendale, than the price, but it was funny and folks didn't realize that it was all in error. That changed my perspective ... what if somebody wanted to buy it, as surely they would?!! I decided to pass that $400 faux pas to our helpful fishwrap, or try ... but it never came to that. Folks must have thought something was fishy or wrong, selling quality stuff for 10 cents on the dollar for few came in and asked about it ... and thankfully, nobody tried to buy it that day, not even at $88. The "Item Of The Day" served its purpose well but we experienced two problems ... first, folks were reluctant to accept that we would offer deep discounts on quality items in pristine condition, even for a day ... that was reserved for "damaged and unpopular or discounted items"! Second, some folks couldn't or just wouldn't accept the fact that it was truly for one day only ... "I know you're making a profit and if you would have sold it to me for $488 one day last week, then surely you'll do it now!" ... people are funny! Like I said, word of mouth is slow ... except when it's something you don't want folks telling other folks, then it spreads like wildfire! As a special favor, I once sold two chairs to my doctor's wife at my direct cost, saving her over $400 ... it was a special order and we spent several sessions selecting just the right fabric. She loved the chairs and evidently told all her friends of the deal she received, after faithfully promising that mum was the word! Several of her friends visited the store within a month, all wanting the same deal ... and they knew all the details, to the penny. They were more than disappointed when it wasn't forthcoming ... they were incensed! They loved the chairs and our regular prices were lower than they could elsewhere find, of that I'm sure, but if they bought them, that's where they got them ... elsewhere! When we closed our doors, all of the merchandise was sold at auction ... as I write, many forgotten but amazing memories from that singular event are suddenly coming forth, begging for recognition! They'll all probably get their turn, but the one of which you're going to now read is about a bedroom suite that we just couldn't sell, hard as we tried. It was a modern pecan suite ... well made, well priced and should have quickly sold ... but for some reason, it never did! The suggested retail price was in excess of $2,000 ... our formula price was $1,750 ... I remember one lady agreeing to buy it when we had it as the "Item Of The Day" for $1,400 ... and then calling up and canceling because "it wasn't in the stars!" In our market, modern furniture hadn't wide appeal and when it didn't sell, we ultimately offered it at something below what we paid the manufacturer ... the only time we ever did, except with our advertised "Item Of The Day" pieces. Well, save the time my brother sold a painting to Mama for half of what we'd paid! When it still didn't sell, we took it off the floor, boxed it back up and put it in the warehouse. It was auctioned, disassembled ... still wrapped in packing plastic and brown paper. We anticipated no interest and perhaps a final bid of $200, maybe $300. It sold for $2,100 ... people are funny ... all the bidders were customers to whom we had tried to sell the suite! Of course there were many other such stories ... that Art Linkletter was a smart man! People are as unique as they are funny and seems like just about every encounter has its magic moments, if we'll but stop, look and listen. Those days were full of magic moments ... if folks like these, I might just search me memory archives and see what I can find. Funny thing is, none of that should have ever happened, but it did ... like I've said in other stories, mostly because of Robbie's allergies to snow and an afternoon with nothing better to do than go see an auction in action. Funny too, what started with one auction, closed with another. We truly want your participation ... your comments, joining in the discussions and sharing your magic moment memories but ain't nobody asking nobody to write no stories, certainly not me. Like I said, that's already been done for you ... I just want folks to share what they already got. Mama taught us to share and frequently reminded me that it was better to give than receive, more blessed, she said. That was usually when I complained about not getting as good as I'd given ... until I turned the tables and told her "yes ma'am, but I'm just thinking of them. It's only fair that they be more blessed than me!" We may be only talking about a few smiles here, but millions of unshared Magic Moments are lost forever, each and every day ... that's untold millions of smiles! Hard to put a price tag on the loss in today's marketplace but with all what's going on, smiles must be going at a premium!