Where Do You Go?
Such a simple question. Following on from my little moan about the Times piece on smaller independent places being “fleapits” I mulled over some of the questions raised. Do people prefer ease and cheapness over quality? Would they go out of their way to shop in places they liked? Should we be thankful for Starbucks for kicking off the coffee store craze?
But what it all boiled down to was where do you go and why?
Now I’ve had the pleasure over the last few months of being an alpha tester for the new video platform Seesmic and since the community there is wide and varied (both geographically and opinion wise) I decided to ask them. The great thing about Seesmic is that the replies to questions like these soon lead to real conversations. We had an interesting run at this question and due to my unusual sleeping schedule I spoke to more Americans than Brits, but as a lot of what’s happening in our high streets seems to mimic America I still think the replies are relevant.
And often amusing.
I’ve embedded the choicest replies after the jump. Thanks to everyone who took part. We cover small independent video stores vs Blockbusters, disgust over homogeneity, supporting local stores, the value of Starbucks versus the question of why Starbucks can’t make decent coffee, places to work out of, free wi-fi, the cost issue, the problem of distance, driving 65 miles to an “unbelievable” bakery, small vs large and how “doing anything right, is a pain in the ass”.
I left myself out of this because you get enough of me on the blog already, but here’s everyone else:
Seth: “Every thing’s getting replaced now by Starbucks…”
Clarence: “I prefer the independents…”
Christian: “I really think we need to keep these places going…”
Clarence: “I have to give Starbucks credit for one thing…”
Seth: “I have to wash it down with actual coffee…”
Clarence: “All the Starbucks I know of have free wi-fi…”
Randell: “The difference of maybe $50 to $75…”
Otir: “I live in a very small town…”
Clarence: “I’ve actually started driving 65 miles…”
Otir: “This is a local market”
Chris: “Doing anything right, is a pain in the ass”
February 15th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Great responses and neat idea. I agree with Chris that we have a moral obligation to support small businesses, even if sometimes it is less polished or more of a pain in the ass.
February 16th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I really must offer a different view on this subject of “Where Do You Go?” People of all genders, ages etc… go where they ‘have an experience’ or, they would just stay in, watch telly, go to bed early etc..etc.. My interpretation of having an experience is fairly simple, good company, food and ale in a clean environment at fair prices will do for me. I do however accept that others have more sophisticated tastes and are prepared to pay huge sums of money for it. This then begs the question, what are they getting extra that justifies ferocious prices ? weelll….scantily dressed females or males serving unpronounceably named cocktails in a dimly lit chrome laden defunct warehouse is hardly value for money at £10 a throw ! On the other hand, that must be better than paying £2;50 for a pint of recycled goats pee which is hardly providing an edifying experience ! Perception is therefore the key to value for money and that’s very much an individual choice. Lets summarise, somewhere in between the two extremes will suit most people on some occasions but not all the people on all occasions. Advice, independents; start by keeping toilets and public areas clean and train your staff for the job you want them to do. Chain organisations, try and put some flexibility into your product delivery. It’s quite boring getting the same monosyllabic responses from cloned well meaning incompetent individuals who appear to be treated as nothing more than cheap labour.