Where are our local businesses headed?

[Tom Pritchard]

I came home today and read this story on a local news website. The store that is closing is a series of locally owned and operated home improvement and building supply stores that have been in business for at least 40 years. The buying power of Lowe's and Home Depot is too great for them to compete.

What will we do when they are all gone, and we no longer have any choices? I guess that's why we call them the "Borg"! Thanks for reading,,,,



"(Rochester, NY) 10/04/05 - Wegmans announced Tuesday it will close all of its Chase-Pitkin Home and Garden Stores. The move impacts 2100 jobs. Some of the 2100 employees will be offered jobs at Wegman's, others will get severance pay.

Ruth Kowacich chooses Chase-Pitkin over other, larger hardware stores, because she said, she wants the best deal. Many shoppers were surprised to learn all 14 Chase-Pitkin stores, 10 of them in Rochester, will close sometime after 2005.

Shopper Linda Dunn said, “I'm actually shocked.”

Shopper Ray Dunn added “ninety-five percent of the time I'd say it’s cheaper if not the same."

That's part of the problem. Ten years ago competitors like Lowes and Home Depot operated a quarter of a million square feet of retail space in the Rochester market. Now it’s six times as much: 1.5 million square feet.

Chase-Pitkin President Bill Strassburg said, "Part of the issue is, we have to be priced right…our competitors are hundreds of times our size and they can buy things at lower prices."

Wegmans' spokeswoman Joe Natale said that in the short term, it was a very difficult decision for the company -- and the people.

Unlike many service jobs, many of Chase-Pitkin's full and part time employees receive health and other benefits. The jobs are valuable to Monroe County and difficult to replace."

[JayStPeter]

Wow, I didn't think that was still happening.

It happened in the DC area over 10 years ago and I thought we were pretty late to the party. The local chain home centers all closed down and the mom & pop stores that survived have all become Ace or True Value. The builders supply and specialty places are still around and I seek them out regularly.
I don't feel too bad for Wegmans though. They seem to have a similar effect when they move into a new area with grocery stores (and good ones at that, wish we had one around here).

Jay

[Steve Clardy]

Same thing is happening with farming. All the huge farmers are buying out the property the small farmers have, as the small farmers aren't making it.

[Lee DeRaud]

Ok, I obviously don't get the point here. Am I the only one who thinks "14-store 2100-employee chain" is a completely different thing from "mom and pop small buisiness"?

[Keith Outten]

A branch of my familly have been farming on the Eastern Shore of Virginia for almost 400 years and they shut down their farm two years ago. Their farm operation was reasonably large and they didn't stop due to financial issues, it was simply the cost of doing business compared to the value of their crops. The middle-man and retail outlets make most of the proffit and take the least risk.

Last Sunday my familly and I visited my cousins on the Eastern Shore and it was sure sad to see what was once a thriving familly business now just empty barns, the land is now being leased to a huge corporation up north.

This is also happening to Jackie and I at Hampton Roads Online, local Internet Providers are alsmost all gone now and we are in the final stages of closing our Internet Service in Yorktown. An official announcement will be coming very soon

[Steve Clardy]

A branch of my familly have been farming on the Eastern Shore of Virginia for almost 400 years and they shut down their farm two years ago. Their farm operation was reasonably large and they didn't stop due to financial issues, it was simply the cost of doing business compared to the value of their crops. The middle-man and retail outlets make most of the proffit and take the least risk.

Last Sunday my familly and I visited my cousins on the Eastern Shore and it was sure sad to see what was once a thriving familly business now just empty barns, the land is now being leased to a huge corporation up north.

This is also happening to Jackie and I at Hampton Roads Online, local Internet Providers are alsmost all gone now and we are in the final stages of closing our Internet Service in Yorktown. An official announcement will be coming very soon

I don't like the sound of that Keith.

Steve

[Dennis Peacock]

I don't like the sound of that Keith.

Steve

Just hang with us buddy......just hang tight.

[Bob Oswin]

A branch of my familly have been farming on the Eastern Shore of Virginia for almost 400 years

This is also happening to Jackie and I at Hampton Roads Online, local Internet Providers are alsmost all gone now and we are in the final stages of closing our Internet Service in Yorktown. An official announcement will be coming very soon

My Grandmother used to say:
"Pity the man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."
I know what that means now.

Bob

[Steven Wilson]

Suck it up and enjoy it. You are reaping the benefits of your votes at the poles. Oh, and enjoy it when the quality and selection of product drops. You'll also love when service comes at Walmart wage rates.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Bummer, my Dad is really going to miss the place. He does all of his garden supply shopping as Chase-Pitkin since he and my Mom live in Fairport. I agree with Wegman's being a responsible local company. One of my nieces worked there during high school as a cashier and is now the beneficiary of one of their college scholarships. I hate seeing good local businesses have to deal with this type of problem.

[Donnie Raines]

Suck it up and enjoy it. You are reaping the benefits of your votes at the poles. Oh, and enjoy it when the quality and selection of product drops. You'll also love when service comes at Walmart wage rates.

From one member to another, please don't turn this into a poltical thread.

[Dennis Peacock]

From one member to another, please don't turn this into a poltical thread.

We are ok "now".

[Dennis Peacock]

Just a word of warning here folks.....If this turns even "slightly" political? This thread will be <b>removed</b>.

[Joe Pelonio]

We're lucky here, in addition to the big guys we have a local family owned chain of 3 stores called McLendon's that just added a new store. These have staff that actually know wood, hardware, and repair and people in the area support them because they are so helpful. We lost a lumberyard that I used for my business that had a great millwork shop, when the HD cam in down the road.
Many of you probably do that stuff yourselves, but for the rest of us without
the elaborate power tool shop it's been hard to get things done at a decent price.

[Keith Outten]

My Grandmother used to say:
"Pity the man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."
I know what that means now.

Bob

Bob,

I now understand what your Grandmother meant as well. I can't say that I had given her point of view much thought untill lately.

To All,

This isn't a political discussion, it has more to do with financial issues than regulation. The remark concerninig "Voting" was meant to describe voting at the cash register, at least that is how I interpreted the comment.

The world is ever changing, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse but change is a constant we can all rely on.

.