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Call the Man, Aunt Bea!

A New Year’s Resolution – Buy Local and “Call the Man, Aunt Bea!”
There’s an expression Lenny and I use nearly every time something needs to be repaired in our house – “Call the man, Aunt Bea!  Call the man!”  If you’re an ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW fan, you’ll recognize this right away.

In a favorite episode, Aunt Bea tries to save money by buying a huge supply of beef from Diamond Jim’s, a discounter, as opposed to her trusted local butcher.  She soon discovers the savings don’t mean very much because the meat is tough and she can’t return it. To make matters worse, the old freezer she puts it in breaks down and again, she tries to save money by having Gomer fix it instead of calling a professional.  Hence, Andy’s request – “Call the man, Aunt Bea!  Call the man!”

Such wonderful life lessons to be learned from an old sitcom.  How often have you tried to save money by attempting to do something yourself only to find that it cost you more in the long run – either because the finished product wasn’t as nice as you’d hoped or because you ended up having to call in a professional anyway?  How many times have you gone to a large discounter instead of a locally owned business only to find disinterested minimum-wage employees with little product knowledge to “help” you (when you could FIND ANYONE to help you)?

There’s a great story about a discount beauty salon that opens across the street from an older established salon.  The new salon posts a sign in its window that says “Haircuts – $5.”  The established salon waits a few weeks and posts its own sign.  It says “We FIX $5 Haircuts.”

Like frame shops all over the country, we are surrounded by discounters and big box stores that advertise 50 – 80% off custom framing. How do we compete with them?  Easy answer.  We don’t.  This may sound smug, but does Lexus compete with Hundai?  Of course, we wouldn’t be in business this long if we didn’t price ourselves competitively, but just like the salon I mentioned previously, we are very often called upon to FIX 50 – 80% off framing projects. We’ve been in business since 1899 and offer a lifetime guarantee on our framing.  When you come into our gallery, you are greeted by professional career framers and designers who help you create a finished product that will make you say “WOW” and will make you want to go home and find something else to frame.

You know how that ANDY GRIFFITH episode ended?  Andy bought a brand-new freezer to replace the old one; he, Opie and Aunt Bea endured many unsatisfying meals with the tough beef until it was gone and Aunt Bea went back to her local butcher for higher quality beef from then on.

I think Benjamin Franklin said it best: – “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”

Here’s wishing all of you a very happy and healthy 2012 and hoping you’ll resolve to BUY LOCAL and CALL THE MAN!

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