"It's Successful? It's BAD!"

"They sold out!"

How often have you heard someone say that? You know the drill. A local rock band struggles to get any gig they can scrounge up. They get really good, and the music critics in those little weekly give-away papers take notice. The folks who claim a presence in the local music scene declare the group's work "meaningful", "cutting-edge", and other such compliments. They work hard to get their foothold and the attendant gain in income and publicity. Pretty soon they are getting better gigs, and they get a recording contract.

Then it happens. They succeed.

They get some airplay, their popularity skyrockets. What does this now make them in the eyes of those who complimented them in the early days? It makes them Sell-outs to Corporate Interests. Now that their "meaningful", "cutting-edge" music is getting the recognition it deserves, and because a more general audience likes it, it must not be any good anymore. Now their music is "corporate [insert style here]".

The place is floor-to-ceiling books. They even tried something that I had not seen before: shelving both new and used books together. The knowledge of the staff is anywhere from pretty good to first class. The lighting was archaic and about as aesthetic as a can of stringbeans when I was last in the main store but it put out sufficient lumens to actually SEE what was on the shelves. (Digression: I am a lighting designer by profession so I notice these things…). They have a wide selection of public affairs and news magazines from across the political spectrum. They even have a (non-chain) espresso bar and plenty of places to sit and chat with friends or new acquaintances. I went to Powell's a lot when I resided in Portland; I really miss it.

Powell's started as a little shop. Just like the other small bookstores, Powell's had Waldenbooks and B Dalton to contend with. But they served their customers well and they had something on the shelf besides the latest Garfield books and NYT Best Sellers. The word got out: "There is a good bookstore in Portland!" A result was steady and well-deserved growth.

They succeeded.

You guessed it. Many of the same folks that praised Powell's in the early days see them as another big, bad, nasty, "corporate" power throttling the very life out of the other bookstores in town.

Let me tell you about some of these other bookstores. See if this description applies to some of your local shops; you find the same sort of thing in just about any town. They are dark. You can barely read the titles on the spines. If the lighting is fluorescent, two lamps will be flickering and one fixture will be loudly buzzing its pronouncement of impending death.

Used books are stacked on the floor like cordwood, blocking the aisles. The place smells of mildew, rotted bindings, and stale coffee because with the exception of the door opening and closing, it gets no ventilation.

The clerks, when they can be found, are standing at the counter or sitting at a desk up front talking about everything and nothing with their friends or with one of the "regulars". When you walk in, they look at you for 1.72 seconds, then go back to their conversation.

You Don't Exist

Six months later the dark, musty, inattentive shop Doesn't Exist, and no one notices but the "regulars" who whine about "their" shop being "driven" out of business.

Size does not matter. Some businesses lose sight of the fact that their customers are who keep their doors open. If the business does not meet your needs or desires, you go elsewhere. If the seller does not change his ways, he goes under or at the very least loses market share. "Corporate power" only matters when monopolies are granted or where folks are compelled to buy a product or service.

Take General Motors. To many, they personify All That Is Wrong With Capitalism. They had over 50% of the US market for automobiles. When the market demanded smaller cars, they offered us the Vega. Several years ago the market started demanding sporty, quick, good-handling sedans. They offered us the Achieva. We stayed away in droves. We are returning now because GM is turning out some really interesting and innovative designs and the market has taken notice.

Meantime, does anyone remember Renault? Peugeot? Fiat? Simca? Morris? Austin? Panhard? Triumph? Studebaker? Hudson? MG? Daihatsu? Or in the world of motorcycles: Hodaka? Marusho? Royal Enfield? Indian? JAWA? The Harley Davidson folks almost went under, but they elevated their quality and have come back stronger than ever. They even asked that the import tariffs put in place to "protect" them be lifted several years before they were due to expire.

Zenith, around since the dawn of electronics, were big innovators. In the end they tried to maintain market share with little to offer but an appeal to patriotism. The end result: they are a brand name for a Korean company. Contrast Zenith with a tiny company that started off in the shell of a bombed out department store. They used the transistor to make high quality products that people wanted to buy. Their name is Sony. Who knows? Someday Sony may rest on its laurels and go the same way Zenith, Olympic, Muntz, FADA, and Emerson Radio went.

St. Johns Hardware in Portland thrives despite being 10 minutes away from two of the "big box" DIY centers. Why? Because their clerks know what you mean when you describe "that doohicky with the loop and hook you use to hold a screen door shut". They do not send you traipsing off to some aisle at the other end of the store just to get rid of you. They do not try to dazzle you by giving their help fancy titles like "sales team member".

Meanwhile, does anyone remember White Front? Or Gemco? Will Montgomery Ward come out of bankruptcy? Does anyone in Los Angeles over the age of 40 remember when Seibu was going to show us the latest, most innovative Japanese retailing methods? They WERE big and they ARE gone.

Many failed or shrunken companies were big at one time but they did not keep up with the demand for quality or service from you, the buyer. There is nothing to keep today's big companies from becoming lax and failing. However, if they are like that rock band that gained fame by giving the audience what it wanted, they will remain successful.

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