Connections More: renewal

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Walk Through the Hardware Store

Upon entering the new store, I asked the lady at the check out counter if it would be all right for me to take pictures of the displays. She said, "Sure, go ahead." So I did. As I wandered through I couldn't help but think how this wonderful 100 year old business has flourished and kept up with the times in our rural area. At least they have been able to save much of their historical items through the years of fire and so many devastating floods.

Towards the end of my journey, and believe me, I did not cover it all, a male clerk approached me asking if he could help me. I just replied, "No, thank you, I'm OK." He then asked me why I was taking so many pictures. I told him that I love the store and all of the wonderful displays and will share some of the pictures on a blog I was going to write. His reply was, "Oh! I thought you might be a competitor checking and documenting our displays and pricing." I must have really looked surprised as I never thought I would have been pegged as a spy! I told him I had asked permission from the lady at the counter first and she told me it was OK. As I was shaken by this, I took two more pictures on the way out (of the bicycle on the wall by the baseball memorabilia) and forgot to take one of the old beautiful Harley Davidson Motorcycle! All I remember was that it was a chain drive model and rosy colored. I hadn't even ventured into the area with the pet supplies!

Later on, I called the store and talked with the counter lady and told her what happened and asked her if she was reprimanded. She wasn't spoken to at all. Next I talked with one of the owners and asked him if they would like to see the pictures I took and he was delighted. When I explained to him why I was taking the pictures he explained to me that several competitors have been scoping out his displays and pricing. I now understood quite well. Since this business has moved further into town, a large hardware chain has taken over an empty building that is in a closer proximity to where the old store of my story once was.

The pictures are yellowish in tone and I think it due to the interior fluorescent lighting throughout. At home I have to turn off the two in my kitchen because they make my pictures yellowish too. I mentioned this to the owner and he said they had a difficult time with the Santa photos taken inside the store for the same reason.