VIDEO: Doing Business the Old Fashioned Way

Just ponder that title for a moment...

What comes to mind from "the good old days?"  The corner grocer that knew you by name?  The milkman who always remembered a little treat for your dog?  The butcher who always had your favorite cut of meat set aside?

It's Sam the butcher, Floyd the barber and Al Delvecchio.  These TV names from our past call to mind small business owners who knew their customers as people, not numbers.  We felt like they cared.  They weren't affraid to open up, to a degree, with their customers who they considered almost like family.

I've both posted and read through many posts and coments on the Facebook group, "You Know You Grew Up in Stillwater, MN If..."  What is interesting about so many posts I've seen is the memories that were created by the relationships cultivated with not only locations and events, but often people and businesses!  Does anyone else feel like that's been lost, at least somewhat, in the era of the one-stop, big-box, Super-Mega-Marts?

For the last six years, my wife and I have had the privilege of cultivating old fashioned business relationships through our small family business, the Street Treats ice cream truck.  It has been an absolute pleasure to see families each week during our short vending season.  We get to know kids by name, hear about their latest adventures and see them mature into fine young people right before our eyes.  Most don't have the opportunity to see the sheer number of young people in this town that we do, and I can say from my perspective, "Stillwater, you're doing a good job."  I've often said to our loyal customers that I feel like an uncle that sees the kids a few times a year and predictably proclaims, "Look how big you've gotten!"  From where we sit on the ice cream truck, it's absolutely true!

One of my favorite families in Oak Park Heights I've watched grow before my eyes.  Four years ago mom was pregnant.   The day I was on their street, I told dad to leave a surprise treat in the freezer for her for when she got home from the hospital.  Just a simple way to say congratulations.  Well that little boy has now grown up to the point he comes to the truck with his sister and orders for himeself!  As a small business owner, you can't put a price on that type of experience.  Yes we operate a business to make money and pay the bills, but small business owners derive intangible benefits from these relationships we cultivate with loyal customers.  The benefit to you, the customer, is the confidence that you will always be taken care of and treated well!

That's doing business the old fashioned way, on main street!

Please check out our latest video which features a few of our local small businesses and some footage of Stillwater growing green!  We'd love for you to link it on your Facebook page for others to see too!