Small businesses are fighting back against big stores

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, October 24th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to start your day.

Good morning I'm Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I'm Mary Reichard.

Coming next The world and everything in it: Mom and Dad in a Big Box World.

It used to be that almost every business was a small business, but as communities became more mobile, mom-and-pop stores gave way to malls and megastores. Yet small businesses can – and do – continue to thrive.

BROWN: I spoke to two mom-and-pop businesses about what it takes to survive when they're not the only store in town.

AUDIO: [DOOR OPENS/ BELL RINGS/CUSTOMER ENTERS] Hello, how are you? Okay, how are you? [DOOR CLOSES/BELL RINGS]

It's a busy Friday afternoon on the corner of Pecan and Plum Streets.

AUDIO: [DOOR OPENS, BELL RINGS]

This is the intersection where Lois Grocery is located. A small, one-story brick building in an inner-city community. Eric Thompson, 55, was a toddler when his mother, Lois, opened the popular neighborhood store in 1970. But today, Thompson says it's challenging to run a small business and compete with much larger stores with the same inventory.

ERIC THOMPSON: I can't sell at the same price as the big boxes simply because they are larger so they can buy larger quantities from suppliers and get better prices.

And some of the salespeople who served his mother back then dumped him.

THOMPSON: Your focus was big box. The mom and dad weren't the focus.

BARISTA: Caroline… Celeste… Danny…

20 miles southeast of Lois Grocery, Dozens of men and women lounge on plush couches, chat at tiny tables and operate their smart devices from bar stools. Provision is a 5,000 square foot hybrid market in an affluent coastal neighborhood.

AUDIO: [COFFEE BEING MADE]

William Hanes and his wife opened Provision in 2020, in the middle of the Corona crisis.

WILLIAM HANES: Four months later came the terrible Hurricane Sally.

Hanes says surviving a global pandemic and a major hurricane seems small compared to the current challenge he faces as a local small business owner.

HANES: I was asked almost daily what I thought about Starbucks coming to town, and it felt a little like people were expecting me to cower in fear, which I understand. But I started thinking about how we can flip the script on this thing because I don't want to take this attitude of, “Oh, we'll see.” Give me a year and I'll tell you how it goes.

CLASSROOM: Next week we'll talk about market size…

Stacy Wellborn understands the tension small business owners like Hanes and Thompson feel as they try to survive in the shadow of big box retailers. Wellborn is an assistant professor of business, marketing and entrepreneurship at Spring Hill College. She teaches the next generation of entrepreneurs how to survive and thrive in this tension.

WELLBORN: I believe that being an entrepreneurship major prepares you for anything in business. What I want to teach these young people is a way of thinking and a way of solving problems.

She says these skills can be used in any business environment, small or large.

WELLBORN: I've been doing some housework lately. If I need advice I'll probably go to Blankenship's Hardware because they're locally owned and I know they're in this business. They know the business, can answer my questions and give me advice. When I go to Lowe's I can basically walk in, get what I want, check myself out and leave. I can go to Lowe's without speaking to a human being. These serve two different purposes for me. So I think they will coexist like that.

But how can small business owners compete with big box retailers?

WELLBORN: Small businesses need to convince themselves that they're not going to compete on price. You will not compete in product selection. What they can compete on is relationships and experience.

This is encouraging news for Eric Thompson and William Hanes.

AUDIO: [SOUND THOMPSON ON MEAT CUTTING MACHINE]

CUSTOMER: Let me get this pig’s head cheese worth, um, four dollars.”

Back at Lois Grocery, 8×10 photos of Thompson's mother, known as Ms. Lois, hang on the store's front walls. Memories of who she was and what she meant to the community. 47-year-old Tremeka Ellis.

TREMEKA ELLIS: I've been coming here since I was a little girl. Ms. Lois was like a second mom. Yes, I still come here. Even when she's gone. I was so glad they reopened.

When wife Lois died in 2020, a heartbroken Thompson closed the store. It was not reopened until 2023. At the time, Thompson's wife, Felecia, remembered the meals Ms. Lois prepared and served in the store's tiny kitchen.

AUDIO: [FISH FRYING]

Today she's frying up a plate of fish, shrimp and chips to take home. Just like Ms. Lois.

Back at Provision, William Hanes is also seeing a relative return on investment in his community.

ADVERTISEMENT: Hey guys, I wanted to come here and answer a question I've been asked almost daily for months: What do you think about Starbucks coming to town? Honestly, I think David is bigger than Goliath…

Earlier this month, Hanes launched the “David is Greater Than Goliath” social media campaign. Local customers were encouraged to visit the competition and make a purchase. Then use the receipt to redeem a free coffee from Provision and post about it on social media. And the answer?

WILLIAM HANES: It was incredible. It's not so much about people bringing receipts to get free drinks, but more about the community rallying around us and saying, “We're going to support them.” It always feels good to have a rallying cry and that's what I wanted for our team and for our city: We're not just going to sit back, be afraid and be victims. We're going to do something about it.

Reporting for WORLD, I'm Myrna Brown from Mobile and Fairhope, Alabama.

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