You know Vince, I remember you posting how you moved to a less prime but more economical and functional place and I thought to myself what a good move that was.
Someone will always find the shop with a good reputation and sometimes that gives the impression of being more service oriented than interest in retailing farkles. I'd rather shop the old Harley shop on a backroad anyday than one of the new Mega Mall Harley dealers.
I buy a lot of things on line, and check the reputation of the vendor. An attractive website exhudes confidence. For all I know, the guy could be some schmoe like Uncle Ernie, sitting in his cellar in his underwear in front of the computer, but if he can supply the product and service at a good price, I'll shop there again. It's a lot like a delivery Pizza shop. If 99% of its' business is delivery, it can be on a one way street going the wrong way, as long as the phone works and the product is good, it will do business.
The increase in internet awareness and use, combined with the recession, has made businesses either adapt or fail. In Real Estate it has changed too. Buyers and sellers used to drop into an office, where they would be greeted by a receptionist and then handed off to a duty agent. Agents would go in to use the phones, computers and fax. One of the staples of business was to get on the phone and go through the phone book blindly callind as many people as you could. "Hello, are you or anyone you know interested in buying or selling property" "Okay, thank you?." It was a numbers game. Call 100 people, get one lead. Call 200, get two leads, etc. I never did it because I realized-call 100 people, piss off 99.
One big name franchise in town had a tajmah Hall building, multi stories, along with 8 offices spread around town. They rented the plants, and paid someone to come in and water them. They paid for a receptionist. They had a huge rent/mortgage. The cleaning crew would come in several times a week.. They didn't realize it at first, but people called or used the internet, they didn't walk in anymore. Next thing you knew, this big company went bankrupt.
Our crappy little office was $3000/month rent. Utilities were another 1K. The overhead was passed on to the agents. One day the broker and I sat down and I told her-No one walks in anymore. All us agents have cell phones with long distance, we all have computers, we all have fax machines. Dump this white elephant, let us operate from home, and pass the savings along to the agents. It's been 6 months now, and we are surviving, while several other companies are out of business. Innovate, or die. Business will never be the same, and it will get tougher. If I lived in your area, i would buy a bike from you, even if it cost more, and I would order it and wait if I had to, because of your reputation. Your move will pay out many times over.