A peek at the world outside the Big Box stores

Our supply of bookmarks with our store’s logo on them recently ran out. The old-time printer, husband and wife, we have used for years has retired. It’s time to find a new printer for our book marks, and other things.

I contacted a local independent printing business. They promptly replied with a couple of choices in prices, one for digital printing and the other for offset printing, as well as a “proof” copy of the future book marks.

One should always have at least one more bid on a project for comparison.

I contacted the local branch of a national printing business corporation. They replied rather quickly with a single price and a proof. Their price was about 10% lower than the first business.

Nancy and I discussed the two price quotes. We decided to give our business to the local independent printer.

This afternoon the president of the local independent printer came in our store. He brought to us a still-warm, freshly baked peach pie. It was a “thank you” for our business with them and a result of their July promotion of their business (that we did not know about). The pie was made today, did I mention still warm(!), by a local independent pie shop in the same neighborhood as the printer.

We immediately stopped our work for an impromptu “pie break.” It was a wonderful pie!

I doubt that the national printing corporation would have matched that level of customer care and thanksgiving.

There is more to life, and business, than simply the lowest price. There are intangibles that are sometimes priceless.