When Your Name's on the Store...

I remember a tv commercial from a few years back that featured Radar O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff) of "Mash" fame. I can't remember the sponsor (not good for the ad agency), but I do remember the premise. Radar answered one phone line with the company name. When the caller asked for "Shipping and Receiving," he'd put the call on hold...He might pick up another phone line, put that on hold, return to the first call with a slightly different voice, and then reply, "This is Shipping and Receiving." Then he'd return to the second line with another voice and say, "This is Accounts Payable." Phones kept ringing and he'd keep answering in different roles at the same company. Radar was wearing all the hats of a small businessman.

When I think of that commercial, I realize that's exactly what we at Daisy Mae's Market do every day. We wear lots of hats. The same people that you see at the Findlay Market location are the people who manage our Purchasing Department, our Sales Department, our Marketing Department, our Accounts Payable Department, our Maintenance Department, our Payroll Department, our Accounts Receivable Department, our Human Resource Department, and our Administrative Department. When something needs to be done, WE do it...

I look around Findlay Market, and I see 37 other merchants doing the same thing. Some of them have been there for years; others are just starting out...Either way, they're wearing all the hats year-round for 6 or 7 days a week. Sure, some may use outside resources to help with some tasks...But the ultimate responsibility lies with each business owner to see that what needs to be done is done and, most importantly, to see that it's done right. I guess it's like another tv ad I remember: When your name's on the store, you care a lot more.