Your editorial "The attack of the superstore" and Sara Toth's recent article about the small grocery store owner, "Despite overall growth, small shops struggle" (issue #327, Sept. 20-27), miss the root cause of the problem.
You have concluded that it is cost that drives customers into these huge chain stores. "Hypermarkets have succeeded here for the same reason they have succeeded everywhere else - they sell a bigger selection of stuff at a cheaper price," you wrote.
Well I challenge your conclusion and so would the customers of the world's largest store Walmart.
The success of these large stores is the high level of customer service that is delivered on a consistent basis by the most import aspect of the store, the employee. It's called a smile and it is missing at most small stores in Latvia and I bet in Estonia and Lithuania as well.
This same environment is also possible to the employees of these small locally owned stores if they only knew how.
Perhaps my challenge should be addressed to the local governments' "business development" department — heaven forbid they would have such a department. They could provide training and consulting for these small locally owned stores and at least give them a fighting chance.
Customer delight in the small stores in the Baltics is not dead, it is just dormant and needs to be unfrozen. So to do the employees of these stores including the big chain stores as well.
They need to be "defrosted" and taught some of the basic concepts of taking initiative and personal responsibility and how to smile.
Mike Johnson
An American in Latvia
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