Interim Chamber of Commerce director Michelle Ust proves she's about as good at propaganda as her aunt and predecessor Julie Gross. She makes the following silly statements about Madison commerce in the June Chamber newsletter:
Summer weather is finally here and I, like many of you, have been taking full advantage of the sunshine days! [Michelle Ust, "Note from the Director," Madison Chamber of Commerce Newsletter, June 2012, p.2]
Sunshine days... isn't that the big sales event at Madison's monopoly grocery store?
One difference for me from last year is that I am spending my time in a different community, "˜Discovering the Unexpected'. While I have always felt pretty familiar with Madison, I was truly unaware of all it has to offer [Ust, June 2012].
Wait: you're from Volga, you lived in Sioux Falls, your aunt was in charge of Madison marketing for the last four years... and you are still unaware of what Madison has to offer? That lack of knowledge suggests Madison's marketing has failed.
As the Interim Executive Director, I have taken a close look at the businesses and services around the area to reacquaint myself with the community and I am impressed by what I have found. I have been checking out the local shops, dining in the restaurants and have even taken in a ballgame. I have found everything I have needed, right here in Madison [Ust, June 2012].
Note Ust's careful word choice: she speaks of needs, not wants. She must be an ascetic. Ust obviously doesn't need much in the way of fashionable outfits or good shoes for the office. Ust also obviously doesn't have little children who need diapers and clothes. And she doesn't discuss whether she finds what she needs at an affordable price.
Interim Executive Director Ust also recommends you "make plans with your family" to attend the Motongator Joe music festival at Prairie Village this weekend... because nothing says family like hillbilly, testosterone, outlaw country music. My parenting strategy includes keeping my daughter away from at least three of those four things... as well as the RVs at Motongator shows flying Confederate flags.
Make it your goal to attend at least one event this summer and if we haven't met, please take the time to introduce yourself to me! [Ust, June 2012]
Whew: having already attended two local events this summer (and found both let-downs), I guess I've done more than my civic duty. And Michelle, welcome to town. Here's my card.
Ok, I admit I haven't needed to buy these in a while but, Madison no longer sells diapers?
P.s. the shoes I'm wearing at work right now were bought in Madison. Then again, as Weezer says, my fashion sense is a little wack.
Ah, see, there's the wiggle room. We could find them, but could we afford them? We bought all our diapers at Target.
Well, I enjoyed my weekend.
Realistically, you can't get nice clothes in Brookings, either. The problem, when it comes to clothing stores I think, is that Madison's population is too small for any of the big clothing retails to come into town, leaving only small clothing stores (like Stan's), which are usually lacking in good clothing for some reason (why? I don't know, but almost every small clothing store I've been to has been full of 90% really awful clothing, but then I don't like polo shirts). Point is, clothing retail requires a pretty hefty stock of clothing, and I'm not sure Madison has the population to support that.
I could be wrong, but it seems to me that the hope of "finding everything you want" in Madison isn't a dream that's likely to come true. Madison is too small for a real electronics store for example. I don't think the demand for most products is high enough in Madison to get, and unless you live east of Madison, you're probably closer (or just as close) to Sioux Falls.
The exception, of course, is a grocery store, as has been discussed dozens of times.
I'm still looking to see "everything I need" defined by Ust.
Typo: I actually meant "west of Madison". Sorry.
Cory, that's true. I wonder when Ust last visited Sioux Falls for a shopping trip? People should keep their eyes open when they're in Brookings and Sioux Falls. Maybe someone can spot her buying things like diapers or something and you can break the story!
Carter, shouldn't our huge DSU tech population drive all sorts of demand for electronics? Radio Shack's still hanging in there, isn't it?
And let's remember: the Chamber's own survey data from fall 2010 showed that only 37% of Madison residents make a majority of their purchases here in Madison. That figure says that either Madisonians buy a lot of junk they don't need, Ust's needs are remarkably underdeveloped compared to other Madison consumers, or Ust's claim is nonsense.
Cory, from what I've seen in RadioShack here in town, they don't have much in the way of things I want or need. But I'm incredibly picky about my electronics, and I'm not entirely familiar with exactly what they stock. I just remember being very underwhelmed the last time I visited (which was well before they moved).
Since most of the students live in the dorms, there's not a lot of need (or ability to own) most of the major electronics. Phones, iPods and iPads (or Samsung Galaxies, etc), and laptops are mostly what students are going to have. You can get phones at Verizon or AT&T (probably Samsung Galaxies, too), you can't get iPods or iPads are Radioshack (I don't think, maybe I'm wrong), and the school provides laptops at ridiculously high prices (like everywhere else in Madison). Anyone wanting more will probably be as picky as I am.
Also, most students aren't exactly swimming in pools filled with money, and most electronics cost a pool filled with money.
Good points, Carter. For what it's worth, when I priced laptops last fall, I found the Spearfish Radio Shack unable to compete on price. I got my Toshiba at Rapid City Best Buy for probably 25%–30% less than comparably equipped machines at Radio Shack.
Cory, for the sake of the world, please never buy anything at Best Buy again! Best Buy is the home of the devil (and ridiculous warranties and bloatware-infested computers). I bet if you back up all your important stuff to some external drive and reformat, your laptop will be twice as fast as ever before.
But your story just adds to it, really. In all honesty, electronics stores can't really hold their own in this age. There are too many choices, too many different features, and too much price variation. Electronics are going to end up being almost 100% restricted to online shopping.
In fact, choice and selectivity have become incredibly important in this day and age. Unfortunately, that's a giant burden on small mom-and-pop shops that can't hope to afford a varied stock. It's possible there's a way for them to compete, but I don't see any of them handling it successfully. Even most of the big retailers have a hard time.
Online shopping is the future. Maybe Madison retailers like Stan's should consider getting into the market. Maybe the new grocery store (if there ever is one) should have online grocery shopping and delivery.
(Yeah, but the NEC Ready I bought from Best Buy SF in 1999 ran well for seven years! Toughest darn computer I've ever owned!)
Seven years is a ridiculously long time for a computer to run well. Impressive!
I buy all my computer stuff (or at least most of it) from Newegg. I like being able to compare all the relevant specs. Good prices, too. Best customer service ever in the world.
This is not an ad.
Also, laptops in general are overpriced. They're basically a requirement for life, anymore, but they're overpriced and awful and I hate them. If only I could build one, instead of having to buy the damned things.