The lost art of retail and the locals who keep it going.
By Erin Hunsader
Staff Writer
BROWN COUNTY – “Buy local” is a common phrase heard, especially around the holidays, to help garner support for Greater Green Bay local businesses.
Buying online, however, can be done from the comfort of the couch while wearing sweatpants and sipping coffee, with a few clicks and selected items are on their way.
So what keeps consumers walking through retail stores doors?
A greeting and a little no-pressure assistance was the foundation of mom-and-pop shops now scrambling to keep their brick-and-mortar stores open due to the pandemic and online retailers.
Some of those store owners said it’s giving people a positive in-person experience that keeps customers coming back through their doors.
D Munster, who has owned Furs & Clothing of Distinction in downtown Green Bay for 30 years, said when people come into her store, she makes it a priority to make each and every person feel special.
“I have always been, and this comes from my background, customer-oriented,” Munster said. “I am of the old school that the customer is always right. I preach that to my employees. And we believe in 100% customer service. So, when a customer walks in the door, someone walks out and greets them, and asks how they may assist them.”
She said given the nature of the merchandise she sells – clothing and fur – most people want to come in and feel the fabric.
She said much of her clientele enjoys the in-person shopping experience.
“Take myself as an example, I like to go into a store and I like to feel and touch fabric,” Munster said. “I like to go from aisle to aisle and look at everything – it’s the whole experience of shopping… Our clientele (at Furs & Clothing of Distinction) likes to come in and shop.”
When assisting a customer, Munster said that she, her daughter, Jill, and the rest of her staff take the time to work with someone from start to finish.
“What we find is that complete one-on-one customer service works best,” she said. “When that person walks in the door, they’re helped – if they want help. If they just want to look, that’s alright, too. We take the clothing they want to try on, we lay it on a chair for them and then we close the curtain – that is their fitting room. “When they go into that room, there is somebody nearby, and I would say to them, ‘My name is D and if you need anything, just call my name… I can help you.”
Munster said it’s also important to recognize when a shopper simply wants to browse.
“If people don’t want help, I just say ‘My name is D and I will be over here if you need anything,’ and then I make myself busy doing other things,” she said. “There’s always something to do in the store.”
Munster said her goal, and the goal of several other local stores like hers, is simple – keep the customer happy and comfortable.
Kimps Ace Hardware
It’s the same mentality that guides service at Kimps Ace Hardware on Glendale Avenue in Howard.
Office Manager Christine Williams said she started working at Kimps Ace Hardware in high school, then “went away to college and I came back and started working full time after I graduated.”
She said the atmosphere that keeps employees happy at Kimps, also seems to be what keeps customers coming back.
Different from Furs & Clothing of Distinction, co-owner Laurie Kimps said people usually know exactly what they’re looking for when they shop at a hardware store, but great customer service is still a must.
“A hardware store is a necessity for people,” she said. “They need to get the things that they need to take care of their houses and manage their property… It’s an experience to come in here. Shopping online is quick – I get that, but you also have to wait for it to come. When you come in here, you get it and get some help and understand what you purchased, rather than ordering and hoping. You know exactly what you’re getting, and you’ve had it explained how it works.”
Sales Associate Alexis Kimps said this also requires hiring and training employees to have vast knowledge of the store’s products.
“It’s finding the right employees and what they’re passionate about and then putting them in those areas,” she said. “If you ask anyone in our grill department, they all have at least one of the lines of grills that we carry, and they’ve cooked on them and can speak to that.”
Williams said she does her best to greet customers by name, and is oftentimes greeted by them by name as well.
“I think we have a lot of repeat customers,” she said. “In one of our videos a few years back, they said Kimps is almost like Cheers – everybody knows your name… There are a couple people who come in daily that say ‘Hi Christine,’ and you will say hi back, and they’re just doing their daily run to the hardware store.”
Kimps Ace Hardware opened in the 1940s and has since been family-owned and operated by the Kimps family.
Last February, patriarch Gary Kimps passed away.
Laurie Kimps, along with Alexis Kimps and Williams, said they still get emotional when they talk about him, noting he was an integral part of the store’s legacy.
“When people talk about the store (and how welcoming we are), I can’t help but think, boy, that’s where it came from,” Laurie Kimps said.
Alexis Kimps said they really work hard to keep his memory alive, which they accomplish through family-oriented service.
For more on Furs & Clothing of Distinction visit, loc8nearme.com/wisconsin/green-bay/furs-and-clothing-of-distinction/3014424/