Marc Haine describes a town of 6,500 people caught between West Edmonton Mall and South Edmonton, where local businesses struggle to compete. Business owners assume proximity alone will draw customers, but Haine says they ignore service quality, culture, and loyalty.
we have just over 6,500 people. And since we are 25 minutes from West Edmonton Mall and 25 minutes from South Edmonton, you could say our local businesses' biggest competition is everyone. They have a really tough time. And so, speaking to some of the business owners, I get a sense that their expectation is that since they are local, residents should be choosing their businesses to shop out. For the only reason is because they're local and let's shop local. It takes nothing into account about the services they provide, the culture they create, or the loyalty that they entice.
