Lots of businesses try lots of things in order to draw customers.
Getting repeat business, though, can be an entirely different animal, and experienced owners of longtime business establishments can get a leg up on the competition.
Each business is different, with its own personalities and quirks, but there are some common threads that run through most successful businesses.
Here’s how some of Pike County’s most popular businesses make their mark.
Selman’s
Selman’s Jewelers-Gemologist has been open since 1945, and Lamar and Betsy Murrell and daughter Kristin Ratliff have owned and operated that store since 1985.
“We’re extremely fortunate to have a lot of repeat customers who come back year after year,” Ratliff said. “We’ve also had very loyal employees, and that’s the two things that have helped us keep going.”
Merchandise and service are key to the store’s appeal.
“We offer quality jewelry that will last a lifetime,” she said. “Also, we service what we sell, which is an important part of our relationship with our customers. We serve them with kindness, and our customers have become our friends.”
The business soldiered on during the COVID-19 pandemic, moving a lot of business operations to the store’s website, where customers could make purchases for curbside pickup, or for delivery in person or through the mail.
“We wore masks daily to help make all our customers comfortable,” Ratliff said “All the staff stayed well through the worst of it. We only had our first COVID case last month, when my kids went back to school.
“Things will never be the same, but they’re closer to normal. We’re glad to be able to operate without masks daily now. We’re just trying to go on as usual and do what we do.”
Ratliff said the business is dealing with inflation like everybody else, as well.
The price of naturally mined diamonds has skyrocketed, making lab-grown stones a more attractive option for many customers.
The lab stones “are a different price point, but they’re the same quality,” she said. Customers can still enjoy these pieces for a lifetime.”
Williamson Nursery
“We work hard to provide the best products and services,” nursery owner Stephen Porter said. “We have great employees, and we strive for 100 percent customer service. If there’s a problem we work to resolve it.”
Inflation has been a more difficult situation to deal with then the pandemic at the nursery.
The cost of “everything is up, and we’re caught right in the middle,” Porter said. We don’t know what people will spend or not spend money on.”
Porter’s pumpkins are a case in point. The cost of the popular fall gourds in decorating is up significantly, and their retail cost must go up as well, but isn’t taking as much of a markup as he might.
“I’m not raising the price a lot for our customers,” he said. “We can only pass along so much of the cost because of the income demographic here. I can’t raise the price as much as my distributors have raised their prices. There are people who balk at that, but there are also people who understand.”
Unlike some businesses, Williamson Nursery never had to shut down during the pandemic — it was considered an “essential business” under pandemic rules — and with much of the business in the outdoors, it had fewer restrictions for customers to follow.
“We were able to skirt some of the rules,” Porter said. “Staying so many feet apart wasn’t necessary outside. We moved our checkout outside till things cooled off. We tried curbside pickup, where we would pull plants and bring them out to customers. There was a learning curve, and we struggled a bit at first.”
The nursery was also a place where people could visit to walk around and see something different from the inside of their own four walls while the pandemic raged.
“We had customers seek us as a sanctuary,” he said. “We had people say, ‘we’re not here to buy anything, we just want to look around,’ and that was fine. And some of them would buy something anyway.”
Rushing Shoe Shop
Fast, friendly service is the basis of longevity in business, co-owner Donnie Rushing says.
“I can’t stand to wait in line to give somebody my money.” he quipped.
He, his brother Daniel and his son Little Donnie each help customers one-on-one to find the footwear they need for work or pleasure.
With about 45 years in business, “we know boots,” Rushing said. “We build a relationship with our customers, and we try to keep that relationship to keep our customers.”
The store offers warranties on what it sells, and they will repair or replace boots if they can. Repairs are free for boots bought there.
“Having a huge selection is helpful,” he added. “Customers like choices. If you have a lot of sizes and brands, it helps.”
The store was never closed during the pandemic, and none of the Rushings caught COVID.
“If any or all of us had gotten COVID, we wouldn’t had to close,” Rushing said. “If we had to close down for weeks, it would have affected us hugely. We make a great living here, but we don’t have a big pile of cash to sit on if we had to shut down. We were lucky to get through.
“We were never affected. Business was slower, but it stayed.”
The store is doing what it can to soften the blow of inflation for customers.
“We’ve been selling boots for 45 years, and the price goes up every year,” he said. “This is the highest I’ve ever seen prices go up, $10 to $15 instead of $2 to $3.
“We’re trying to find specials from our suppliers, models that have been discontinued or are on closeout. Retail markup is usually 50 percent, and we’re doing 30 to 35 percent. We can’t do any less. We have sales on boots we’ve had for a while that haven’t sold.
“We appreciate out customers. We wouldn’t have been here 45 years without customers coming back, and we’re all grateful.”
La Mariposa
The worst of the pandemic period was difficult for Mercedes Ricks’ small-town restaurant.
“I felt like I lost it all in minutes,” Ricks said.
She and her staff at La Mariposa in Magnolia rallied, however, and her customers responded.
“People were very nice,” she said. “They came to get to-go boxes, and the lines were out the door. It meant a lot to me.”
It was a carry-through of Ricks’ usual standard of service that allowed her and her employees to push on to the current 17 years in business and counting that she has enjoyed.
“We give customers what they ask for,” Ricks said. “We try to put a smile on their faces. If we have it, we’ll sell it. It’s an honor for people to come spend their money with us, and I treat people like I want to be treated when I go out.”
It helps, she said, that all the workers are very close and all work together to make things work.
“I prep food and work on the grill and wash dishes,” she said. “I do it all. If I ask my coworkers — I call them my coworkers, not my employees — if I ask my coworkers to do something, I’ve done it. We’re like family.”
She said some of her employees are approaching 10 years on the job there, while younger coworkers who were there in high school have gone on to other business opportunities or to college, with her encouragement.
“I try to offer them the opportunity to climb the ladder,” Ricks said. “When you own a business, you want to give back and encourage your people for the future.”
