The Man Store

Can the old world survive in the new?

In my little city, about a mile from my house, we have just about the world’s most awesome store. It isn’t called The Man Store, but that’s how I think of it. It sells extremely high quality work clothing, everything from heavy boots to hats, and lots of other things that would appeal to those who spend a great deal of time outdoors.

And it’s huge.

Photo by Irina Chishkova on Unsplash

It’s got the restored pickup truck from the 1950’s on the sales floor. It’s got the pot bellied wood stove, taller than I am on the sales floor. And it has a truly massive inventory. There aren’t a hundred pairs of blue jeans for sale, there are thousands, and it’s like that across all the lines they carry.

It goes without saying that the population of my little city could never keep a store like that going. Indeed while it may have a few shoppers at all times during the Christmas season, usually when I go in there, I’m the only customer.

Because its a mail order place.

Built generations ago to serve the needs of loggers, they sell their wares all over the world via catalog. Judging from the number of employees always present, and the size of the place, they must sell a great deal through their catalog.

So, that’s kind of the thing. It’s a big mail order warehouse that you can shop in if you live locally. The coolest thing ever, with exceptional products priced exceptionally well.

From there though, it gets weird.

They have a website, but not much of one. It looks like the websites businesses had in the late 1990’s. It offers a catalog online. A .pdf that can be downloaded.

But, you can’t order anything online. You can’t pay for anything online. The only way to buy from them is by calling them on the phone and explaining what it is that you are after.

Seven little promotional products are actually listed for sale online. You can add them to your shopping cart. But, when you click ‘checkout’ there is no way to pay. Just a small notice reminding you that if you want to order anything you have to call.

They are proud of that fact. Boasting on their website that you must call or get nothing at all. Proudly declaring that it is the best way to serve their far flung customer’s needs.

In this day of ordering everything online, they are intentionally bucking the trend. And it certainly seems to be working out, the mail order operation is clearly extremely busy.

I find the entire thing fascinating. How can a retail business survive, and thrive, if it is completely ignoring the internet? Ignoring the very thing that has fundamentally transformed retail around the world?

And it is sustainable, can it last?

Perhaps there is a lesson in all of it.