Business competition good or bad?

As I mentioned in an earlier post I was recently in Seattle Washington. I enjoy a good espresso, and apparently so do a few other people in Seattle. Here in Dallas, many of the independent coffee shops disappeared after Starbucks came to town. One of my favorite discoveries downtown was “Ancient Grounds”. In addition to coffee they also sell native American and Asian artwork. Since Starbucks was born in Seattle I was curious about its impact on them and discussed this a little with the owner. He mentioned that since they are large corporate chain, they simply cant compete on the quality level. With my recent experience I had to agree. In his case he opened after Starbucks and has been in business for several years. He also mentioned that competition from other independents not only did not hurt his business but helped it. A couple years ago another shop opened on his block and his business went up. He mentioned that competition can be helpful to bring more business into the area and said that is why you typically see stores like Jewelry stores grouped together in one spot. After thinking about it, I realized that here in Dallas there are a couple of places where I have seen Home Depot across the street from Lowes.

In the custom framing industry I have noticed some Frame Shops were put out of business by Michaels. Other shops I have heard have no problem with Michaels. I recently purchased some carpet and was talking about the impact of places like Lowes on that owners business. He mentioned that he wished Lowes was across the street so that frustrated Loews customers could more easily find his shop.

In my own case I try not to worry about the competition too much and just keep my focus on helping people. People have lots of different needs and no company can perfectly match everyone’s needs no matter how much they want to.

Cheers,
Mark