I think once agin my points may be being misinterpeted. Some keep saying you shouldn't worry about competition when takeing what seems like an opposite approach to mine. However I would suggest that the sentance " However that doesn't frighten me when they open ." says the same thing. I don't worry but as Patrick pointed out ,you do affect each other and we all should be aware of what the competition is doing to our business,even if we weather it just fine.
Jay also pointed out that Mr. Tucker has two shops within a mile of each other and they are both busy. Yes and many of those shops in the French Quarter down here in N.O. are also all doing business. But do they draw ustomers from each other ,even if they are owned by the same person? I'll bet they could be.
Maybe you could run the same business from one larger or better manned/equipped shopped with out the extra cost of two outlets. In the case of the Quarter shops they draw from outside their geographical area( very few people actually still live in the Quater. )So this and other comparisons like it are more like shopping centers not stand alone store fronts that rely on customers that travel to the nearest Framer or their competitor.
Fear?NO! Worry ?SELDOM! Watch ?Always.Run from competition?Never. Do we draw from those close to us even our own stores? I'll bet we all do,but maybe we can tolerate that just fine.
Maybe I have misunderstood ,I thought the question was do we draw from shops close to us ,cometitors and even our own.
Now I get the feeling Brian is asking how to compet against them . My answer can be found in my original post. Advertise what makes you different/Better then your competition,maybewithout mentioning their name.You probaly won't need to use names ,your's or their's. If you don't ,Dont't be surprise if they try.
BUDDY