My wife and I grew up in a small town in the extreme south suburbs of Chicago ... and I mean extreme.
Of course, at the time we were growing up, we never considered ourselves as part of the south suburbs ... but time and urban sprawl in our area has to
tally changed all that.
The small town we called our home was Manhattan with all of the whopping population of about 1000 at the time we were kids. For me especially, the benefits of growing up somewhere this small and rural were many. I was free to roam the entire town without the fears many kids face today and I went freely in and out of other family's homes without much thought. All front doors at that time were pretty much left unlocked. Coaches needed every body they could get to field teams and almost everyone was at least a 3-sport athlete. Something else almost unheard of today.
For my wife, a farm girl, trips into town were a pretty big deal ... and done sparingly. Church and school activities were many times the only times she saw the "big city lights". I use that term somewhat tongue in cheek ...
For each of us though, there was one location that was considered THE mecca when in town ... and that was "Charley's". Charley's was part flea market, convenience store, part sundry, part grocery store, part drug store, candy store, news stand, clothing store, school supply retailer, and more. Maybe most importantly, it served as the local hangout for almost everyone, no matter their age. You could learn what the latest "goings-on" were around town if you showed up there.
Charley himself, as I look back and remember, was the size of one of the Three Stooges, if you can imagine that ... short and fairly round.
He seemed ageless to me, as he never seemed to change much in appearance over the years. He had sharp eyes though, even as he got older ... because he never seemed to miss a thing that went on in the store.
I think we kids were probably the reason he kept those big round security mirrors in the back part of the store. (Pretty high-tech for back then.) We traveled and visited his store in packs. I'm sure we all drove him about crazy running in and out and constantly milling about like we did, but he never let on that he was very upset.
Charley's establishment seemed as though it had almost everything you could possibly want contained within it ... and alot of things you wondered who in their right mind would use. As a result of this, old and new items were piled sky high on shelves, the floor, chairs, behind counters, and in the back room. The place looked like a tornado blew through it. Nevertheless, Charlie knew if he had something in stock ... and everyone knew that if Charley didn't have what they wanted within his store ... "he'd have it for you by Tuesday!"
Now this is what I mean by learning valuable and successful marketing lessons early i
n life because of Charley ...
He always TRIED to give the customer what they wanted ... and in a speedy fashion. I can't remember people ever complaining that he didn't come through for them. I'm sure it happened, but the reality was that he always gave you his time and attention ... and appeared as though he was trying. He came through often enough that people always trusted him. He had all of us convinced, young and old, that he cared about earning our business and keeping it. He cared enough to try to make us happy and supply us with all we needed ... and in a timely fashion. 
I truly think that I still use Charley as my measuring stick for good customer service.
What did I learn?
Try as hard as you can to provide good quality service. Provide it as quickly, economically, and conveniently for people as possible. Show and tell your customers that they matter to you. Prove it consistently. Then in turn those people will trust you and reward you with their business ...
I sure hope my customers will be reminiscing about me in much the same way as I do Charley in the future.
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