Would you be offended if....

MsSparky

You got this e-mail from a local business? It is for their GoFundMe page, with a fundraising goal of 40K. I get that small business struggle, but for some reason, this just rubbed me the wrong way. Curious what others thought

Keep XXXXX alive! We are a samll independent grocer of clean foods and fine wines.  We have been in business since 2008, struggling the entire time.  We've just moved to a new location in hopes of increasing sales, as it did, somewhat, but the added expense of the new space exceeds the increase in sales.  We strive to bring the very best CLEAN LOCAL foods to the consumer.  We feel we are cutting edge of this clean food movement that is sweeping across the US, but with competition such as Whole Foods and Wegmans, it is very difficult for an independent to survive in this struggling economy.  Please visit our website: xxxxxx   to learn more about us and Thank You for your generosity.

kat1114

I'm not nearly offended by their message as I am by their inability to spell and use grammar/punctuation.

Also, the use of "clean" food bothers me. What does that even mean?

Maggie0829

Um, did they not realize that opening up a business is risky and it could fail?

kat1114 said:

I'm not nearly offended by their message as I am by their inability to spell and use grammar/punctuation.

Also, the use of "clean" food bothers me. What does that even mean?

They must put all of the food into a washing machine and put it through the rinse cycle before putting it out on the shelves

lyndausvi

kat1114 said:

I'm not nearly offended by their message as I am by their inability to spell and use grammar/punctuation.

Also, the use of "clean" food bothers me. What does that even mean?

dude clean eating is washing it in organic soaps.  Duh.

Not sure offended, but more like WTF?   It's called business.  Obviously, regardless how noble it might be, their business model is not working.    $40K will only be a temporary fix as long as the business model doesn't change.

I shop local businesses, but I'm not going to donate to one in order to stay in business temporarly.

AddieCake

Yeah, their business will not be successful if they can't even spellcheck shit before advertising.

JellyBean52513

They will never be able to compete with Wegmans. The mere notion of doing so is what offends me the most.

But then again, Wegmans and I are from the same city so I'm biased.

cupcait927

JellyBean52513 said:

They will never be able to compete with Wegmans. The mere notion of doing so is what offends me the most.

But then again, Wegmans and I are from the same city so I'm biased.

There is nothing better than Wegmans. Period.

jenna8984

I would go to the donation page and say "Clearly you're doing it wrong. Call whoever is the John Taffer of grocery stores"

fwtx5815

I personally wouldn't be offended but in general, the idea of a business begging for money to sustain a failed business model is pretty annoying. Assuming that there wasn't some uncontrollable catastrophe that drained their cash, it's just sort of pathetic.

levioosa

That email looks like the spam emails I get all day long.  Just the grammar and spelling errors are making me doubt its legitimacy, let alone the fact that trying to save a failing business via GoFundMe is a poor choice.

flantastic

MsSparky said:

You got this e-mail from a local business? It is for their GoFundMe page, with a fundraising goal of 40K. I get that small business struggle, but for some reason, this just rubbed me the wrong way. Curious what others thought

Keep XXXXX alive! We are a samll independent grocer of clean foods and fine wines.  We have been in business since 2008, struggling the entire time.  We've just moved to a new location in hopes of increasing sales, as it did, somewhat, but the added expense of the new space exceeds the increase in sales.  We strive to bring the very best CLEAN LOCAL foods to the consumer.  We feel we are cutting edge of this clean food movement that is sweeping across the US, but with competition such as Whole Foods and Wegmans, it is very difficult for an independent to survive in this struggling economy.  Please visit our website: xxxxxx   to learn more about us and Thank You for your generosity.

TL;DR: "We made a bad decision in moving locations. Either we can't calculate overhead costs well, or our 'clean food' isn't that great because sales aren't up, or both. Fix our mistake, pretty please! BTW, we'll probably need more money in 6 months!"

MsSparky

Glad to hear I'm not completely off my rocker. My business is in the same shopping center as this one, and the landlord wants us to all rally around them, and I'm just not ok with that.

marg1046

I've had 2 local businesses send me something within the last 2 weeks asking for money to "save" their business.  Offended? No. Tacky? Probably. 

allispain

cupcait927 said:

JellyBean52513 said:

They will never be able to compete with Wegmans. The mere notion of doing so is what offends me the most.

But then again, Wegmans and I are from the same city so I'm biased.

There is nothing better than Wegmans. Period.

Agreed. I moved a year and a half ago to a state without Wegman's, and I really miss it!

As for the e-mail, I think that's ridiculous. If someone wants to support their store, they will shop there.

[Deleted User]

kat1114 said:

I'm not nearly offended by their message as I am by their inability to spell and use grammar/punctuation.

Also, the use of "clean" food bothers me. What does that even mean?

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't "clean" mean "kosher "?

lyndausvi

SanSmith2 said:

I'm not nearly offended by their message as I am by their inability to spell and use grammar/punctuation.

Also, the use of "clean" food bothers me. What does that even mean?

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't "clean" mean "kosher "?

It more like non-processed, possibly organic. Often they will throw in local.  

Well that is what I get from the MyFitnessPal boards.   I pretty much roll my eyes at the term.

lyndausvi

MsSparky said:

Glad to hear I'm not completely off my rocker. My business is in the same shopping center as this one, and the landlord wants us to all rally around them, and I'm just not ok with that.

how about the landlord lowering the rent?

fwtx5815

lyndausvi said:

MsSparky said:

Glad to hear I'm not completely off my rocker. My business is in the same shopping center as this one, and the landlord wants us to all rally around them, and I'm just not ok with that.

how about the landlord lowering the rent?

---boxes
"It would be great if all the other businesses rallied and helped this store out! What's that? Lower rent? No thanks, that would cut into my profits. Let them go out of business? Um, well.. I'm not making money if the space is empty. But you guys should totally help them out lol!"

lyndausvi

dallasbetch said:

MsSparky said:

Glad to hear I'm not completely off my rocker. My business is in the same shopping center as this one, and the landlord wants us to all rally around them, and I'm just not ok with that.

how about the landlord lowering the rent?

---boxes "It would be great if all the other businesses rallied and helped this store out! What's that? Lower rent? No thanks, that would cut into my profits. Let them go out of business? Um, well.. I'm not making money if the space is empty. But you guys should totally help them out lol!"

yep.

I'm curious where they live?   A year round exclusive CLEAN LOCAL food place would not make out too well here.  Produce doesn't grow very well under a few feet of snow.   That is why our farmer markets are only open from May to Oct.   

DH buys from local farmers in season, this time of year he has to get a lot of of stuff other places.  Local meats he can get.

MsSparky

We live in the Mid-Atlantic. In a part that got hit hard by the Polar Vortex this year. And if I can't get the landlord to fix the lock on my door, there's no way they're lowering the rent for this person. It's a great CSA pick up spot, and they do CSAs year round. They're attempting a winter farmers market this year, but I'm not sure what that means, since it's getting cold here.

lyndausvi

the key words are exclusive and year around.

My parents live in Rehoboth Beach.   Some places are only open for the summer, others year round.  Even those who are open year round need the summer business to cover them for the rest of the year.  They might be in the red for the winter months, they are in the black for the fiscal year from the summer.

If you limit your business to something restrictive like CLEAN LOCAL foods you might not be able to sustain that year round.   Sounds like they just have a bad business model and again the $40K is just a temporary fix.

MsSparky

@lyndausvi, you nailed it. I also know the woman who owns the place, and lets just say she's not the most pleasant person to deal with. She's alienated a lot of customers and this certainly isn't the way to fix it. Last time we spoke and she asked me what I thought I suggested some PR ideas to driver her sales up, but what do I know, right?

lyndausvi

Go fund me is not an answer for a business that has been around for 6 years.

Maybe if there was some catastrophe or possibly a startup and those are not even guarantees. 

short+sassy

Totally ridiculous.  I mean, I guess anyone can throw up a GoFundMe page for whatever they want.  But, if I am going to give my money away, there are plenty of wonderful NOT-FOR-profit businesses out there.  I certainly would not "donate" to a FOR profit, struggling business.

Along the same lines and even more outrageous, but most people are not aware that the majority of workers for the Superbowl are volunteers.  Yes, the multi-billion dollar organization of the NFL actually uses volunteers for most of the Big Game jobs.  Such as taking tickets, cleaning the bathrooms, etc.  And volunteers don't know what job they will have until they show up on that day.  Most of whom will have no access to see the game at all.  Yet, they have a plethora of volunteers every year.  Ugh, so crazy to work for free. 

photokitty

I think it is generally OK for a business to have a Kickstarter page, but not a GoFundMe page. Ask for money, but offer a plan and incentives to your customers. A local business (pop up restaurant) wanted to get a food truck. They had a kickstarted page and offered incentives are different donation levels and had a clear laid out plan and explanation for implementing it.

That I'm Ok with...personally, I am rarely ok with anything on GoFundMe.

SP29

I think the whole thing is just weird.

Businesses sell products- if they are successful, they sell what people are looking for and stay open. If they can't meet the market, they fail. I don't see how giving them $40K is going to solve their problem- the problem is their business model.