I woke up today and decided that I need some glassware. I had broken all of my Pac-Man and Chicago Bears drinking glasses and I decided to go a little bit more classy and get some normal ones. This day though, I decided to go downtown instead of Target or Wal-Mart. I wanted to put my money into a nice little ma and pa business. Surely in the tons of stores downtown there would be at least one that sells glasses, right? Well as it turns out, I will never know. I drove downtown and looked at the stores from the street. It seems that all of the small businesses downtown have bought into the idea of branding. All of the places were named after something, like perhaps the person that owns them and I couldn’t find out what they actually did. Stewart’s, Gunderson’s, Al’s. What the hell are these places? If you have time to stop your car as your passing, you might be able to make out the small lettering under the name that tells you what the business is all about. Oh, Stewart’s sells guns, Gunderson’s Jewelry, Al’s Shoes. The car behind me honks because I’m going 5 miles per hour in a 30 to try to see if any of these places sell what I need.

It made me wonder about the thousands of other business I pass each day. I pass about 30 business back and forth from work each day, I have no idea what any of them do. Which is why I probably won’t go there when I need the services they provide. It’s easier to go to Wal-Mart or Target because I know they have everything. See, that is branding! Al, i’m sorry, but the store you own is not a brand. Nor should you try to be.

I have noticed many florists in the downtown area. These places look like they have been there since before the age of branding obsession because they have huge sings that say Unique Floral and Lewis Floral in big letters. The Sunshine Donuts sign has Donuts in huge letters. These businesses get it. Because of these signs, I know where to go for flowers or donuts in the future.

After about 3 hours of searching for glassware today. I walked into 3 furniture stores and art gallery (accidentally because it looked like a home store from the outside) and a variety store trying to find something and came away empty handed. So I’ll be getting my shipment of glassware from Target.com next week.