Page 39 - TOB Magazine March/April 2013

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TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
MARCH/APRIL 2013
trench marketing
one thing, so I see lots of handymen,
woodcutters, river raft guides, and
miners, and they’ll travel 20 miles to
save a nickel.”
Cleanliness helps keeps
the competition at arm’s
length
“My closest competition is about
eight miles away,” Ballow says. “My
store pretty much services the north
side of Lake Isabella, but a lot of folks
from south side of the lake pop in here
because my prices are considerably
cheaper. And while my competition
in Lake Isabella is a big store, they
focus on selling head shop stuff and
frou-frou gifts, and when you go in it’s
not a comfortable environment. It’s
cluttered, disorganized and just looks
like a big junkyard. My place is neat,
and I think it’s important. Being in
retail as long as I have, it’s important
to have a good face on your business.”
Marketing tactics aren’t as important
to Ballow’s success as they might be
if he had more competition for his
clients. “I have a captive audience, so
I don’t have to do too much. We have
two radio stations up here, and they’re
both owned by the same company, so
I advertise on both of their stations
for $200 a month,” he says. “I’m
mentioned all over the airwaves all
day long with informative ads. We
also have a local weekly newspaper,
but their advertising rates are very
expensive, and I don’t think a lot of
people read newspapers anymore.
I figure my money is better spent
on radio.” Advertising online isn’t an
option Ballow even considers. “Most
people who even have an Internet
connection up here are still on dial-up,
so they’re not going to be using the
Internet to peruse my website.”
That said, Ballow hopes to be
holding themed events to attract new
customers. “I’m going to look into
having a ‘hookah night,’ where I’ll have
a hookah here for people to try out. But
I need to check with the local Health
Department first,” he says. “I think it’ll
go over well with the younger crowd,
they’ll be receptive to it, and I’d like to
attract them to my store.”
Low on amenities, high on
tenacity
Ballow’s store is admittedly low on
amenities. Without room for a dedicated
smoking lounge, he opts for an old-
school approach. “I have a couple
Adirondack chairs, and people come
in to sit and smoke and chew the fat all
day long. It’s very casual, but that’s fine,
because my situation is a little different
than someone with a smoke shop in a
city. Things that work for someone there
won’t necessarily work up here.”
Indeed, Ballow’s definition of
success—and the means required to
achieve it—aren’t the same as a big city
retailer’s might be. And his surrounding
environment moves to a slower, more
mysterious beat all its own, so he’s
well positioned to succeed on his
own terms. “On New Year’s Eve my
main competitor’s store burned down,
which is unfortunate for them, but ideal
for me because I’m still building my
business,” he says. “I’m hauling in their
old customers and doing my best to
keep that new business. I was beating
his prices to begin with, and now he has
no prices, but nothing changes in my
approach. It’s still all about having great
prices and being genuinely friendly with
the customers.”
Ballow is entrenched in his new
career, and as he grows his business
and learns more about the industry,
he doesn’t fear any new challengers
to his turf. “I can live on $500 a month,
and I can eat beans and rice, it doesn’t
bother me,” he says. “If someone
wants to open a store around here and
try to take a bite out of my business,
good luck to them. My overhead is less
than $1,000 per month, including rent,
Internet, advertising, phone service,
and utilities. I’m very willing to do battle
that way because I can outlast them.”
As a new retailer in the ever-
changing tobacco retailing business,
Ballow’s willingness to outlast any
threats to his store’s success and
survival will serve him very well. TOB
“I’m going to look into having a ‘hookah night,’ where
I’ll have a hookah here for people to try out. But I need to check
with the local Health Department first.”