Playing it safe. What’s in a name?
I was in New York over the weekend with my family. As I’ve mentioned before, leaving your comfort zone and exposing yourself to new environments makes you think a lot.
We walked through Times Square on a fairly warm day. Surrounded by thousands of people on the warm pavement a refreshing drink was a welcomed site as long as it was not being sold at “New York” prices. Just as we were talking about the heat, kids in urban clothes walked by us with coolers on wheels, some speaking loudly, others in hushed tones, selling Poland Spring water bottles for a dollar. Other entrepreneurial members of society walked buy us with coolers or boxes in hand filled with ice and bottles of Poland Spring water. Perhaps it was the combination of voice tones that signified that this was illegal, or perhaps it was the lack of a legitimate storefront with staff wearing name tags, or perhaps it was the fake designer bags and glasses being sold by vendors ready to pack up and run at a moment’s notice, or maybe it was because this was a new and untested experience, or perhaps it was just mom’s warning when I was young to “never accept candy from strangers” that prevented me from buying this water for sale at a great price. Possibly it was a combination of it all.
It was easy to justify to ourselves that it was simply safer and smarter to buy from a store, any store. Hell if we got sick from tainted bottles at least we would have some recourse right? So in the end it’s not just a question of safety and familiarity, but rather accountability that creates a sense of safety and thus drives purchases.
Maybe these would-be Sam Waltons might have been better off setting up a “lemon-aide” stand of sorts and providing a much needed and valued product at a reasonable price.