Why Business is Slow in Nogales

On the same theme as the story 'A little pride can do wonders' by Manuel C. Coppola, published Friday, July 17, 2009.

I know why business is slow or almost dead in Nogales! Because there is little interest from business owners in having a customer-oriented mentality or business approach. I recently visited a music store located on Grand Avenue near the International Border. The first thing I saw was an unwelcoming sign on a guitar that says: “No tocar la guitarra” or “do not touch the guitar”. They have an unattractive display of guitars that have broken or missing strings or are full of dust. None of the instruments display a price tag and the store is unorganized, messy and dirty to the point that you need to walk around or over equipment left on the floor and even trash. Another sign that caught my attention says: “you must put on gloves before handling the cymbals”. I looked around and did not see any gloves close by. All through my visit I felt like I was being closely watched and they wanted me to leave soon.

Music stores in Tucson encourage prospective buyers to handle, play, test, in essence, “test-drive” the equipment before purchasing. They even have sound-proof rooms where customers can test guitar or bass sound in amplifiers or drum sets for customer to try. The display areas are clean and spacious and employees strive to make customers feel welcome.

It is time Nogales' business owners change their mentality and business practices to make their stores more welcoming and attractive to prospective buyers, so they do not lose business to Tucson or other areas.