KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, including Spring Hill. If you have a story idea to share, send Olivia an email at olivia.acree@kshb.com.
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Shoppers feel the effects of inflation when they get to any checkout counter. Small business owners feel the same when they’re manning their own.
It’s also because of big box stores or the rise of online shopping that some small businesses are struggling.
Nevertheless, Moody's Hardware in Spring Hill is managing to stay afloat with places like Home Depot and Walmart just 10 minutes down the road.
They still face challenges, though. Career advice website Zippia reported Kansas has the third highest business failure rate in the country.
The Spring Hill Chamber of Commerce told KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree that fact is reflected in the businesses in town.
Chamber member Sharon Mitchell said Spring Hill had less than 10 retail stores open in the last five years; less than five of those weren’t franchise stores.
Mitchell hopes to see changes when the city population reaches 10,000 people.
Moody's Hardware opened in Spring Hill last year. Manager Hunter Kessler said during building, the cost of wood tripled.
“We expected it and we tried to plan for it, but there's really only so much you can do," he said. "And at the end of the day, I mean, the prices for lumber almost tripled at one point, I think, and so that definitely ate into our budget and we had to work around that very creatively."
But the store made it out of the hole of high costs and is celebrating one year in business.
“We can't compete with the big box stores on all levels. We certainly can't have the amount of inventory they have," said Shiloh Little, Moody's Hardware owner. "We try really hard to match or beat their prices, but we can every single time beat them in customer service. That's almost always what you'll hear from our customers is that they love that they come here — they're always greeted, they always have somebody to help them."
Zippia also reported that one of the top reasons for small business failure is lack of market need.
Little said it’s the service and the store fine-tuning its offerings that keep customers coming back.
“The only things that really have changed for us is just continuing to change our inventory and kind of cater to what the people want and what the people need,” Little said. "I wouldn't say a whole lot has changed. It's just more maybe adapting to how things change in the economy and the community itself.”
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