Stand in the Place Where You Are

The model for twenty-first century success in retailing seems to be “Corporatize. Homogenize. Globalize.”

Businesses that follow this maxim thrive by providing customers with a predictable, consistent, and typically high quality shopping experience. Consider Starbucks. The economies of scale and the marketing power of worldwide brands have made it increasingly difficult for local independent retailers to remain competitive. But the winds of global conforming have not swept away all businesses distinct to the unique places where they sprouted and took root. 

Consider Browne’s, the little Irish market at 33rd and Pennsylvania. According to its Web site, Browne’s Market is North America’s oldest Irish business. Founded in 1887, it is certainly one of Kansas City’s oldest businesses, Irish or otherwise, and has been owned and operated from the start by four generations of the same family.

When you walk into Browne’s, on its well worn oak floors, you’re enveloped by the aromas of fresh-brewed coffee (Roasterie) and just-baked cookies (big as saucers). The place has the feel of a perfectly broken-in tweed cap or wool cable-knit sweater—snug, warm, and comfy. You’ll likely be greeted by proprietors Kerry Browne or her husband John McClain, both so thoroughly Irish you suspect their blood runs green.

Kerry Browne says surviving on the same corner for more than 100 years hasn’t been easy. “This was once a thriving residential neighborhood. Back then the store was a butcher shop and grocery serving people who lived and worked nearby. During the Depression neighbors and businesses depended on each other to help them get by. My grandfather let people pay what they could for their groceries and meat. And they repaid that generosity with loyalty. There was a real relationship with customers. But over time the area changed and then changed again. To survive the store had to change as well.”

Browne’s gradually evolved into a delicatessen, selling sandwiches to workers in the office towers erected where houses had once stood. Then it began catering office parties, seminars, and sales meetings for businesses whose employees had become loyal customers of the deli. Then it expanded its line of imported Irish merchandise. And then it added tables so that customers could sit and eat their sandwiches and salads, then linger over coffee and cookies (I’m serious, they’re huge).

“When you’re in business, eventually you’ll find yourself confronted with the choice; do you do the same things you’ve always done, no matter what, or do you try new things in order to stay vital and healthy,” says John McClain. “A place like ours will never be able to compete by going head-to-head with the big national chains. We have to be different. We can’t succeed by imitating them. But we do have to be willing to do new things.”

Kerry agrees. “Our business has changed. But the way we do business has stayed the same. It’s still all about relationships. I swear, John remembers every person who walks through that door, and he makes each person feel welcomed. My father had the same ability, and so did my grandfather. We have a regular customer who’s quite sick right now, and the welcome he gets when he comes into the store—the interactions he has with us and the other customers—well, you can tell that it lifts his spirits. He seems to leave with a sense of optimism. It’s almost as if being here gives him a sense that maybe everything is going to be okay.”

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never left Starbucks with anything other than a venti double-shot-in-the-dark and a sense that I’m late for work.  

Standing by itself on the corner of 33rd and Pennsylvania, Browne’s seems well-positioned for continued success. Kerry says that a fifth generation of Brownes is already active in the business. John notes that the city and developers have plans for mixed use projects in the immediate area, including residential, retail, and office space.

“That’ll mean new customers,” he says. “But it’ll also mean new challenges. The main challenge, though, is to maintain the balance—be flexible, stay fresh, but mostly stay true to who you are.” 

Sometimes the best way to compete is not to. Sometimes the best way to get ahead is to stay put. 

[brabach a dhéanamh means “to make a profit” in Irish Gaelic].

Doug Worgul

Managing Editor

DWorgul@IngramsOnLine.com