Shopping in Gatlinburg
Last time I checked its becoming a paperless world. I don't carry much cash anymore to Gatlinburg or the Smoky Mountains myself. I rarely do.
Twice in two days I have not been able to make a purchase (both in Gatlinburg), because I did not have cash. The first time I was at a convenience store on the Parkway. As a side note, isn’t convenience really supposed to mean convenience? Ha ha reminds me of Ken Joe Markets and the running Indians. If you live in Tennessee or the Smoky Mountain Area you can probably heard their ad "convenience, not inconvenience�? If you are inconvenienced at KenjoMarkets they give you a free cup of coffee or soda of your choice. I once didn’t get a receipt printed for gas and they gave me a free soda for being inconvenienced.
I had just come down from a long day in the mountains in Gatlinburg and I really needed a drink. I must have been without food or water for about six hours. Poor planning on my part I know. I went into the store on Parkway in Gatlinburg and found a bottle of sweet tea to purchase. They would not sell it to me, because I had to spend more than 10 dollars using my debit/credit card. They did mention that they had an ATM that costs 3 dollars to withdrawal cash. Ugh.
I left and went to a shop that was literally 30 feet away from this shop. They took my check card no problem. Get this. The previous shop in Gatlinburg was selling me a 12 oz tea for $1.89. It would have cost the store 3 percent plus 25 cents or so to use my card and they would have made at least 50 cents profit. Why turn that down and give it to your competition. I know it’s not a lot but I have a better example.
I am now addicted to fresh taffy from the smoky mountains. I went into a candy shop, again on the Parkway in Gatlinburg to buy some candy. I was in the shop looking around for a good 15 to 20 minutes. I was going to buy some peanut brittle, taffy, and some home made Gatlinburg chocolates. I think My purchase was about 21 dollars. I handed them my debit card and they would not accept it because they do not take cards. Ok in this example there is no 50 cent profit. It’s more like 10 to 15 dollars profit. If you are a shop owner in the Smoky Mountains, let me ask you this. Why turn that down? Pay your 3 percent plus the one time credit card run and stop losing customers to other shops.
Let me guess, those that don’t use their credit card machine in their business still think you can post date a check and send it through your bank without it being cashed till the past date. Now there are some acceptations to the rule. If you have a Gatlinburg Restaurant or Shop in Pigeon Forge with a high amount of traffic it doesn’t really matter if you have a card machine or not. Regardless, conform to the new standards. Allow people to use cards and you will bring in more business.
