Miguels in the Hearld-Leader.

[lordjim_2001]

If you haven't seen it yet there is a nice write up on Miguel's in the Buisness Monday section of today's (1 Nov) Lexington paper. Also avaliable online at: http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/bu ... 067372.htm

[diggum]

What a wonderful article...good for Miguel!

[Huggybone]

"

A rock climber is not a shopper," said Benny Bryant, 64, who owns the Old Country Peddler, a country collectibles gift shop just down Highway 11. "Outside of what they spend at Miguel's, there's no loose change."

I have spent thousands of dollars in the gorge, and on top of that, paid for an entire wedding that happend in the gorge, using mostly local buisness.

There are buisnesspeople down there that will go out of their way to please you. Those are the ones that get climber's buisness.

The majority of climbers are not dirtbags without jobs. otherwise, the crags would be crowded during the week. But they are not. They are crowded on the weekend. Why? because most climbers work 'professional jobs' where you get the weekend off.

[busty]

The Shell or Chevron stations collect some of our money every weekend for gas and munchies.

[diggum]

Very true Huggybone. I have non-climbing friends that tease that all climbers are tree hugging bums & I have to tell them that 99.9% of the climbers I know are professionals who generally make bank. Teachers, programmers, biophysicists, account managers, etc, etc...

If Benny Bryant of Old Country Peddler was selling anything worth buying he'd see some money from climbers. You have to cater to the crowds...which is what Miguel does & is why he has been successful.

D

[Zspider]

A great article. One thing I have noticed is that I don't often identify many locals at Miguel's. Do the local people avoid Miguel's?

ZSpider

[Wicked Tribe]

Climbers don't spend money at Ye Olde Country Peddler because they cater to tourons. Period. They don't cater to any outdoor user group, not jeeps, not horseback riders, not backpackers and definitely not climbers.

Benny Bryant would love climbers (and all the other user groups) if HE owned the Shell station. A lot of those shop owners in Slade are oblivious to what really goes on aroudn the RRG.

There are locals that frequent Miguel's. And there are a lot of locals that climb, bike, paddle and backpack, contrary to popular belief.

[Crankmas]

its cool how Miguel's character comes across even in print, I loved it, what I would have done was deride all the Harvard grads with their laptops and flowsheets "the soulless business climate" Miguel can describe so eloguently with so few words, sweeeet

[Boyd]

Great article. Better pictures! It is unfortunate that the subtext of the piece was that 1) climbers play on the cheap, and 2) they're a mere fraction of users in Red; hence, they're overall insignificant and Miguel's success is an brilliant anomaly.

I agree with diggum. If other tourist shop focus on catering to a specific user base, that might be more durable during the ebb and flow of a tourist economy. I've sure we've all noticed tourism spots selling inauthentic imitations of pure junk. A travesty rooted in uncreative retailers who rely on status quo, sentimentality, and 'God, Mom, and Country' to make a living. Some gift shops are truly unique and have cobbled together a niche offering. Miguel's pizza is the perfect metaphor: I calculated that you can order 237 (to the fourth power) combinations of za.

Aside from being creative and letting the user have some input, put a picnic table outside the retail establishment. Then offer something besides white bread and bologna. IMHO: Get rid of the go-carts and put in a dog park and wash. Also, you know the land to the west of Miguel's (http://www.uky.edu/~blshea1/hot/bigt/bi ... 3d-web.jpg) the tourism corridor should spur him complete his vision...or at least some vision since that is prime property. Does anyone ever go up there?

Finally, the contention that climbers are a small group might be true, but their positive impact is great. Pop psychology time: climbers are 'Visionary' type personalities who break from tradition and forge new subcultures. This subculture paints the gorge with a patina of romance, one that stirs the imagination of non climbers to visit. This article will undoubtedly draw a new crop of sight seers to the Red....but will locals learn a little from Miguel's model and seek other Visionary types, or will they reject wholesale and stick with the traditional: banjos, apple butter, and wildcat shot glasses.

[Spragwa]

Woohoo! Go Miguel. That article was fantastic! It's good to see Miguel get some props. The economic slant wasn't bad either. His shop is textbook for niche marketing to tourists.