Kindness at the "City Morgue"

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless."
― Mother Teresa

I called my favorite wine shop on Christmas Eve to find out until what time it would be open.  "City Morgue," the owner answered.  I laughed for a few seconds before I could even speak.  "How did you know it was me?" I asked.  "I actually thought it was your brother," the owner replied.

While it would make sense for the owner of the wine shop to know my brother, there is no reason for him to know me.  A teetotaler, I am not exactly his best customer.  However, I do visit several times a year to buy gifts.  And, as I was reminded this week, I love going there even though it is more than 10 miles from where I live and there are obviously closer options. 

For someone who does not know a thing about wine, where I buy it matters.  At the "City Morgue," the owner is always very friendly with a great sense of humor.  And his kindness wins me over every time.  He always listens carefully to what I tell him I need and never tries to sell me more than would make sense.  So I feel taken care of and never ripped off.  And though he knows that I don't know a thing about wine, he always tells me a little about what I am buying.  Invariably, my gifts of wine are always a big hit with the recipients.

I read yesterday that despite the increasing popularity of on-line shopping, we still buy more than 90 percent of everything in person.  I wonder if vendors have a sense of how much kindness figures into customer loyalty.