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Monday, March 1, 1982
Page 10
Daily Nebraskan
Arts & Entertainment
Havelock merchant converts store into 'museum'
By Carl Sjulin
Retail merchant Russell Dodworth decided to do some
thing about his dying store, the Dodworth and Sons Farm
Store, 6132 Havelock Ave.
What Dodworth has done to revive his business, how
ever, is something unique. The crux of Dodworth's prob
lem (as well as other Havelock retailers) is deep-rooted in
the economy and within people themselves.
"With the present national economic situation in its
dire state, coupled with the fact Havelock Avenue got
ripped up and 'beautified' with one tempting and expen
sive federal block grant from mid-summer until just before
Christmas, the retail community is dying in Havelock,"
Dodworth said.
Dodworth said retail stores in Havelock suffer because
buyers purposely avoid their stores because upon entering,
they feel obligated to buy something.
"When you go into K-Mart or Richman Gordman.you
don't feel bad if you don't buy anything. However, when
you go into small stores like mine where the sales clerk is
probably the owner, you feel obligated to buy something
- anything - instead of muttering a nervous 'thank you'
or 'I'm just looking and leaving empty-handed.
Dodworth's cure to these ailments was to convert the
Dodworth and Sons Farm Store into a "retail museum," a
move he thinks will make customers feel more welcome.
"Why not turn it into a museum so people will not feel
obligated to buy," Dodworth said. "Being a museum,
there is nobody to look at you resentfully if you don't
buy anything."
Overnight, Dodworth has transformed lus store into a
retail museum in honor of the bygone days of buying and
selling by appointing himself curator and putting a large
chrome turnstyle at the head of the store. Tickets have
been printed up (a life membership costs SI - the store's
life, not yours) and Dodworth says buses are welcome.
"Within 24 hours, I changed from a common store
keeper to a curator. I've had no increase in salary, but I
feel I've come up the social ladder."
So what has Dodworth done besides launch such a
bizarre media blitz?
"We've made the retail museum into a welcome break
from the uniformly lighted, brightly colored, Muzaked-to-death,
huge shopping centers. On the other side of our
chrome-plated turnstyle is an unusual collection of new
merchandise set about at random with a sort of garbage
sale informality."
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Dodworth & Sons Farm StoreRetail Museum, 6132 Havelock Ave.
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The phrase "unusual mercnanuise migni repicwn u,
understatement of Dodworth's entire campaign to draw
attention to the retailer's plight. The retail museum
features an emporium of goods and souvenirs ranging
from Frisbccs that fly with electric lights to origina art
works with clothing and fishing tackle in between. A host
of modern glassware referred to as "depression glass in
honor of the depression of 1982 is also present. Perhaps
the most unique facet of Dodworth's business is the fact
he buys almost all of his products through trade.
"Every few weeks I will travel down to Dallas or Okla
homa City to the Trade Exchange. There I will trade items
for ones that 1 want in my store or just get rid of items
that wouldn't sell. Last year I traded $24,000 of watches
for various items I now carry in my store. I also used the
watches to trade for my air fare and lodging once 1
arrived." ,
Dodworth, who attended graduate school at New York
University's film and acting division, said many of the
items he acquires are sell-outs of businesses and he can
acquire these products very cheaply and pass the savings
along to his customers.
"The customers who come into my store and pay cash
receive a 50 percent discount and are in effect getting a
wholesale price. People arc welcome to come in and make
a trade offer for something as well. All the prices are
marked in equivalent trade units; for example, a farmer
came in last spring with 9,000 feet of chimney pipe and
we traded for an upright piano. We might take in 65,000
feet of four conductor wire and trade for a video recorder
which in turn might be used for a radio spot."
Dodworth currently has more than 500 microphoned
headsets he acquired in a trade with a bankrupt audio
store. He plans to take these to Dallas to trade for two
semi-loads of grass seed and fertilizer for the coming
spring season. It is examples such as tliese that comprise
the bulk of the retail museum's business.
"On an average day we take in about $10 to $15 of
cash. I've sent my new marketing strategy to Time, News
week, Tfie Wall Street Journal, as well as all the local TV
stations and I hope this encourages people to come into
the store. I've also propped up a few life-size dolls in the
front window to make things look more busy. You can
tell I'm hard up for people - right now I'm as lonely as
the Maytag repairman."
For those who are interested in experiencing the retail
museum, Dodworth has published a list of museum rules
that he feels will help keep the throngs of visitors organiz
ed. They are: 1) Please be considerate of other visitors to
the museum. If you arc admiring a particular object,
please contain your enthusiasm. 2) Photographs are allow
able. See curator because he often likes to get in the frame
and point proudly at things. 3) Interpretors - Foreign
Language. Basic Havelock dialect is spoken. 4) Lost and
Found. All lost items not reclaimed within a short amount
of time will be put on sale for the benefit of the museum.
5) Tips on what to see. Don't rush through or crowd and
push others. If you think somebody is hogging a particular
exhibit, just politely ignore your feelings of annoyance
and come back to this exhibit later. 6) You are visiting the
only museum in the United States of America that pays
taxes, just like you do, or should. 7) The museum is
reverently dedicated to the free enterprise system. None
of the sales at the souvenir shop are tax-deductible, nor is
membership.
"We would like to profit by your visit here. If not,
we'll still be friends. Hie retail species is a lonely and for
gotten group, so we have a great capacity for friendli
ness," Dodworth said. .
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