When my wife and I married over 13 years ago we made sure to have a gift registry at Williams-Sonoma. Among the gifts we received were,what seemed to me at the time, some of the most expensive dish towels known to man. Not sure if the cost reflected the quality or the name imprinted on the towel. Of course to guests it would show that we were refined, foody-types who would only shop at the best places, eat the best food and entertain quality guests.
Yeah, whatever.
Thirteen years and two children later we still have those dish-towels. The youngest of those children is closing in on 5 years old and we slowly have been coming out of the baby fog. We looked around our kitchen and realized our days of entertaining, as we had done in the past, were over. After a quick look in one cabinet we realized it was time to throw out most of our spices. To our horror we checked the sell by dates on cans hidden at the back of the pantry. And we checked out the dish towel drawer.
Out of all the dish towels a third needed to be thrown away. Another third are still in good enough shape and we donated them to the Community Furniture Bank along with other linens and towels we had. The final third of the dish towels we kept are from Williams-Sonoma that we received as wedding gifts.
Some of you may read this and think, 13 years? Get rid of those towels. Not going to happen. They really are great towels. Besides, we received a new set at Christmas and that should cover us for the next decade.
So why am I writing about dish towels on this business blog? Quality. In exchange for a premium price, Williams-Sonoma provided a high-quality product. And they have lasted 13+ years.
Next time you are looking for help in your business, don’t shop on price, shop on quality. Otherwise it’s going to cost you in the long run.