There are rumors that Jay Leno will make a surprise appearance on Letterman’s last show tonite. It got me thinking about a comparison that I am sure you have never before considered – Buzzy as David Letterman and Ross Raley as Jay Leno. As Desi would say “I got some splainin’ to do” so bear with me as I work my way thru this for you.
Last week when I read the following Letterman quote in a NY Times interview it reminded me of a Buzzy conversation that we once had. Letterman was asked:
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| From http://www.nytimes.com# |
When Buzzy first began to have some health issues several years ago, we were talking about him continuing to run the Store and he made a comment “If Ross Raley is still doing it, guess I can too.” I never knew that Ross was such a role model to/for Buzzy, but I could see why.
Buzzy and Ross were peers who had been in business a long time and back in the day, as Letterman and Leno were, they too were competitors. They both ran a general store with an on premise liquor license in what was referred to as a Gro-Bar. They cut meat, sold gas and in addition to selling groceries and produce, they offered a full line of goods and hardware. (I can still remember waiting for the Ryken bus early mornings at the first Raley’s Store where the Ridge Hardware Store is now, and passing the time reading Crawdaddy magazine. Unlike Buzzy, Ross had a full selection of magazines for sale. Buzzy had correctly anticipated that people like me would scan the magazines and never actually buy any of them.)
Ross eventually made a wise decision to relocate his store and build the bigger, better Town and Country Market just up the road from his first store. In doing so, he did away with his bar and on premise liquor license but expanded everything else.
Buzzy went in the other direction. He scaled back the grocery store operations and instead emphasized the beer and liquor side of the business. And when I say emphasize, I mean EMPHASIZED. He stopped trying to compete as a general store and focused on the beer and booze thing instead.
Business-wise of course, Ross’s decision was a good one as his store, thanks in large part to the collective efforts of his brother Francis and their sons Ray, Danny, Keith and Bruce did extremely well for a number of years. Buzzy, a one man band, did well too as he carved out his niche and oversaw it for over 50+ years. (The creation of several apartments in and around the Store also allowed Buzzy to be less concerned with competition up and down the road business-wise. For instance, Rick Ince, just down the road from Buzzy, had slowly morphed his marine shop into a convenience store operation also.)
Now read Letterman’s take on how his competition with Leno evolved:
Sort of like Letterman came to do his thing and not worry about Jay and the others, Buzzy focused on his piece of the action and made his Store what it is today – a place to relax and have fun. When it came to the subject of “the competition,” Buzzy’s take on it was: “Keep your eye on it, but worry more about what you are doing than what the other guy is up to.”
Check out this video of Adam Sandler saying goodbye to Dave (click here.)
Dylan was Dave’s last musical guest last night. Would have been too cool if he had done this song as a tribute to Dave.
However, he chose this Frank schlock song instead from his new album. Wonder how Bob’s career would have evolved if he had ever had any real competition to keep an eye on.