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find it hard to compete. From a technology
standpoint, within a few months we’ll all be
even.”
Still, while the technology gap has closed
and DTC’s local footprint is more tangible
than its’ mammoth national conglomerates,
Gates says a main concern going forward is
that a younger, tech-savvy crowd will be less
driven by a sense of hometown loyalty than
previous generations had been.
“That is becoming less and less important,”
he says. “I’m hoping that at some point those
kids get into their 30s and 40s and they re-
alize that local is always where it’s been for
them and they come back.
“But the demographics for us are that late
30s on up are more loyal, and those below are
like anywhere else, not so much. The more
global their communications are, thanks to
electronics, the less connected to a home
base they become – whether it’s with a wire-
less provider or any other of DTC’s business
entities.”
But by consistently drumming home the
‘We’ll be there for you’ approach even to the
youngsters, he hopes the local theme will
eventually resonate and make a difference.
“You give them technology and they don’t
really care where it’s from, as long as it works
and lets them do what they want,” he says.
“We’re as technically advanced or more so
than our larger competitors, and when you
get a big company store or a big box store and
you have to deal with them, you’re a number.
Here, you come in and we either know you
or we know your family, and even if we don’t
we’re going to put a smile on and greet you
like you’re a friend.
“That’s where we try to differentiate our-
selves and go the extra mile for people.”
The big versus small contrast is also evi-
dent in in-house corporate culture, where
the former is more structured, layered and
broad-based and the latter is significantly
smaller in scale and less versed in the dog-
