I sold a customer a sheet of carbon paper on Saturday. While those working in a newsagency would not be surprised by the sale, others would be. Why buys a single sheet of carbon paper? Someone our Forest Hill way obviously. Actually, the customer wondered aloud how mush longer she would be able to buy the single sheet. Her open wondering was more an acknowledgment of times changing.
The business person in me says we should not sell single sheets of carbon paper unless we have a price model which makes carrying and caring for the stock viable. In a social responsibility sense we must offer single sheets of carbon paper – it is our role as independent small business retailers to carry these traditions as long as we are able.
This is a challenge newsagents face: we compete in a tough and rapidly changing commercial world yet many of us want to respect traditions as demonstrating our point of difference. For now we will continue to stock and sell single sheets of carbon paper.