Swim upstream. Go the other way. Ignore the conventional wisdom.
If you don't listen to your customers, someone else will.
I guess in all my years, what I heard more than anything else was: a mere town cannot support a discount store for very long.
Don't get so stuck in your ways that you can't change.
I have always been driven to buck the system, to innovate, to take things beyond where they've been.
Celebrate your success and find humor in your failures. Don't take yourself so seriously. Loosen up and everyone around you will loosen up. Have fun and always show enthusiasm. When all else fails, put on a costume and sing a silly song.