#16
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In NYC on First Avenue and east 11th street there is a shop run by an old middle eastern man. He sells Fabrics and repairs sowing machines. It is a real hole in the wall but his knowledge of fabrics and old style sowing machines is impressive. I was alway surprised by the amount of people that could fit into his shop. He told me that his customer base comes from all 5 NYC Boroughs, and beyond.
And you can tell he loves what he does.
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David Webber Round-Body Furch D32-LM MJ Franks Lagacy OM Rainsong H-WS1000N2T Stonebridge OM33-SR DB Stonebridge D22-SRA Tacoma Papoose Voyage Air VAD-2 1980 Fender Strat A few Partscaster Strats MIC 60s Classic Vib Strat |
#17
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Guitar center is the opposite they are always busy but no one seems to be buying anything..
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Martin 00018 Last edited by srick; 06-06-2018 at 11:27 AM. Reason: implied profanity - not family friendly |
#18
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I don't know anyone who does not have several clocks in their house. Yes, I am constantly amazed just driving around any town and looking at all the businesses. Wondering who actually steps inside. |
#19
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When I go to a mall, which is not very often, I see several jewelry stores with nobody in them. They can't possibly make all their money just on Valentines day and Christmas. Mall rent must be fairly high. I can't understand how they manage to stay open.
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#20
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I would surmise that the markup on what they sell is incredibly high.
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Sobell Model 1 Sobell six string archtop Gibson ES-165 Herb Ellis Eastman John Pisano Gibson Johnny A Franklin Prairie State Collings D1A |
#21
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No need to wonder about this one. They stay in business by amassing debt.
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Sobell Model 1 Sobell six string archtop Gibson ES-165 Herb Ellis Eastman John Pisano Gibson Johnny A Franklin Prairie State Collings D1A |
#22
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When it's a store front type of building (multi floor), commercial downstairs residential apartments upstairs, quite often the business owner owns the building and collects rent from the upstairs tenants which pays the overhead plus some on the building. This would help keep a business that barely breaks even stay open.
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Barry My SoundCloud page Avalon L-320C, Guild D-120, Martin D-16GT, McIlroy A20, Pellerin SJ CW Cordobas - C5, Fusion 12 Orchestra, C12, Stage Traditional Alvarez AP66SB, Seagull Folk Aria {Johann Logy}: |
#23
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There is a business called "Magnetic Tape Recorder Inc." here in Louisville in an old building on the corner of Payne St. and Baxter Ave. I have lived here for 30 years and they have always been there. It was as desolate then as it is now. I assume they repair and sell old stereo and recording equipment. I have never seen anyone in there...ever.
There are a couple apartments on the second floor. Maybe they own the building outright and don't have too many expenses, so the income from the apartments is enough. Even 30 years ago before the digital revolution I couldn't understand how they stayed in business.
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1990 Alvarez Yairi DY-77 2009 Taylor 414ce ltd. Taz. Black |
#24
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Yeah I don't get it, either.
My 22k pop. college town's Main Street is 5 blocks long and now mostly little gifty shops and trendy places like an upscale kitchen devices shoppe, a used book store, specialty donut place and antique stores. I'm not sure about the numbers but if rent is a grand or two a month and they're open 200 hrs/month and need at least 2 employees at $10/hr, the absolute bare minimum overhead per month is $5-6000. If it's 6k, and they're open those 200 hrs, they must take in $30 every hour OVER their cost of the goods being sold just to break even. This doesn't even take into account other business costs like insurance, taxes, utilities, interest on merchandise debt and/or the monies tied up in inventory and so on. Some of these stores, like the used book store might go a couple hours without a sale. So, yeah, small-business ownership has to be one of the most stressful endeavours people willingly undertake.
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__________________ "Life goes on, within you and without you" |
#25
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How do you make a small fortune in a retail store? You start with a large fortune.
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#26
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Dozens. The frontrunners are the flooring stores. Must be twenty of them within 5 miles of me. Two are on routes I drive nearly every day. No customers....ever.
Then we have the furniture stores running a close second. At least ten of them nearby. Three are on routes I drive nearly every day. No customers....ever. What really gets me is the beauty salons. Too many to count, but at least they have customers. |
#27
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For me it would be small one owner computer stores/service centers. There are still quite a few of them around. They are like the TV repairmen of the times. Most now service cell phones too.
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Just an old drum playing guitarist now. |
#28
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#29
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Oh, how could I forget this. In North Jersey, on RT46 btw the towns of West Paterson and Little Ferry there are...get this...52 ( at last count) used car lots. This is a distance of about 10 miles, and they never seem to change, ( at least it looks that way). Just crazy.
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Free speech...its' not for everybody |
#30
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There's an electronics repair shop in a particularly rough section of town. Been there for years. A few years back our TV was acting up. I called them a couple times and left messages. The owner called back and said he's taken the shop over when his dad's health failed but he only goes in 1-2 times a week. No way he could make a living there. Then he proceeded to tell me over the phone how to fix the problem myself, free of charge...
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