Emibub
PFG, Picture Framing God
They seem to be falling like dominoes around here. I know of at least three frame shops in my immediate area that are now gone. Just up the street I've noticed three business's that have closed the past couple of months.
But, even more disconcerting, right here in my strip mall it seems to be a barren wasteland. The paint store has been gone for around 6 months, they didn't collapse, I think the company just consolidated locations. But, that alone leaves a huge gap as it is a 4,000 square foot space. The pizza place right next door closed a month or so ago, in fact, he is the second pizza place to go under since I have been here. Just today I came to work and there was a big sign in the dry cleaners that she was going bankrupt and customers could retrieve their belongings at a near by cleaners. So, we now have three out of ten vacant, although I suppose a more positive spin would be seven out of ten full.
My rational side tells me to look at the situation. Both of these people make me look like a business genius. The pizza guy actually had good food but refused to pay money on advertising. He didn't understand if there ever was a coupon driven business it would be pizza. He made brainy moves like waiting until the middle of July to get his air conditioning fixed, that had been broken for three months. Then there is the ice machine which was broken for 6 months or so. They used to go to the convenience store when they had dine ins. Imagine no air conditioning in July and no ice to offer your customers. He didn't even know pizza or the restaurant business when he started up. I asked this guy "why Pizza?" His answer was that "everybody ate pizza." He ran through a boatload of money and employees before he gave up. Too bad too, he had a good product, although inconsistent.
Then there is the dry cleaners. She drinks. That does tell the whole story. Unfortunately, she has kids and they have been attempting to keep her propped up as she drinks more and more. I don't know if she has always struggled, but she has been there for 20 years and there is no appearance of success anywhere. This one was hard, she asked me to look at the place today to vouch that all the equipment was there and she left the key with me. I guess the landlord now owns her equipment. I didn't know what to say to her, I don't care for her much, she has to admit her problems, but man, 20 years everyday in that store by herself, doing it all and raising her kids. It was for the best, but it still choked me up.
So, two business's collapsing in a month. This is personally hard to watch. As I said before, I do feel like a business genius up against either of these people but it is hard to see peoples hopes and dreams disassembled. Obviously, I can't help but fear for my own longevity.....
This can't possibly be good for the strip center or my business. Although neither of these people added much ambiance, they at least gave the appearance of commerce going on. Plus, I am highly concerned who will be moving in. I am reasonably sure that another pizza joint will open next door but who knows on the other vacancies. I had a discussion about my concerns with the landlord. He told me he had considered splitting the paint store because nobody wanted that big of a space but I guess it was prohibitively expensive. He told me an arcade was very interested and he had at this point declined that, thank God. But, I have heard through the grapevine that a possible Laundromat was being considered. He also had mentioned to me the possibility of a check cashing store. I voiced concern about either of those choices and he acknowledged my concerns but he will do what he wants, obviously. Worst case scenario for me would be an arcade and Laundromat, they could open the check cashing store right next door........oh yeah, that'll help me thrive.
Meanwhile, I was told by another tenant that the landlord was in the process of putting the property up for sale. This doesn't sit well with me. I actually like my landlord, he was very fair with both of these people, who knows who might come along.
My lease is up in October and I had begun talks with the landlord before all these vacancies. I have no resources to relocate with so I have no choice but to tough it out here. My plan is to hopefully sign something with two years and an option and hopefully I can get ahead enough and get out of here in two years. He wants me to finalize this sooner than later but I am stalling until I find out who else is moving in. If an arcade or check cashing store moves in there is no way I can commit to anything because that will just destroy my chances and I would expect a much lower rent.
There actually have been a couple new business's that have opened here this year. The beauty salon changed owners and she has done an amazing job revitalizing her store. A yoga place took over the medical center and they have only been open a couple of months and it is amazing how many Lexus's, BMW"S and assorted SUV"S are parked outside almost everyday now. That really excites me. But, with all the other shifting tenants it has just become very apparent to me that this is one thing that could have a huge impact on my business and it is totally out of my control. It is hard enough to overcome my own learning curve. Being underfunded certainly hasn't helped. But if the shopping center continues to erode how do I overcome that? If I had to list my biggest issue with my business it would absolutely be my location. Now, if the other entities here are what I consider unsavory it is going to make this location just that much harder to overcome.
It certainly has got me in a tizzy the past couple of weeks. It is eerie to see other people fail. I don't need to see the dissolution of one business much less two business's in such a short amount of time. It gives me the heebie jeebies. I feel like a sitting duck.
Sorry this is so long, just had to vent.........
But, even more disconcerting, right here in my strip mall it seems to be a barren wasteland. The paint store has been gone for around 6 months, they didn't collapse, I think the company just consolidated locations. But, that alone leaves a huge gap as it is a 4,000 square foot space. The pizza place right next door closed a month or so ago, in fact, he is the second pizza place to go under since I have been here. Just today I came to work and there was a big sign in the dry cleaners that she was going bankrupt and customers could retrieve their belongings at a near by cleaners. So, we now have three out of ten vacant, although I suppose a more positive spin would be seven out of ten full.
My rational side tells me to look at the situation. Both of these people make me look like a business genius. The pizza guy actually had good food but refused to pay money on advertising. He didn't understand if there ever was a coupon driven business it would be pizza. He made brainy moves like waiting until the middle of July to get his air conditioning fixed, that had been broken for three months. Then there is the ice machine which was broken for 6 months or so. They used to go to the convenience store when they had dine ins. Imagine no air conditioning in July and no ice to offer your customers. He didn't even know pizza or the restaurant business when he started up. I asked this guy "why Pizza?" His answer was that "everybody ate pizza." He ran through a boatload of money and employees before he gave up. Too bad too, he had a good product, although inconsistent.
Then there is the dry cleaners. She drinks. That does tell the whole story. Unfortunately, she has kids and they have been attempting to keep her propped up as she drinks more and more. I don't know if she has always struggled, but she has been there for 20 years and there is no appearance of success anywhere. This one was hard, she asked me to look at the place today to vouch that all the equipment was there and she left the key with me. I guess the landlord now owns her equipment. I didn't know what to say to her, I don't care for her much, she has to admit her problems, but man, 20 years everyday in that store by herself, doing it all and raising her kids. It was for the best, but it still choked me up.
So, two business's collapsing in a month. This is personally hard to watch. As I said before, I do feel like a business genius up against either of these people but it is hard to see peoples hopes and dreams disassembled. Obviously, I can't help but fear for my own longevity.....
This can't possibly be good for the strip center or my business. Although neither of these people added much ambiance, they at least gave the appearance of commerce going on. Plus, I am highly concerned who will be moving in. I am reasonably sure that another pizza joint will open next door but who knows on the other vacancies. I had a discussion about my concerns with the landlord. He told me he had considered splitting the paint store because nobody wanted that big of a space but I guess it was prohibitively expensive. He told me an arcade was very interested and he had at this point declined that, thank God. But, I have heard through the grapevine that a possible Laundromat was being considered. He also had mentioned to me the possibility of a check cashing store. I voiced concern about either of those choices and he acknowledged my concerns but he will do what he wants, obviously. Worst case scenario for me would be an arcade and Laundromat, they could open the check cashing store right next door........oh yeah, that'll help me thrive.
Meanwhile, I was told by another tenant that the landlord was in the process of putting the property up for sale. This doesn't sit well with me. I actually like my landlord, he was very fair with both of these people, who knows who might come along.
My lease is up in October and I had begun talks with the landlord before all these vacancies. I have no resources to relocate with so I have no choice but to tough it out here. My plan is to hopefully sign something with two years and an option and hopefully I can get ahead enough and get out of here in two years. He wants me to finalize this sooner than later but I am stalling until I find out who else is moving in. If an arcade or check cashing store moves in there is no way I can commit to anything because that will just destroy my chances and I would expect a much lower rent.
There actually have been a couple new business's that have opened here this year. The beauty salon changed owners and she has done an amazing job revitalizing her store. A yoga place took over the medical center and they have only been open a couple of months and it is amazing how many Lexus's, BMW"S and assorted SUV"S are parked outside almost everyday now. That really excites me. But, with all the other shifting tenants it has just become very apparent to me that this is one thing that could have a huge impact on my business and it is totally out of my control. It is hard enough to overcome my own learning curve. Being underfunded certainly hasn't helped. But if the shopping center continues to erode how do I overcome that? If I had to list my biggest issue with my business it would absolutely be my location. Now, if the other entities here are what I consider unsavory it is going to make this location just that much harder to overcome.
It certainly has got me in a tizzy the past couple of weeks. It is eerie to see other people fail. I don't need to see the dissolution of one business much less two business's in such a short amount of time. It gives me the heebie jeebies. I feel like a sitting duck.
Sorry this is so long, just had to vent.........