"Location, location, location" is one of the most important rules when it comes to owning and operating a retail business. When opening a store, regardless of type, you want a location that has a high amount of traffic, has appealing neighboring stores that may bring in new customers to your own store, is recognizable and convenient to a large number of customers. Finding a premium location to open a store is incredibly important as the costs of opening a store can be sizable. Open a "dog"--a store that fares terribly-- and it can end up operating at a loss, adding to the financial injury of the initial capital outlay. My father was generally the master at finding what he called a "primo" location. His very first gas station was one of the busiest in the Pacific NW and its sales volume constituted roughly 50% of all of Texaco's gasoline sales for the region west of the Willamette River. Once upon a time, however, he forgot the importance of location and thought the success of his businesses were due to him having a Midas touch. He could turn any dog into a golden goose. I'll never forget when he drove me out to look at his latest location acquisition out in Sandy. It took me just a second to glance at how the traffic flowed in the area and, knowing my dad did value my opinion, I blurted out "you just opened a dog". Sure enough, when Equilon started to squeeze my father out of the retail gasoline market, his Sandy location, which had been barely profitable, sank to running at a monthly operating loss of up to $250,000 a month.
For a small to mid-sized business owner, because there are fewer locations that one is operating at, a loss of a single store can have significant financial impact. Worse yet, if the store that closed was in a "primo" location, the loss of that particular location can be fairly devastating. My dad was slowly pressured out by Equilon, a joint venture between Texaco and Shell, after being invited to attend a meeting where he was informed that every one of their franchised locations in the Portland market would become a "company-owned" store. Essentially, the individual dealers would be weeded out and Equilon would instead operate all of the locations under the banner of Texaco or Shell. It was basically a case of the big guy obliterating the little guy for years afterwards and, locally, Chevron engaged in the same activities. It eventually came under the notice of Sen. Ron Wyden, who attempted valiantly to protect the "Mom and Pop's", but even he couldn't stop the wrecking ball of large corporate progress. It was literally the death of small gasoline dealers in the Pacific Northwest. My dad finally closed his doors permanently in 2008 after years of struggling.
That was ten years ago. Today, the same thing is occurring but this time, it isn't with gas stations. This time, it is occurring with just about any other retail store in large shopping malls. If you go to a store in Phoenix, you're going to most likely see the same stores as you'd see in Portland or Seattle or even Philadelphia--all large national chains with significant financial might. One of my dreams was to open a specialty store that specialized in technology and gaming because I saw a niche open. One only has to walk past the Apple store in Washington Square and see all the men in there, basking with an almost desperation to avoid the majority of the female dominated mall. I wanted to open a gamer's boutique that would give them a place to cut loose a little, relax, and admire the latest and greatest gaming gadgetry while their wives had their noses buried in shoes and handbags. However, that dream is definitely dead for, as of today, I now know that Washington Square is not interested in offering any of its lease locations to any small business. That message is infinitely clear as they have given Excalibur, a locally owned and operated business who had been a loyal resident of their mall for 30 years, the boot in favor of large national chains. Worse yet, although the mall had made arrangements for a replacement store 6 months in advance, they gave Excalibur only one month's notice. That's perfectly legal on their part but still pretty distasteful to do to a business owner that has been a part of their mall since nearly the mall's opening. That hurts Excalibur and its employees. It gives them too little time to respond to the change and loss of what was probably one of their primo locations. What next? Is Made in Oregon going to get the boot soon, too?
The funny thing is that it may have been a poor move on Washington Square's part. The reason being is that, if your mall offers exactly the same things as another mall does with no variety, then what reason is there to go to that mall when another mall has something different to throw into the mix? Washington Square is going to simply house the same staid big national chains. I'll know exactly what I'll be getting--that's for certain. Yet, just a few minutes further away, I can go to Bridgeport Village that has both a mix of big chain and true independent boutique. I actually have a lot more fun going to Bridgeport Village as the variety is really very inviting. I like spotting a store and wandering into it to see what it has to offer. I have found some of the coolest, inconsequential things in those kind of stores. I'll wander at Bridgeport Village when, compared to Washington Square, I have no interest in wandering. Historically, I've walked into Washington Square, gone to where I need to be and walked right back out again without stopping along the way. It's boring. That's one of the reasons why I had a dream about opening something different there. It was a primo location for something different but they don't want different. They want to be a cookie cutter, who caters to national chains and shuts the doors on variety. After seeing what occurred to the local gas dealers 10 years ago, Washington Square's dealings with Excalibur deeply worries me for small business in America. It is just one more nail in the coffin for the American dream.
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