Our store did really well in 2012 after opening in November of 2011. In my first January when retail is traditionally slow anyway, we wondered about ever succeeding. A woman came in, walked all around, and said, “I just bought beads 50% off in Longmeadow yesterday. It is really great to get half off.” She bought nothing from us.
It is great to get half off. It is usually a strategy to get people into the store during traditionally slow times, but I had a bad feeling about this big sale.
It is not usual for a privately owned store to be running half off sales… Unless they are going out of business. I worked at the mall while substitute teaching. Chain stores have sales of 60 and 70% off but I am sure that they are still making money even when they do. A small business has a bigger struggle to cover rent, taxes, electricity, cable, phone and advertising, staff before ever making a profit.
Even though I had tried to research all stores selling beads within a 100 mile radius, I had never heard of any stores in Longmeadow selling beads. When I did find it, it was already out of business.
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