Failed Entrepreneur blames 9/11…still
I walked around some of the streets of the Lower East side the other night and parked my car in front of a “we carry everything” store. What do they carry? Fur coats, leather jackets, belts, luggage, hats, scarves, and seasonal clothes & accessories.
The entire block carries the same stuff – it’s like Chinatown or some place along Fifth Avenue with the difference being that they all really carry the same stuff. There is no variety of goods, the pricing is all the same.
I always wonder how anyone along this strip makes any money. So I asked a man who was standing outside his empty store about the details…the conversation as I recall it appears below…
Me: How’s it going?
Man: What country are you from? India?
Me: Yeah, India.
Man: What part?
Me: Gujarat.
Man: Yeah. You know Gujaratis and Punjabis are always up to date (referring to my wardrobe) they look like the Americans.
Me: (laughing) I guess so. Where are you from? Bangladesh?
Man: Yeah, Bangladesh.
Me: You know, I don’t see any business coming on this street anymore. How is it?
Man: You know it is very slow.
Me: Yeah, it seems everyone on this block sells the same stuff.
Man: No, it’s not that, it is after 9/11, after 9/11 everything went slow. (pointing) You see that store over there? The one that says Men’s Suits? That used to be mine but I had to sell it, I was not making any money.
Me: Really?
Man: Yeah. Now I work for my friend here. But there’s no business.
Me: Yeah, it doesn’t seem like there’s much to do.
Man: Yeah, not much business, but you know bosses.
Me: Yeah, even if there’s no work to be done, they want you to stay in front of their face.
We greeted each other by name (I forgot his) and moved on. He has two infants and there is no other hope for him, he is not well-educated and does not have any other prospects. He will most likely continue on working for his friend as long as his friend can afford to keep him on.
But is it 9/11 that is causing his business to suffer? Or a weak economy? Or the fact that no one needs any of the goods in that store because we’re having one of the weakest winters in the history of time?
Maybe everything, but I always feel that folks that continue to blame 9/11 are out of their minds. It’s over man, it’s been over, it’s not really to blame any longer…
You were on Orchard Street, right? I shop at a luggage store on that street, and walk down the part with all the shops every so often – there are always people standing outside trying to get you to come in and shop there. The luggage store I go to seems like they do a pretty decent business, but it seems that most of the other shops there don’t get much traffic. I doubt that it’s still 9/11 related, however.