Didn’t they used to make a shake called the fribble?
Funny you should say that. That location has been bad luck for the owner (she leases to the restaurants). The one I mentioned here had to close suddenly after the tax evasion charges. Then the new restaurant tenant fell behind on rent payments and surprise they had a kitchen fire. The owner spent like a year and tons of money to get it rentable once again (nobody in it yet.)
I do wonder about yankee candle and the other candle store that is in some malls. You can get scented candles anywhere, how are they still doing business?
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Yes! The Friendly Fribble!
And for those who are sensitive to smells, YC is very overwhelming. I always avoid stores like that and Bath & Body Works.
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Every donation store near me (Salvo, Goodwill, the local hospitals, etc.) have a huge display as you walk through the door- scented candles. All types. High end, low end, pine and cinnamon for Xmas, “Beach and Sunshine” for summer. You have to wonder what goes through people’s heads as they give yet another scented candle to their kids teacher, their mom’s PT, the neighbor who brings in their packages when they are away.
Half the videos out there from “decluttering consultants” focus on “just put the scented candle in the trunk of your car so you can donate it the next time you pass Goodwill. Don’t even bring it in the house”…
To each his own I guess! My allergies would rebel if I had a candle in my car with all those scents concentrated!
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I went to Applebee’s and Best Buy this week and saw so many problems, so can’t imagine them making it much longer. Applebee’s was out of hamburgers and napkins. Best Buy misplaced my computer twice. It makes me sad.
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BBY mints money and has a great dividend. I agree, going there is “difficult” - sort of like Home Depot.
DINE brands (Applebees and IHOP) - I’d never go but also very profitable although most restaurants are making less money today given food costs and inability to cover with price increases.
But both these businesses will be around for many years to come.
The IHOP near me is about to close. At some point, the stale coffee/rubbery pancakes business model collides with fancy coffee places at the high end, and people just staying home at the low end.
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Sunday after church keeps IHOP in business here. That place is packed for hours. Otherwise, it’s pretty dead. We used to go pretty often on Saturdays, but their prices are skyrocketed.
Best Buy - I used to sing their praises. Bought many computers/laptops from them. Then I had one aggravating experience with the Geek Squad, followed by an inexcusable experience with the Geek Squad. The latter was actually a couple of visits followed by other terrible dealings via phone & email. It was so bad, I will not ever set foot in a nor buy online from Best Buy again. This is the only company that I refuse to do business with.
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Agree on the skyrocketing prices. And people seem a LOT more sensitive to that right now…
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Last experience at Best Buy, a Geek squad fix for a software issue with a laptop, necessitated 4 trips to the store before it was done properly. My big surprise was that the showroom was filled with home appliances, fridges, washing machines, fancy coffee makers, etc. I wonder if they are making money on those items (but so many other places sell appliances - home depot, loews, etc.)
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I was thinking about this again (not sure why). When the laudromat or nail salon participates in money-laundering, do they in effect overstate their income and pay cash on it as a means of getting it into legitimate financial institutions? Or do they pay it out as an expense to another company?
Interesting about the nail salons. A few years ago, I wanted my nails done so I walked up to the nearby shopping district. I went into 5 ( yep) different nail salons and every one of them was packed and not talking walk ins! I was shocked.
There has been a big cultural shift on this. Back in my hs and college years ( the 70’s) no one I knew went to nail salons. Not even for proms or sorority formals. But now it seems as if many people regularly get manis and or pedis. I know I get regular pedis year round ( my feet show at yoga
), D and her friends all get regular manis.
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There is a buffet restaurant not too far from me that has been very popular since they opened. There was a raid and the owners were arrested for having undocumented employees who they kept in one single family home. More along the lines of human trafficking than hiring undocumented workers. They were closed briefly but then reopened. Since they reopened they have been as busy as ever. I am surprised so many people still frequent the place knowing what happened there.
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As it was explained to me (I am not an expert in either bank fraud or the beauty industry)–
Let’s say the actual cash generated per week from the legitimate business is $2K? (lots of folks pay by credit card these days). That leaves them with a $ 7,999 “cushion” for a cash deposit at their bank before triggering Patriot Act mandatory reporting by the bank. So any number of non-legitimate businesses (trafficking, drugs, etc.) can walk in, dump 6K or so per week, the nail salon does the entire cash deposit at their regular bank and then that illegitimate cash has been laundered-- it’s salon proceeds, and can get tapped via withdrawal in a check or online withdrawal. Multiply the 6K by 52 weeks per year by 10 salons in the same general vicinity (they are usually near each other) and you’ve got a little laundromat going.
Yeah, they’d have an audit problem if it came to that. Which explains why in my area, “BeautiYou” closes down suddenly and then a month later, same location but different manager at the cash register becomes “Colorific”. I think a lot of swapping out of name, sales tax ID’s, business registration, store manager explains how the owner deals with an unexpected audit (or scrutiny by the FBI for trafficking).
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They mint money. A lot of their business is no doubt on line and just like a car dealer (my industry), a lot of profits likely come from service and extended warranties.
Many hide money. B4 no tax on tips, Las Vegas was full of many people with shoe boxes of cash, paying cash for everything - even at Costco. How do I know? Family relation.
I hate cash. Those folks pay all their bills (where you can) in cash -guys who take you from your car, load your bags on a cart, bell hops and more.
When cash is involved as a primary, you can be assured cheating is happening.
This includes restaurants which charge a cc fee (now happening regularly). Cash they are getting will surely find a way to disappear in many cases.
Hallmark Store!
Really? Really? REALLY?
We have one in our neighborhood strip mall, it’s been there for ages - well over 20 years. Meanwhile eateries of all stripes have come and gone like a carousel, but the Hallmark Store is like the Timex watch! (you know, takes a licking and keeps on ticking)
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Yep! It’s the same with the Hallmark in our area, been there for ages, seems to always be empty…I usually buy cards at Target or Trader Joe’s
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Thanks.