Empty storefronts are multiplying here in central Florida. So are empty houses, apartments, and condominiums. The streets aren’t nearly as busy as one might suspect, that is, unless you are over on skid row by the police department, where men and women alike line the sidewalks with pallets and pillows hoping for a semi-safe place to sleep for the night. It has all the makings for an interesting pajama party, if you are the adventurous type.
The empty buildings and businesses are looking shabbier by the day. Lawncare is let go, and the weeds are taking over the walkways that lead to the doors of what was once a thriving, happening little place. The signs that are in place are tired and faded, the countless misspellings and grammatical errors mocking the original efforts of a quality business in a quality environment.Signs are also outdated, and just because you see a sign that says "Labor Ready" does not, by any means, mean that the place of business is still in business and ready to work in your favor, so before you set out to walk 3 or 6 miles to go visit a place of business, make sure there is still a business there.
There are bars and bistros clinging to life downtown, some doing more business than others, but all are feeling the crunch of the almighty dollar. Traffic is not as frequent, people are not as free, not quite so casual with their pocketbooks. Tuesday night in downtown Orlando was a bit busy, but grossly over-shadowed by the poor who were trying to doze off on the park benches, or in the parking lots behind a wealth of shrubs. I think they chose the downtown area because it was busy enough to be both noticed and ignored. No one would care that they were there, and no one would dare shoot them for being there. It must have been very hard to doze off, though, with all the rancor, music at top volumes, and squealing, giggling, overly-playful young adults.
Rumor has it that DisneyWorld and SeaWorld and other top tourist attractions are flying by the seat of their britches. Money is crunched beyond the wildest imaginations of most. How many years can the top employers operate under a deficit? Not more than 3, surely, and they are already 18 months down. It seems to be a standard of business to declare bankruptcy and restructure themselves, but even that seems greatly flawed. As more and more businesses shut down, and oodles of real estate sits idle as casualties of the markets, America loses considerable value. There’s a lot near a corner here in a business district that boasts 100 x 124, in between a dry-rotted, moldy old building and a tire shop, and the agent has a healthy little tag of $250,000. Hello?!?!? Mister real-estate agent? Your dumb little bitty square of land is not worth that much!!! It will never again be worth that much!!! A smart person can look at the sign that holds the price and know that it has been there for a couple or more years now already, and yet they are holding out. "Broker Protected", even…just who does "broker-protected" protect?
So, as I sit here tonight, trying desperately to unravel some sense of it all, I wonder what will be when there is no business left? No, wait… That cannot be. There will have to be business, to some level, at some degree. Perhaps it is time to forego the frilly little yellow silken dresses that cover nothing but our thongs and focus instead on practical wear, such as socks and bras, because there are things that we will hardly do well without.
My grandmother ran a store during the Great Depression, and she had a truly difficult time with her orders, at one point. She told me that times had gotten so hard that her orders were seldom fulfilled, (this came as businesses went under and shipments became more and more often unavailable), and the government sent her what it was willing to afford the community. She pointed out how many and how large the charge accounts grew for a number of families, and how she and her husband were always forgiving and understanding for those who could not pay. She also noted how troublesome it was to keep up with government vouchers for things such as shoes and commodities.
Marketing tactics have gone belly-up, obviously, or there wouldn’t be so many businesses going under. Marketing experts, too, has not appeared to learn much from recent fallacies that have sent businesses tumbling head over heels into the great business graveyard in the sky. I see time and again how they are still over-printing flyers, (trash), mailing them out to become litter or extra weight in the landfills, or pestering folks who dare to set foot inside their shops with all kinds of twisted English that offers "deals" and "discounts". Why can’t we just do business on respectable, honorable business practices anymore? Do we really need all this hype and additives and nonsense in our lives?
Who would be footing the bill for new business to open up? Is there any money left at all for investing in the future? I’m sure there are grants available for small business to open up, but with today’s market being what it is, it seems to be a catch .22 to even consider trying something new, yet, ironically, only something new will be a winner here
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