Another Mom and Pop bites the dust

Located in the tiny plaza at the corner of Hesperian and Middle Lane in Hayward was a store that sold mostly used clothing and other items. I visited this business a number of months ago, when we had our store to get some insight. I passed by this place many times as I left our neighborhood and seldom saw very many people in there and I really didn't think that the business was doing any good. Apparently, they emptied out the store for whatever reason and logically it looks like their lease ran out on June 30.

I feel sorry that another private entrepenour (mom & pop we could probably refer to) has gone out of business. When this property was vacant a few years ago, I gave thoughts to having our business in there, but I wasn't quite ready for it. One year ago, we did open our store, Desirable Fashions on Hesperian Blvd in Hayward (across from Kennedy Park). We spent much of July in Oregon and when we returned, preparing to move in, the McDonalds next door was demolished and their was dust, sand, rocks and ugliness all over the place. This went on for several months and they opened their new establishment just after Jan 1. By that time, we had been ruined - construction completely ruined our December sales, and we decided to close the store in late January. As time goes on, I'll go into more detail over this because there are so many things that went on over there. I'll either put bits and pieces in this blog or put the whole shabang on one of my websites.

My major problem with my store was there was no foot traffic and the other businesses were 'destinations.' Hair dresser, fish & chips, cell phones, a BAR, a BARber, etc. Biggest lesson: I needed to be next to other similar (but not the same) businesses where people good go from shop to shop.

And that was the demise of the business I began telling you about. It too needed foot traffic that plaza did not have drawing power. I've seen so many small businesses (like this one and my own) go under. The economy is very bad and with rising gas prices....it's going to get worse. Much worse? With slow sales, we had no choice but to close down. With larger businesses (Target, etc.) they merely fire the employees and move on. It's always the 'little guy' that gets hurt.