This holiday season like last is turning out to be like no other. Last years was the beginning of the end of my business, the manufacturer was forcing us to take inventory … coerced by being put in an uncompetitive situation if we did not, financial institutions were refusing to fund that inventory and consumers were not buying the inventory. Notices were received from funding institutions that they no longer wanted to do business with us and no others could be found because banks were not touching businesses in our industry.
It was a gut-wrenching struggle.
At that time I negotiated a new property lease with the family of the business founder who we still rent some property from, there was a 30% reduction. These people have never been involved in business and were hard to come to understand the need. Business and the economy proceeded to get worse month by month.
I attribute most of the economic collapse to greed, from Wall Street to Main Street. Wall Street for its unregulated money grabbing schemes, Main Street for fueling those schemes with home refinance games funding peoples greedy need for more “things”.
Last year was more of a Wall Street related issue I was dealing with, now that New York and Detroit have left me in the gutter by the side of the road … this year it’s Main Street … the property I leased on Main Street from the founders “family” has turned from reluctant understanding of my situation as I wind down the business to all out greed wanting to grab every dollar they can before the ailing cash cow dies. It has been a cash cow for the founders “family” because they have had no responsibility or expense, we would maintain the property, we would insure the property, we paid the property taxes and utilities … we paid them rent. It is my understanding that every attempt of these “family” members to work for their grandfather (these people are in their 60’s now) ended in grandpa firing them, thus opening the door for my father and family to buy the business.
I have generously offered to cover their annual expenses while I systematically vacate their property. Annual expenses that total $25,000 – $30,000. Systematically because we have shared utilities; gas, electric and water that meters and supply lines have to be separated. Systematically because there are open spaces in the building between the shared properties where walls will need to be built. Systematically because there is 85 years of equipment accumulation that must be disposed of. After many proposals being passed back and forth we have finally come to a compromise that includes them grabbing some money and me totally vacating their property by the end of the year, material-wise vacating is possible, utility-wise it is not.
But I’m on a mission … this blog is a great venting avenue, thanks for listening Roscoe, now back to stories about your “job”.
