48 Hours of Waiting and Wondering

[jim jim the dog faced boy]

Our nearest relevant competitor is a Massage Envy location that has been there for a few years. We often hear rumors about developments over there, but we have largely assumed that they are doing reasonably well.

Imagine our surprise when we heard that they had received a Notice of Eviction! :shock: You could have knocked me over with a feather.

The local publications carried the news:

http://www.thisweeklive.com/2011/11/15/eagan-strip-mall-seeks-to-evict-two-tenants/comment-page-1/#comment-8401

We learned of it Monday evening. Since then, we have been waiting and wondering what will happen next.

Tonight I saw the update: They are staying in business for now.

http://eagan.patch.com/articles/2-northwood-court-tenants-get-eviction-notices#comment_1870154

http://www.thisweeklive.com/2011/11/15/eagan-strip-mall-seeks-to-evict-two-tenants/comment-page-1/#comment-8401

So ends 48 hours of exciting uncertainty.

 

[hihihiii!]

48 Hours of Waiting and Wondering

Doesn't mean they can get their act together to pay their bills

 

[The Mariachi Bandit]

48 Hours of Waiting and Wondering

...for now. An awful lot of possibilities hide behind that court date, so the exciting part might not be over yet. That's a pretty big sum owed between the two businesses, but then again, they might get their act together and pay up.

 

[Your Southern Can Is Mine]

48 Hours of Waiting and Wondering

I have always contemplated what I would do if a major competitor in my area closed their doors...would I look to capitalize (move into larger location, open a new clinic, etc).

Any thoughts what your next move would be?

 

[73777]

48 Hours of Waiting and Wondering

A major competitor did close in my area so I thought I would share my experience. My course of action was to buy their phone number from the phone company and expand our space. I am in an office building where I could easily rent out an extra room for overflow. It has worked splendidly.

 

[solovesunshine]

48 Hours of Waiting and Wondering

Good idea, Shivashiva! We contemplated some of the possibilities, but decided to adopt a wait-and-see approach. As expected, they worked it out with the landlord before the court date. We will pay attention to future developments, that's for sure!

 

[AdminAVZ]

48 Hours of Waiting and Wondering

Jason, I love how you were able to turn the online story into a business opportunity for your center by leaving a "comment"! Awesome! :grin: I'll have to remember that possibility in the future.

 

[myportraitdrawing]

48 Hours of Waiting and Wondering

Oh wow,

how scandalous...and interesting hehe. Looks like the writing is on the wall for them. They are obviously NOT doing something right. Keep an eye out for developments. Even though they are allowed to stay for now, its very hard to come back from being that far behind on rent. I wouldnt be surprised if they were gone in 6 months time.

On a side note, that comment about "attention massage envy customers", was that from your business Jason? If so, be careful with that. Some customers might find it off putting or tacky to resort to that (and some customers might not mind it at all). Although you will want to and should benefit from massage envy's loss (that makes good business sense after all), you always want to "appear" as being above any kind of advertisement that calls out a competitor by name.

Just my advice for what its worth. I owned and operated a successful pet grooming salon for 7 years, running in direct competition with petsmart and petco (which were both around the corner and down the street from me). I sold the business for a great profit that allowed me to be a stay at home mom for years (now that my kids are older, i cant wait to get started with my new career!)

Anyhow good luck and it will be very interesting to see what happens to them in the next few months.

 

[Young Love]

48 Hours of Waiting and Wondering

I won't hold my breath. It's possible that the whole deal was merely a business dispute rather than a lack of ability to pay.

For example, if a commercial landlord isn't doing something to a tenant's satisfaction, sometimes nonpayment of rent is the only way to get their attention. It's expensive and can result in undesired repercussions, but it IS a tactic widely used in business. This tactic is also widely used in residential leasing/rental housing (i.e. "Landlord won't fix the plumbing? Hold your rent payment."). Some landlords get out of the business because of it.

*shrug* Being a small business owner is never dull. t002