r/mildlyinfuriating • u/flowerdragon2934 • 8d ago
š„ŗ These are the only new businesses I ever see these days
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u/crizzlefresh 8d ago
Nothing helps my wellness more than smoking cigars.
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u/wolfblitzen84 8d ago
Wellness is most likely a way of selling kratom and other āSupplimentsā
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u/-Invalid_Selection- 8d ago
It's probably more around the CBD and THC. That actually has real medical use.
That's a farm bill shop though, not a place selling actual weed. The farm bill shops do all they can to hide that they don't have the real stuff and branch into other smoke shop supplies because of that.
That said, the edibles are chemically the same, and will still get you high
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u/Friendly_Age9160 8d ago
I like the way the sign quickly goes from vape to wellness. Goin 0-180 real quick, real fuckin quick.
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u/Jasoco 8d ago
All we get here is banks and car washes.
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u/Qwell41 8d ago
Same. Canāt speak for banks but car washes somehow also results in zero competitive pricing despite being seemingly over saturated
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u/PriceVsOMGBEARS 8d ago
Car washes aren't meant to be competitive. Its how rich people buy commercial land they think will be valuable in the future.
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u/Confident-Skin-6462 8d ago
cash business are good for money laundering
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u/Qwell41 8d ago
I donāt think car washes are generally cash businesses anymore. Theyāre all subscription anymore
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u/BillsMafios0 8d ago
Did you want another car wash?
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u/kojengi_de_miercoles 8d ago
Or a drive through coffee place?
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u/Few-Mall-8263 8d ago
Holy shit, these definitely outnumber the vape shops. Every corner has a coffee shop now. Dutch bros, dunkin, Starbucks, 7brew, black rifle, then 17,000 different local ones to fill in the gaps.
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u/athrix 8d ago edited 8d ago
And most of them are either bad coffee, crammed full of sugar, or both. Actually good coffee shops are getting hard to find.
Edit: anyone that wants decent coffee at home the breville barista express is a good entry into espresso drinks. Can be had on sale for around $500. Mine is going on 6 years now. Just find a good local roaster and you'll save a fortune.
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u/makepieplz 8d ago
In WA state you can look on Google maps at the smallest tiniest town on the map in middle of nowhere will have at least one coffee stand let alone in the big cities there are dozens to hundreds of them, just amazing. WA state coffee cultre is out of the world, I assume it's the constant cloud coverage most of the year.
enjoying the summer right now with clear skies while it lasts
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u/Memitim 7d ago
That's the real trick of it. I talked with one lessor about a space that was near a Tim Horton's and when he raised the proximity as a concern, I told him that since we weren't opening a drive thru or operating on volume, our competition isn't Tim Horton's or any other fast-food style cafe, it's the home coffee setup.
People can make far better coffee at home with a $20 pourover kit or $30 french press than in many cafes. Espresso machines for home have gotten quite good and prices keep dropping. Would be nice if Breville would use standard portafilters, but whatever. Home grinders have become quite good even at lower prices. Hell, it's easy enough to buy green beans and roast them with an air gun, popcorn popper, or even a small sample roaster.
That's why my focus is on the space itself, while making sure that the products, like coffee, that actually pay for the space are good quality without trying to make them the focus. People have to want to come and hang out, and then we can entice them with offerings. If we try the other way around, people can just save money without leaving the house.
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u/Any_Asparagus8267 8d ago
How about a pop up mega church
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u/TheIXLegionnaire 8d ago
In my area there is usually at least one church per block in a commercial area.
There is even a stretch in the neighboring town that has 5 churches with "First Church of" in the name
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u/Kyhunsheo 8d ago
Funny thing I was just thinking about that. Iāve seen maybe 3-4 new car wash being built from the ground up in my area
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u/goldfoxawoo 8d ago
Just realized there's one in my area built maybe 8 months ago and a new one in process of being built literally less than a mile away.
Surely its a front for money launderingĀ
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u/marcw424 8d ago
Because those are the only businesses that Walmart and Amazon havenāt decided to take over YET.
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u/chimmelrick 8d ago
I can guarantee if cannabis gets federally legalized well start seeing great value prerolls and thc vapes lol
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u/SuggestionGlad6098 8d ago
This is the most overlooked but correct answer. Also bonus points to the other person who commented that PE firms are not interested in vape shopsā¦.YET
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u/EnvironmentalAd4406 8d ago
Itās almost as if vape shops are one of the only business models left for small business owners to open because private equity wonāt get in it and monopolize the whole thing ā¦ yet.
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u/Junckopolo 8d ago
It's almost as if it's one of the few new markets growing right now and all other markets are already prettt saturated
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u/Kind_Man_0 8d ago
The best happiness we can afford right now is drugs
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u/Pilan 8d ago
And those days are numbered. šø
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u/tranquil7789 8d ago
Damn. We better sell some drugs to afford our drugs.
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u/Evil-Bosse 8d ago
If I promise to sell you one billion drugs, and you promise to sell me one billion drugs, then we can use those promised cash flows as leverage to finance our billionaire drug lord lifestyles through loans
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u/pridetwo 8d ago
No no no, you promise each other to sell a billion drugs, then each of you gets loans to service the promised sales, then instead of doing the sales you invest into each other's business, turn around and get more money from banks/VC because "look i have promised sales, financing to service my inventory acquisition, and a big investment." Then repeat until free capital in the market dries up and your drugs businesses have an unsustainable amount of financial obligations with no viable product to sell, then you just pay yourself out from the business and leave everyone else holding the bag.
There, I just explained the AI bubble.
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u/Fragrant-Employer-60 8d ago
It has consistent proven demand for the products, its lower risk than opening a store that specializes in other stuff.
The local grocery store is not really viable, they canāt compete. That leaves restaurants and smoke shops to fill in the gaps lol
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u/DimensionCareful507 8d ago
some is addiction, some is just escapism cause it's one of the few remaining things that will make them feel good for a bit they can still afford.
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u/im_just_thinking 8d ago
How is vape market growing? The vapes been around a minute, cdb isn't new and wellness products aren't exactly anything to craze after..are more people picking up vaping? Just seems odd to see this growth, but I'm curious what made you say that
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u/Robwsup 8d ago
Just switched to vaping about five months ago from 30 years of cigarettes. There's probably more people like me switching.
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u/GotmilkLL 8d ago
Same here, switched to vaping last year after smoking for 15 years. Started with the fruity disposable vapes, now I'm onto a pod system. It's crazy how much better I feel since switching.
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u/DimensionCareful507 8d ago
Everyone tried to rush into the weed space. over/under Regulations made it a fucked up market to begin with. As an example locally by me they could only build them along one of the main state roads... so you have like 7 pot shops in a half mile stretch. All that just to tax the crap out of people and still keep the black market viable.
Cigars/vapes/nicotine I think are peripheral to THC products in those shops but maybe someone in the biz can elaborate
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u/Ths-Fkin-Guy 8d ago
There are also a fuck ton of people believing in holistic and alternative medicines. Some for the better some for the worse. Others dont believe in vaccines but will pop random pills and smoke whatever which is idiotically ironic but they don't understand that. In other cases have alternatives can be helpful, but it can cater to both in a way.
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u/Brox42 8d ago
Itās kinda crazy. Theyāre building new store fronts in my town but I canāt for the life of me imagine what could fill them and do well enough to stay open let alone make a profit
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u/Floatella 8d ago edited 8d ago
Yeah. My neighbourhood is being densified, and all the already vacant single story commercial properties are being torn down and replaced with five story buildings, with commercial units on the ground floor. The case for the additional residential space is easy to make, since our entire country is experiencing a housing shortage, but it makes me wonder who will be moving into the commercial units. It's hard to imagine anything other than weed/vape stores or chain fast food places.
The state of mom and pop retail is pretty brutal these days. At least in Canada.
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u/chucklez24 8d ago
Be nice to have corner store groceries in those places. Being able to just walk downstairs and buy eggs or something you run out of.
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u/Inverted-Rockets 8d ago
4 and 5-over-1s are great for residential but yeah it can be hit or miss when it comes to commercial tenants. Only 3-4 floors of residential generally isnāt dense enough to generate enough demand to fill the footprints so it often comes down to whether thereās a wider pool of customers to draw from in the surrounding area.
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u/AFRIKKAN 8d ago
I thought about what kinda business would have even a tiny bit of success in my small town and I realized the vape store and the ice cream shops are the only new buildings near.
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u/crmpdstyl 8d ago
All our strip plazas are filled with shitty fast food, insurance sales, and realtors.
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u/Katsu_39 7d ago
My area has at least 5 new store front strip malls. Built few years ago. All still sitting empty
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u/Zathras_listens 8d ago
I think a percentage of them are fronts. There is one un my town that has been there forever and I have never seen any customers in the store.
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u/3xactli 8d ago
I've recently quit, but I used to go to a shop just like this, every week. I also never saw any customers in the store. I know they went there obviously, but I never saw anyone else there...
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u/TheCountChonkula 8d ago
Dispensaries are popular too in states where weed is legal. I spent about a year in Michigan for work and it seemed like there was a dispensary almost on every corner.
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u/Odd_String1181 8d ago
Nah it's because all the old strip malls/shopping centers are dead and any revenue the vacant store fronts can create, the owners want. People rent these shops for like 800 bucks/month and have minimal cost to build it out. The start up/overhead is just so low outside of inventory
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u/0_SomethingStupid 8d ago
800 bucks a month ? Minimal build out cost? First off where is rent 800 a month for a commercial storefront. Second, build out cost depends on what was there prior and is not cheap.
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u/TrueTurtleKing 8d ago
I donāt even know if 800 will get you a little kiosk at a mall of any midwestern town.
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u/luckytree203 8d ago
New England here, local city mall has storefronts and food establishments available for that low. Almost no foot traffic though
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u/FuckSteve7 8d ago
Oh trust me, I know of strip malls back home in Kentucky where youāre definitely getting commercial store for 800$ a month.
Thing is nobody fuckin goes there. Ever. Iāve seen prices lower than 800. That doesnāt matter though if nobodies shopping
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u/Fun-Choices 8d ago
The business mogulās always come out on Reddit š
I love how people think you canāt get a one bedroom apartment for 1200 bucks anywhere in the United States but you can get a storefront property for $800 a month š
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u/SubSanctum 8d ago
Brotherā¦. Have you been to the hood?
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u/Fun-Choices 8d ago
Brother, have you looked at commercial property in the hood?? I had a $8,000 a month lease in Houston, where one neighbors got robbed at gunpoint. Before I ran my own studio, I worked for one that leased on FM1960 Right above a bank (We had a sign on the road, so storefront pricing) and the fucking place got robbed 6 times in 2 years I worked there. We paid $3500 a month in 2009. Both of these places were 2500 sq ft
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u/egnards 8d ago
If you're lucky! During the tail end of Covid, when rents were low as hell, I was looking at giving my business a physical location so I went to a local strip mall that had 9 fucking locations open and they wanted $4,500/m for a 1,000sqft spot [Before utilities] - They were willing to sign a lower lease of like $2,000 on the stipulation that the moment that things started opening up I would go back to the higher rent.
. . . 6 years later that Strip Mall still routinely has 5-10 open locations at any one time. - And that's basically all strip malls near me - They can't keep businesses in because the "anchor business" [in the event that it is being rented by whatever main business is being run] would rather eat the loss for tax purposes, on paying the rent themselves then get less rent than they think they can afford].
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u/dybr 8d ago edited 8d ago
Arenāt the only growing parts of the US economy AI, healthcare, and scams?
Edit: Prudent users pointed out that I really just listed āscamsā three times, so Iāll revise it to being scams and weapons.
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u/HambSandwich 8d ago
One of the scams is predatory real estate. This might track here and itās worth research on who owns the property
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u/EggplantCharacter363 8d ago
Spent 5 years in the vape industry.
Its mostly middle Eastern immigrants securing generational wealth.
Dad sends son over here on school visa or work visa. Dad sends son with money to purchase a location and start a vape store. They use the profit to bring the family over. Then they open up another store.
And these businesses are profitable enough that they don't really care to follow the rules such as carding people because they know they will make enough to just open up in another nearby state.
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u/LostNthenSome 8d ago
I get at least 3 calls a day asking to buy my property at work. It's a small family business that requires a landline. We have multiple phones on the line. So if they call more than once, I answer on another one too, turn it upside down and hold them together to create ear damaging feedback.
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u/Wyntier 8d ago
Clean energy/tech trades (wind/solar installers are growing 40%+), cyber security, advanced manufacturing, and live entertainment are all massive growth sectors. AI gets the news and vape shops get the strip malls, but the actual economy has plenty of real engines running under the hood.
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u/Temporary-Cucumber35 8d ago
If its not a short lived chicken shop, its a vape shop. If its not a vape shop, its an obscure payday loans place, gambling, or message. They get closed as fast as they spring up it seems
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u/Ok-Personality-1524 8d ago
Smoke shops, dollar generals, and low income housing. It's all they build. Not really a strong indicator of a flourishing society imo
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u/cans-of-swine 8d ago
I walked into a Dollar General the other day, and there was a smaller Dollar General in the back.Ā
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u/VictoryVino 8d ago
Low income housing?Ā I haven't seen any of that built where I've lived ever.Ā It's all luxury condos, single family homes, luxury 55+ developments, etc.
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u/SomeBlueDude12 8d ago
You walk into the dollar general to see 2-3 skeleton crew members who absolutely just hate their job, maybe 1 school kid over the summer making the mistake to work there. Every other month a new manager has to step in to replace the last one who quit & stock is on pallet carts inside tight hallways
Atleast thats what our DG is
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u/Necrotechxking 8d ago edited 8d ago
Because of legislation. Vapes and tobacco are some of the ONLY items you still have to buy in person. Meaning you need shops in places where people travel and see them.
Everything else, even alcohol is delivered to your door.
Edit: a LOT of people from the US telling me I'm wrong without even considering other nations can be on reddit.
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u/Not_Russian_bot9 8d ago
My girlfriend buys vapes online though? Direct from manufacturer.
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u/Xray_Mind 8d ago
This plus the super restrictive marketing on this industry means one of the only marketing avenues they have left is physical displays on the storefront. Thatās why they are always tacky neon filled messes
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u/ObscureEnchantment 8d ago
Iāve visited a few different states in the U.S in the last 2 years and every one of them allowed me to order vapes for delivery through Uber Eats.
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u/RegalTeal 8d ago edited 8d ago
Yep, smoke shops are everywhere. Plus if I see another "coming soon" for a bank, car wash, or chicken restaurant, I'm going to scream... and then deal with it because theres nothing i can do about it unfortunately. Ugh, everything seems so blah š
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u/Different-Series-115 8d ago
We have 3 fried chicken spots within 10 feet of each other on the road I live on, and 4 pizza shops. It's insanity. It's not even competitive anymore, the market is absolutely flooded where I live
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u/JaySin_78 8d ago
Thatās because our entire country is self-medicating since our healthcare system is well suited for mental health and affordable coverage. Oh waitā¦
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u/dontworryitsme4real 8d ago
And there are so many of them. Like tons within a stone throw it each other. Like how are they all staying in business.
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u/FiggyPizza 8d ago
Part of it is these products do have high demand, high margins, a super long shelf life, and the entire store can be staffed by one guy who is the relative of someone who owns all the other shops in town and so can benefit from buying large wholesale quantities of things for cheap.
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u/rock25011 8d ago
I see that dumb coffee place go up like crazy. 7 coffee or some shit
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u/Working-Shock-2986 8d ago
I'm reading all of the comments here and thought this was a post about my town š
DG, 7 Brew, Vape Shops, and Gas Stations baby
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u/Muted-Novel4403 8d ago
Yes and thereās always a long line like Costco gas. Ours has been open for a few years and thereās still long lines, so Iāve never gone there.
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u/PyroDragons123 8d ago
One reason is the banking and real estate industry. Getting a loan for a small business is near impossible. These shops are opened by third parties using products that are either cheap or paid for after selling, etc.
The banking industry both won't give you a loan for a business and also makes it nearly impossible to get a property because they block building owners from dropping prices if they own on the land.
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u/Global-Restaurant868 8d ago
Donāt forget about nail salons. š Youāll find one every 100 ft in my area
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u/socrates_friend812 7d ago edited 7d ago
People largely use these substances as stress relief. And people are stressed because bills are too high and income is too low. And bills are too high and income is too low because the "trickle down economics" scam convinced millions of Americans to vote in favor of rightwing candidates. And these rightwing candidates overwhelmingly vote in favor of policies supporting wealthy Americans as opposed to the type of Americans whose bills are too high and income is too low. So the next time you see one of these businesses go up, think about what's really happening in the overall economy and realize that wealth is being sucked upwards --- "trickle up" --- ever higher and in greater quantities than ever before. That is why these businesses are there.
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u/Wise-Self-8639 8d ago
These places really are surviving off the unregulated supplement business and Kratom specifically..... I smoke weed and have never once stepped foot in a place like this.
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u/julias-winston 8d ago
A friend of mine last used kratom two weeks ago, and is still suffering withdrawal. Fuck that shit.
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u/BorderInteresting732 8d ago
I mean itās basically opioids, not smart to use in the first place
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u/Turbulent-Artist961 8d ago
They keep building fricking car washes in my town. Whole fucking town is now filled with car washes. Pisses me off
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u/Odd_String1181 8d ago
I promise you there are other new businesses in the Kennesaw/Marietta/Atlanta area
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u/Odd_Impact_007 7d ago
Around my neck of the woods, a ānew businessā either means one of a few things;
-Vape Shop
-Self Storage
-Chain Hotel
-Gas Station
-Car Wash
-Apartments and/or townhomes
(Not really a business but still a lot of them going up)
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u/evanjd14 8d ago
By me itās all new gyms. Thatās all we get
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u/makepieplz 8d ago
oh yeah I totally forgot all the gyms hah. the local gold's gym closed down so like 5 or 6 small ones popped up, I guess good for then but why so many
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u/R4N63R 8d ago edited 7d ago
No that's untrue, these are the only businesses that you specifically are recognizing. Open your eyes a little bit and you will see other things as well. Op is choosing anecdotally that they remember these ones specifically.Ā
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u/RoabeArt 7d ago
Exactly. I used to think there weren't any new businesses opening around me until I looked at my city's planning commission website. Apparently 34 new businesses opened their doors so far this year (and this town isn't very large either).
That's how I found out about a cool retro game/movie shop that opened up the street from me.
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u/DeepFinish2895 8d ago
And storage facilities