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Her boom-to-bust story is about the kind of shop that falters in a downturn. Hello Portland sells lots of stuff people want -- from $45 hip handbags to $25 "I might barf" baby onesies -- but nothing anyone truly needs. More than that, it's a story of a small merchant's struggles, of the people left behind when a local store fails.

Are you kidding me? I am supposed to feel sorry for these businesses? She rode two booms pretty well, but this bust is going to overwhelm her...

1 posted on 06/13/2008 7:53:39 PM PDT by 2banana
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To: 2banana

You save a nice cushion, and try to make sure your store has a semi-useful niche. Why would anyone shop there even during boom times?

45 dollar handbags?? Am I the only one who thinks women are completely nuts.


2 posted on 06/13/2008 8:02:49 PM PDT by utherdoul
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To: 2banana

I wonder how the “Scotch Tape Boutique” is doing?


5 posted on 06/13/2008 8:17:23 PM PDT by Atchafalaya
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To: 2banana
"My friends at Irvington School don't know my kids qualify for free or reduced-price lunch," said Korn, 41.

They do now!

8 posted on 06/13/2008 8:22:01 PM PDT by rawhide
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To: 2banana
"My friends at Irvington School don't know my kids qualify for free or reduced-price lunch," said Korn, 41.

They do now. Nice little burden you just dumped on your kids.

Sometimes stress gets the better of Korn. A week ago, she parked her car just over the line into the valet zone for the restaurant next door. The restaurant had it towed. The cost: $210.

The mean old restaurant acted like its parking spaces were for its customers! It was so unfair!

When a customer asked if she could buy the shop's melamine plates on the Internet, Korn told her, "Yeah, you could. But I'm here selling these so that I can feed my kids."

What a sales pitch.

I cannot stand this woman.

10 posted on 06/13/2008 8:26:44 PM PDT by TChad
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To: 2banana
Any small shop that sells niche merchandise is going to be in trouble when customers can no longer afford to drive. If she knows Web design, she ought to switch to online sales.
11 posted on 06/13/2008 9:48:47 PM PDT by BlazingArizona
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To: 2banana
When a customer asked if she could buy the shop's melamine plates on the Internet, Korn told her, "Yeah, you could. But I'm here selling these so that I can feed my kids."

As someone who has worked both sides of the street in brick and mortar mom-and-pop retail and on the internet, I sympathize with her. But this kind of whining really grates.

No matter where you are selling, you have to stress the value for the customer. If you are brick and mortar, then in the internet age you're selling your personal service and you're selling instant gratification. A person who has a sudden impulse for a silly plate or handbag can satisfy it instantly at your shop. That's what you sell. If, on the contrary, you beg your customers to buy from you out of pity, you're going to lose them all.

12 posted on 06/13/2008 10:05:04 PM PDT by denydenydeny (Expel the priest and you don't inaugurate the age of reason, you get the witch doctor--Paul Johnson)
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To: 2banana

She doesn’t sound like she’s feeling sorry for herself.

She knows hers is a “boom” business; she seems to have maintained a sense of humor.


15 posted on 06/14/2008 4:53:26 AM PDT by StatenIsland (The '08 Election: It's about the survival of our country, not making a point...)
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