The shop closes not long after an international name in jewelry, Kendra Scott, opened a store diagonally across Bethesda Avenue. As more and more small/independent businesses struggle or close, even longtime ones, one has to question the recent assertion that Bethesda is the 8th best place in America to start a small business.
There's a lot of disposable income here, for sure. But the closures and moves of established restaurants and stores suggest the picture is not quite as rosy as Entrepreneur and "Nerd Wallet" have concluded from faraway offices.
The 2.7% unemployment rate cited in their data is quite misleading, as well. Unemployment rates tell you what percentage are unemployed, but don't correspond to the location of those jobs. With the exception of major government employment sites like NIH and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, most jobs - most especially the high-paying ones - are located outside of Montgomery County in the District and Northern Virginia. Don't expect your elected officials to admit that publicly, however.
And if you rely on "Nerd Wallet" to decide to move here to start a business, you'll be shocked when you get your first tax and utility bills, as well as the cost of your rent.
35 comments:
I would like to posit that perhaps some of these small businesses like boutique clothing and jewelry stores or restaurants are started by not so experienced folks who just want to open a store and don't really have the skill or knowledge to make it work. Nor a business plan.
Wow, this has to be your lamest, most desperate pretext for launching yet another "moribund MoCo economy" rant, to date.
And does the opening of Morley, very close by, mean that we're actually doing well after all?
"The independent shop (which briefly had a second location at the new Mosaic District in Fairfax)..."
Does this mean that Fairfax County's economy is "moribund", too?
Tough times for small businesses in Bethesda right now. No way to sugar coat that.
Your assessment of Bethesda and discretionary income is a little misguided. When examining the success of a small boutique jewelry business, household income is one of the best data points to examine. A data point which Montgomery County happens to essentially lead the country in or top 5. The lack of success of Amethyst has much more to do with competition and perhaps the business savvy of the jewelry owners than the lack of cash in Bethesda's pockets.
Let's try to dig a little deeper before we make Bethesda out to a slum which can even afford to support small boutique jewelry shops
12:40: I actually very clearly made the point that we do have a great amount of discretionary income here in the article. Who said Bethesda was a "slum"?
The cost of operating a business, and whether those costs and monthly rent destroy the profit margin of a small business, were the very clear points of my valid argument.
Just ask Bruce Variety, Hard Times Cafe, Parker's, Kraze Burgers, Panas, BlackFinn, to name a few.
8:28: Since when is a rash of established small business closures a "lame pretext" to discuss the poor climate for business in Montgomery County?
Of course businesses will continue to open in vacated spaces. The question is, which policies will make the business climate better for them to succeed?
8:32: No, but Fairfax has made some very poor budget decisions based on the same fantasy that MoCo promotes - that residential growth magically creates more revenue than the public services and infrastructure costs of that residential growth (although MoCo is hinting at a novel yet insane solution to that - they may simply just stop creating the infrastructure! Unreal.).
it must be a sad life to constantly think you are smarter than everybody else at all times robert
We'll never progress as a county if our politics and media are full of people who think everything is perfect as is and can't absorb constructive suggestions and input.
@ 3:41 PM - do you realize that there is a middle ground between "everything is perfect" and "everything is moribund"?
"MoCo is hinting at a novel yet insane solution to that - they may simply just stop creating the infrastructure!"
Do you realize that there is more to "creating infrastructure" than building obsolete freeways that no one wants?
2:32: I never said that. You're just making things up at this point. The real problem is having elected officials who think they're smarter and more enlightened and wise than their constituents.
4:02: Yes, and that's why I'm advocating to get us there as a County, rather than claiming moribund is perfection.
@ 4:09 PM - Wow, you missed my point completely.
4:06: Roads and schools are still essential infrastructure in 2015. Automobiles will remain the primary mode of transportation through the life of all sector plans currently on the table in MoCo.
There's plenty of support for roads out there. Anyone with a brain who drives in rush hour around here knows that we need to complete the unfinished master plan highways of Montgomery County.
4:10: If your point was that we are in the sweet spot between perfect and moribund, and should therefore salute our wise elected officials, I'd say you are out of touch with reality. If that wasn't your point, what was it? If the economy is moribund, as the stats clearly indicate, why not be frank and just call it moribund?
Dyer's army of straw men are on the march.
Today I learned that Dyer's skeptics are relentlessly negative people who think that everything is perfect.
I agree with 5:19am. Boutique jewelry stores are more likely a hobby for a wife of a rich husband, and rarely are great businesses on their own. I think the mix of boutiques in Bethesda Row is not that great to begin with. They should add something that appeals to a broader demographic, like a fast casual restaurant, or a proper cafe.
As for Kraze, Panas, and Bruce Variety closings, I don't think it's MoCo-specific costs that did them in. Some businesses just cannot execute well, for a variety of reasons.
Kraze, Panas and especially the second iteration of Bruce Variety were victims of bad locations.
Kraze had a mediocre product and poor marketing. It's why their other location in Montgomery Mall is up for sale (and usually has no customers).
Panas had a bad concept. People just aren't that into empanadas.
Bruce's I agree location was not great (and that was their decision), but they also failed to innovate as the world was changing around them.
In no case do I see the laws and regulations of MoCo being the reason for these businesses failing though.
I agree with 10:49. Maybe no one wanted to buy their product or they weren't the best business people. Not that hard to put your mind around.
There are tons of small/medium businesses in little offices all around us as well that employ more people than these retail shops that come and go. They don't have a store front and sell trendy trinkets to the 1% but they have stories too. Maybe not as easy to blog about since you can't just take a picture during a morning walk.
And of course Bruce's move to that bad location was prompted by some nasty family politics involving their landlord at the Bradley Center.
That said, they didn't help matters by changing their merchandise to mostly party supplies, especially since there were already two party supply stores just one block in either direction. And not keeping staff available for checkout or if you had questions.
"Panas had a bad concept. People just aren't that into empanadas."
The concept might have worked for a food truck, or a carryout-only hole-in-the-wall. but not for a full-size restaurant. Kind of like an Indian restaurant selling only samosas.
I would definitely have Panas as a food truck or cart concept.not necessarily a whole meal but certainly grab one now and again as I pass by.
"Amethyst" comes from the Greek word for "not drunk", based on the ancient belief that the gem by that name prevented drunkenness. Maybe that is part of the problem.
We all know that Bethesda Row must charge impossibly high rents, exacerbating the difficulties of opening a local business. It is sad to see all the local businesses disappear, Many of us - simply are not into fashionable women's boutiques, but that is what First Realty Trust seems to want to foist on us.
Parkers was a truly local place, forced out. Years ago, second story books was a great reason to be on Bethesda Avenue. Sansar, a crafts store, was unique, but disappears. The Apple store is cool, but what does North Face add, when one cannot even see the inside of the store? Lots of little chain eateries are nice for a while, but no Bethesda restaurant - perhaps besides Raku, has the kind of creativity we see on 14th street or even Arlington.
So bethesda row is now just a homogenized upper middle class bubble, lacking diversity and vibrancy. Its a comfortable bubble, but nothing near what it could or should be.
5:21: Is it easy for Prince of Petworth? Do you try to turn his strengths into negatives also? Nice try with the old talking points on your "morning walk."
Eowmigod, 3:04~
Isn't it like, such a total bummer that you can't blame Robert Dyer for why the overcrowded schools are still so insanely overcrowded? (If it gets any more overcrowded I'm gonna lose my virginity just trying to manoeuvre my way to class. Who on the Council do I have to thank for this cuz I sure as hell can't thank Dyer for it.)
Re: 9:41
Well, Sansar's owner retired, but it's clear that BR's retail profile has changed drastically since it began. Personally, I'm concerned about B&N-- rumor has it that their lease will expire next year. B&N is an anchor, so one can only speculate about the terms of their lease-- but if they leave, 95% of my reasons for going to BR would disappear overnight.
If B&N is smart, they will figure out a way to subdivide their current space with (an)other tenant(s). Even with the space that has been converted to non-book uses (toys, stationery, etc.) they still have way too much floor space for their current needs.
Their business model is large stores in high-rent areas, and it's killing them. That's what killed the Georgetown store a few years ago.
@ 4:35 PM - Are you the Fanciest of Bethesda's Fancy Men?
@4:35 AM: thank all the MoCo parents that have decided to NOT put their kids in the overly-expensive (and probably overly-hyped) private schools came to their senses and realized that the public schools are indeed excellent value for the money. Plus people are having babies which is a good thing for the supposedly-moribund MoCo economy.
I would note also, left unsaid in the above, is that restaurants historically have high failure rates in the first 3-5 years; if you want to stay around you darn well sure better have a good "hook" and offer something different.
#DeadTownCenters?
Did anyone else notice that if you rearrange the letters of "Amethyst" just slightly, you get, "A Meth Sty"?
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