If you are local, you probably have seen that My Favorite Toys is reducing its hours to one weekend a month, closing their doors next month, then re-opening for a weekend in March, then one weekend a month until the Christmas season, when they will open again full time.
This means they must be getting a great deal on rent from University Mall, since it appears they will retain the floor space but not generate any foot traffic to cover lease expenses. For all intents and purposes, two wings of University Mall now sit empty. Most of the storefronts in the wing with the food court have converted to SI Healthcare offices and the food court sits empty, last time I looked, save for the arcade in the corner. The wing that housed My Favorite Toys will now only have Master Cuts as a business, as the Science Center and the African American Museum occupy the storefronts across from My Favorite Toys. Both are non-profits and likely get lowered rents from University Mall.
I just find the strategy that My Favorite Toys has chosen interesting. If they truly want to pursue an online business, it would make more financial sense to move to the industrial park on the north side of town and operate there. If they want to keep the storefront operating and contribute to the community, as seems the plan, move to a smaller storefront and run a "back door" operation (Nothing illegal about this, it's a term referring to a business that maintains a retail storefront but does most of its business online). At least, the retail storefront would help generate some expenses to cover ongoing costs. It will be interesting to see how this version of a back door operation works out.
This means they must be getting a great deal on rent from University Mall, since it appears they will retain the floor space but not generate any foot traffic to cover lease expenses. For all intents and purposes, two wings of University Mall now sit empty. Most of the storefronts in the wing with the food court have converted to SI Healthcare offices and the food court sits empty, last time I looked, save for the arcade in the corner. The wing that housed My Favorite Toys will now only have Master Cuts as a business, as the Science Center and the African American Museum occupy the storefronts across from My Favorite Toys. Both are non-profits and likely get lowered rents from University Mall.
I just find the strategy that My Favorite Toys has chosen interesting. If they truly want to pursue an online business, it would make more financial sense to move to the industrial park on the north side of town and operate there. If they want to keep the storefront operating and contribute to the community, as seems the plan, move to a smaller storefront and run a "back door" operation (Nothing illegal about this, it's a term referring to a business that maintains a retail storefront but does most of its business online). At least, the retail storefront would help generate some expenses to cover ongoing costs. It will be interesting to see how this version of a back door operation works out.
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