This blog is where I post my thoughts, my story, my travels, etc. I have shied away from writing about my business because I didn't want this place to be about promotion.
But my business has become my life and my life is impacted by my business.
So the honestly the business is doing really, really poorly.
People say it is the weather...time of year...holidays...etc. While those may be partially true, it seems that the business itself is not catching on. There are nearly 1,000 tenants in the three buildings that the business is located in yet rarely does a resident drop in. Emails and promotions to the residents have fallen like an overnight snow.
Hours go by between customers. So far there has not been a day without at least one customer but I am anticipating the day when there are zero customers.
I have done social media - Facebook and Instagram - including running ads on both platforms. Also running ad on Yelp which I wasn't aware that I had done. Ironically, I believe the Yelp ad has brought in a few customers but they have mostly been out-of-towners so not likely to return.
One Yelp customer did come in several times before leaving town. And another Yelp customer who was visiting town did bring her parents who live in the neighborhood back to the store. These customers give the illusion that the idea of the store is not crazy but to say they are few and far between is even an exaggeration.
The simple fact that friends I have known for a long time and who have been supportive in words but have not been supportive in deeds seems to indicate that the idea of the store was misguided.
The initial idea of the store was to provide protein shakes for pre- and post-workout nutrition. The majority of customers are not coming from nor going to a workout or class. So the initial idea was wrong. The marketing has shifted to providing a healthy and nutritional whole food ingredient meal source.
The location is potentially a problem because there are no other retail stores nearby or within eye-shot. The location along the Midtown Greenway could be an advantage in the spring and summer but that is just speculation (though the choice of location was based on this).
Another problem I face is that my mother's passing right before the store opened has greatly impacted my enthusiasm. My mom was always my champion even when she questioned what I was doing. I always knew she had my back and could be supportive in her way. That support is gone and there really isn't anything or anyone to replace that.
It sometimes help me to write out my thoughts so I may continue to do this here.
Today's post was prompted by an incident that just happened as I was walking home from the coffee shop. The incident was unrelated to the business.
First all, I patronize a local coffee shop-bakery and am honestly pissed off that the owners have not come to my store but I still support their business. As I was walking home in my now usual funk, I coughed and a man 50 yards ahead of me turned around and yelled at me, "What the fuck, you fucking gay homo!" -- or something like that.
I was dumbstruck. What on earth was that!? Was he crazy? Did he mistake me for someone else? He kept rambling on about my probably wanting to break the law and I deserved it and that he was crazy and that I was crazy and that he was a musician and that he apologized and that I deserved it and that I looked liked someone he knew and that I deserved it.
I am not a violent person and I had no desire to do anything other than leave and crawl away.
I have envisioned a chalkboard menu board for Juiced Nutrition Uptown using rollerblades for months. I finally got it all pit together today. Have to thank JT and Linda for the rollerblades and Andrew and his dad, Tom, for welding the brackets.
