What new store can Baltimore use?

amother

Pumpkin

Sun, May 02 2021, 8:35 am

amother [ Green ] wrote:

My point about schools was a lot of more kids in Baltimore than there were 10 years ago. Bais yaakov went from 5 to 8 parallel classes. So just because amazing savings closed 15 years ago doesnt mean it wouldnt do super well today.
Also, the man w truck does well enough when he comes in to keep coming every 2 weeks. People are desperate for cheaper clothes that they cant get in Baltimore
Serengeti is a good point. They always look busy to me.

BY went from five to eight classes and decreased the individual class size. No class has more than 22 students in elementary, not sure about middle and high. Baltimore is growing. So grade sizes do generally get bigger. But that’s true anywhere.

Some people go to man with a truck every time he’s here. I don’t. I only go when I need something. And if he doesn’t have it I don’t buy anything. Same with basic colors. And the basic colors store here was only open certain times in certain days which was very inconvenient and they didn’t do well. You can’t have a store open for two hours every other week.

Baltimore is definitely getting bigger and prices are going up. But prices in general are going up. Even in the secular world. I just read on cnn about a chicken shortage and a car shortage and appliance shortage etc. housing prices all over are going up and up.

Baltimore also has a couple of amazing savings type stores and many dollar stores that sell the same things (not the frum only things, but helium balloons and paper goods etc).

For cheaper clothes - people buy online or wait for sales. Or shop in non frum stores. Or understand that at a certain point, girls Shabbos clothes will cost real money. Amazon sometimes has frum brands on sale and people get from there.

I think a cheap hosiery store would do well here. Like jrp, double header etc.

amother

Blue

Mon, May 03 2021, 8:06 am

amother [ Royalblue ] wrote:

I believe that quote was about Amazing Savings, not Seasons. Yes, the Seasons company expanded too quickly and was struggling. But the Baltimore location was not doing well anyway. I went there frequently on my way home from work, and it was usual to see maybe 3 cars total in the parking lot, and as I mentioned their stuff moved very slowly, except for specific sale items. Sure, they had a delivery van but I rarely saw it driving around town. I knew only one person who used their delivery order, I'm sure there were others but it was not a large amount. Their prices were just too high for what the majority of would be customers were willing/able to pay.

.

Yes, thank you. I had been asking about amazing savings. I don't think anyone remembers seasons always being busy here. Very Happy

amother

Ruby

Mon, May 03 2021, 11:30 am

Quote:

Where I remember amazing savings was - today that isn’t “further out”. I remember when it was in the same place as the pikesville post office, in the corner.
A new boys school seems to open every year. And one of the girls schools will only have two classes per grade, if they would open more classes they might get filled or the class sizes would be able to be smaller. The Bais yaakov has many parallel classes but the class sizes are lower.
There are also coed schools - I think Baltimore has three now. Or Chadash, Beth Tefilah, Darchei Noam. And many people homeschool. I hope more than 40% pay full tuition! And there are lots of boys yeshivas for mechina and bais medrash. And one seminary.

amother

Tangerine

Mon, May 03 2021, 11:36 am

Amazing Savings started in the area, but then moved farther out. Shortly after all the Amazing Savings closed, but many re-opened and Baltimore didn't.

There are not as many schools as you think. There are a total of 3 all boys elementary schools and 2 middle schools. 2 all girls schools. In terms of yeshivos there are a few, but not exclusively for Baltimore boys. And maalot no longer runs a "seminary". Yes some co-ed.

And yes...probably about 40% pay full tuition. I can't give you exact numbers, but feel free to contact any school and get a number.

Everyone keeps saying housing is over 400K. All depends on location. Not everyone needs to live in the Beazer. There are 2 houses on my block that recently sold for under 200k and one around the corner for around $355.[/quote]

Re: housing - YES! I bought my house 4 years ago and paid $189,000.

There are not enough of the Beazer people to support so many high end businesses.

OP has not chimed back in after her first post so I am wondering what kind of business she is thinking about. More info would be helpful. I still maintain, someone who would be a financial backer for a legal daycare would do very well. We need another Gan Yaffa - a gan with real hours for real working parents.

amother

Cobalt

Mon, May 03 2021, 1:43 pm

Quote:

There are not enough of the Beazer people to support so many high end businesses.

Seriously, only Baezer families can afford a nice outfit for their son's bar mitzvah or daughter's sheva brachos? I know plenty of non Baezer families who run to Lakewood for this because there is not a high end woman's clothing store here. We have plenty for kids- that's not an issue. In fact I agree we can use a kidichic here or similar store, but many other families can afford higher end clothing for simchos. Girls in the dating parsha claim they can only find trendy clothes in Lakewood. Our stores are fantastic for everyday but when it comes to nice shabbos or simcha clothing, they're seriously lacking.

We only need one, not "so many"

Same with furniture. I know non Baezer families that want nicer furniture than Value City or Price Busters. One of my neighbor's (not in Baezer) gets everything at Katz Furniture in Lakewood, pays a little more than Baltimore but gets the look she wants. It's priced on the lower end and they have Kallah packages. Lakewood has 4 or 5 furniture stores. We only need one.

I heard that there may be 5-6000 frum families in Baltimore- not a small boondocks town. Even if only 1/4 of those families want nicer clothes or furniture that is a nice number for ONE store and don't forget there's silver spring that often shops in Baltimore too. Overall it's a city that values pashtus. Most don't go to Pesach hotels or own summer homes. You won't find over the top simchos here. B"H the hashkafos in terms of gashmius are more in line with EY rather than NY or Lakewood. BUT does that mean no one can enjoy a nice outfit or furniture? I know enough people that run to Lakewood for these things that we could support a store. We can either keep handing our money over to Lakewood or think of a way to open some more stores here, on a smaller scale than "in town" and help support Baltimore.

Gifts by Gilda, Essentials and Town appliance are examples of stores that sell higher end items as well as for any taste and budget. They are just on a smaller scale than their "in town" counterparts. Also basement stores have less overhead.

OP- if one has a knack for business and can start small with potential for growth, it is possible to make it work. Don't go in expecting to be as trendy as Lakewood. Most people choose Baltimore because they don't want the pressure that comes with living a gashmius focused life. The ones who want that will gravitate to Lakewood. But that doesn't mean they want to live like it's 1990 either.