I spent last weekend exploring Nashville, Indiana. It’s a small town filled with great little restaurants and shops. As I wandered through boutiques, bookshops, and toy stores, I couldn’t help but wonder, “How do these places stay in business?”
Each was a large store with a huge inventory of merchandise. The overhead for such a storefront would have been expensive. These businesses would have to sell a lot to stay in business.
I did a little research to find out how these little shops stayed in business. Here’s what I learned.
- Many of these businesses are just expensive hobbies. They lose money every year, but the owners enjoy interacting with the customers.
- Some businesses exist on a few large sales or a busy tourist season to survive. The rest of the year, they sell virtually nothing.
- Other businesses have strong online sales that pays for a physical presence in a small town.
- A few people own the whole building and rent out most of it. This makes up for their unprofitable business.
- Some of my reading suggested that these businesses are covers for illegal activity. I guess that’s possible, but I have my doubts.
- One bike shop owner explained that he made most of his money making repairs, not selling bikes. Makes sense.
I still don’t understand the business model for most of these small stores. Without many customers or sales, how do they stay in business?
Waite for it... 
I went to visit my sister on St Joseph island, Ontario in August. Many of the stores were seasonal may 15 to Sept 15. the local hardware being one of the few open year round because it was more like a general store. Sweatshirts to toilet replacement parts. Lanterns to percolator coffee pots. I loved exploring it. You never knew what the next aisle would hold. Came home with a sweatshirt that says kentvale hardware. If you need it we’ve got it.
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