These small speciality stores are fronts for money laundering or something, aren't they?

[V23]

Driving around I'll occasionally spot these stores and wonder how they are still open and, presumably, profitable for the owners. You know the ones I'm talking about, speciality vacuum cleaner stores, pool supplies stores and, most recently, scuba diving specialty store.

They're always small, rundown premises located in low foot traffic areas. With online retailers and large brick and mortar stores with lower prices and greater selection, who even goes to these places?

I would assume they would see a maximum of maybe 5-8 customers for the whole day, leading to very, very low sales.

So how are they surviving? Are they fronts for money laundering or tax avoidance schemes? Do you frequent your local vacuum cleaner store?

I'm not against these stores operating, just fascinated how they are able to exist.

Example from Google Images:

 

[Zoc]

The vacuum thing is probably a holdover from when people actually got things repaired rather than just toss them.
Otherwise I guess these places eke by on old people who don't like online shopping

 

[Rory]

Every American household must own a vaccume cleaner according to Constitution, business must be booming!

Why'd you think nobody goes shopping there with such a high demand?!

 

[Falore]

I called that number and asked them if they were a front for shady business dealings or if they had their hand in anything illegal. They reassured me that they were not and then laughed telling me that they are a real person.

Mystery solved.

 

[PS9]

A lot of them are selling online and using the store as additional sales/storage.

 

[Titik]

Many water places and laundromats are open in less affluent areas because they are actually well used by customers around them.

 

[jokingbird]

I used to work at a hospital in a rural area. Vacuum cleaning shops were used for commercial repairs. They had them setup as a vendor in the system. I am guessing they made most of their money from contracts like that over online businesses.

 

[Deleted member 18407]

A buddy and I went pawn shopping in Sioux Falls, South Dakota one day. There was a shop simply called PAWN SHOP. When we walked in the store, the two people at the counter looked shocked that anyone entered the place. We looked around and they barely had anything for sale. They had a faded VHS tape of erotic exercise under glass, out for anyone to see. I am convinced that this store was a front for something. The people didn't want us there and there was nothing anyone would want to buy.

 

[Mavis]

Walking through Sydney which is amongst the most expensive real estate in the world and seeing a store selling cut foam a 10 minute walk from Central Station always made me wonder.

 

[SturokBGD]

I can almost guarantee you that store does good business in repairs and services and most people find them via Google.

 

[DrArchon]

I can tell you from experience that Scuba Diving stores don't just focus on equipment. They'll have a bunch of programs you can join to get certified (with a couple of trainers working there that'll give lessons at pools or maybe a nearby lake), and they'll schedule group diving vacations for people that don't know where to go to see good stuff.

 

[skullmuffins]

pool supplies stores and, most recently, scuba diving specialty store.

They're always small, rundown premises located in low foot traffic areas. With online retailers and large brick and mortar stores with lower prices and greater selection, who even goes to these places?

Click to shrink...

pool owners, scuba divers. You can't exactly get your scuba tank refilled online. Pool owners bring water in to be tested, etc.

I can tell you from experience that Scuba Diving stores don't just focus on equipment. They'll have a bunch of programs you can join to get certified (with a couple of trainers working there that'll give lessons at pools or maybe a nearby lake), and they'll schedule group diving vacations for people that don't know where to go to see good stuff.

Click to shrink...

Right. Specialty shops like this don't survive off retail sales alone. A small dive shop will offer certifications, trips, equipment rentals, refills, and servicing. Can't get that from Amazon or a generic brick & mortar retailer.

 

[Rune Walsh]

There's a computer repair place near me that's been around a few years while no other business managed to make it in that location. I'm 100% positive it's a drug front. I only see white trash teenagers going in there.

 

[Previously on Lost]

Where else can I find a dust filter for my Hoover Max Extract Pressure Pro model 60?

 

[collige]

The internet made buying new stuff easier, but getting things repaired and maintenanced is still a massive pain, so I would totally believe that the specific examples in the OP are legit.

 

[Gumbie]

Where else can I find a dust filter for my Hoover Max Extract Pressure Pro model 60?

Click to shrink...

 

[Rory]

There's a computer repair place near me that's been around a few years while no other business managed to make it in that location. I'm 100% positive it's a drug front. I only see white trash teenagers going in there.

Click to shrink...

... or people who constantly drop their phones and get spider webs therefore need replacement parts/repairments?

 

[TickleMeElbow]

Vacuum World looks legit.

Anyways I feel like if it's a successful money laundering front, you wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at the place.

 

[Airegin]

Vacuum World looks legit.

Anyways I feel like if it's a successful money laundering front, you wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at the place.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, it definitely legit. It would be the worst front since so many people would be bothering them for repairs and spare parts, they have no choice but to be a legitimate business.

 

[Deleted member 6173]

Surprisingly there are a lot of specialty stores that last. There is a sewing machine shop near me that has been around for a while.

 

[kamakazi5]

I had one that I used to live near for 8 years. They had been there for decades. I can count on both hands the number of times I saw cars in their parking lot. Always used to laugh that they were just a front and probably got mad when someone actually came in.

 

[V23]

Another one I just remembered seeing was this large warehouse/store that only sold Christmas supplies. The sign on the front said 'open 364 days a year'...

 

[Stinkles]

A lot of these are warranty repair agents for multiple manufacturers.


The rest are weaving heroin into carpets for the illuminati.

 

[Border]

I presume that many of the Vape Stores you see in EVERY SINGLE STRIP MALL are probably a weird front for something else. Why does the world need so many vape shops? How often do people even need vape juice? How are there suddenly more vape stores than smoke shops?

 

[Jesse_and_the_rippers]

There was a fancy office park near my uncle's house in San Diego that had signs saying it was a storage facility. But it had a full parking lot during business hours lol. Clearly some clandestine research or manufacturing firm.

 

[Deleted member 733]

That vacuum store claims it's been in business literally 80 years. https://www.vacuumworldny.com/ also mentions some of the other stuff they do, and they have very high Google ratings, so it probably really is a legit store with a long family history, and they get by on a mix of repairs / sales / whatever.

 

[lowmelody]

Pow Pow Power Wheels.

 

[maruchan]

Surprisingly there are a lot of specialty stores that last. There is a sewing machine shop near me that has been around for a while.

Click to shrink...

True my mom and aunt have industrial pro sewing machine. And they can only get parts at these shops. I advice anyone to check these shops it's a trip back in time.

 

[joedick]

So we're just gonna pick random businesses and suggest they might be a front? All while taking the moral high ground knowing we're better than all the conspiracy peddlers on the internet?

Count me in.

 

[Deleted member 2802]

Every American household must own a vacuum cleaner according to Constitution

Click to shrink...

 

[Vilix]

I called that number and asked them if they were a front for shady business dealings or if they had their hand in anything illegal. They reassured me that they were not and then laughed telling me that they are a real person.

Mystery solved.

Click to shrink...

They were open at 10pm CDT? Yeah, seems legit alright.

 

[TickleMeElbow]

I presume that many of the Vape Stores you see in EVERY SINGLE STRIP MALL are probably a weird front for something else. Why does the world need so many vape shops? How often do people even need vape juice? How are there suddenly more vape stores than smoke shops?

Click to shrink...

I vape and I go to vape shops because:

1. When I first switched to vaping from smoking I had no idea wtf I was doing, so it was nice having someone knowledgeable help me get started.

2. Nicotine is addictive lol. I order some juices online, but sometimes you forget to order more and it's nice to just go somewhere and get some immediately instead of waiting for a shipment to arrive.

3. If your mod or whatever breaks, they can help you fix it/find you replacement parts.

4. I don't do this, but a lot of people just go there to chill and vape. The places I go to have couches and shit, and a lot of people will hang out and shoot the shit with employees/friends.

5. I like the people who work there.

 

[DavidDesu]

There's a second hand furniture and furniture repair place down the road from me in Glasgow. The signage is literally at least 30 years old (uses an old area code that was changed in the 90s). The shop is long and narrow and filled with crap old chairs and sofas, random tools lying about, it's very and drab and literally looks like they haven't touched it since it opened in 1980-something.

I figure it's just some old dude who actually owns the shop rather than leasing (rates are not cheap for other businesses around) and he maybe gets one job every other week and sells some stuff to desperate people who don't care, I can't imagine anyone with any money getting any furniture re-upholstered here or whatever.

I think money laundering operations work out of actually well operating business that are clearly busy, hair salons, beauty places, tanning salons etc (always seems to be girlfriends of drug dealers in these kinds of jobs who facilitate the process). You really don't want a shop that looks like it only gets one customer a month having books showing a roaring trade, that would stick out a mile.

 

[LL_Decitrig]

Yeah, it definitely legit. It would be the worst front since so many people would be bothering them for repairs and spare parts, they have no choice but to be a legitimate business.

Click to shrink...

Maybe they started out as a front for a heist on the bank next door but the vacuum cleaner repair business took off and now they have a multi-billion dollar business and keep that storefront on to avoid their secret tunnelling attempts being discovered.

Or was I thinking of that Woody Allen film?

 

[Slayven]

A new comicbook store opened in my city, they got to be up to something

 

[Deleted member 7130]

They only shops that look suspicious to me are Russian Pizza shops with similar-ish names

 

[Mr Spasiba]

Not sure what's weird about pool and scuba supply stores. People got pools that need servicing and you gotta get certified for scuba somewhere, Amazon ain't doing either of those yet. Vacuum place says it does commercial work right on the sign, that's probably most of what they do.

My grandfather ran an upholstery store for years even though a majority of his work was only commercial contracts. It keeps your name out there and enough people still need that service where it's not a total waste of time.

 

[Wulfric]

The stores I'm always suspicious of are those crystal/new age hippie stores. How many self-help books, Tarot cards, and incense can you possibly sell in a month?

 

[Syriel]

Driving around I'll occasionally spot these stores and wonder how they are still open and, presumably, profitable for the owners. You know the ones I'm talking about, speciality vacuum cleaner stores, pool supplies stores and, most recently, scuba diving specialty store.

They're always small, rundown premises located in low foot traffic areas. With online retailers and large brick and mortar stores with lower prices and greater selection, who even goes to these places?

I would assume they would see a maximum of maybe 5-8 customers for the whole day, leading to very, very low sales.

So how are they surviving? Are they fronts for money laundering or tax avoidance schemes? Do you frequent your local vacuum cleaner store?

I'm not against these stores operating, just fascinated how they are able to exist.

Example from Google Images:

Click to shrink...

OP, have you ever owned a quality vaccum?

One of these small stores was a godsend when my Rainbow when out.

Cheaper to get it fixed, than buy another. Rainbows are basically lifetime vaccums. They rock.

 

[Ed.]

I always wonder this when I am driving around. It doesn't even have to be specialty stores. Like there's a small mom and pop book store nearby. I just wonder how many customers they'd possibly get in a day. Can't be more than three or so. I walked in and it was pretty empty.

There's a shower door store nearby as well with a big sign that just says SHOWER DOORS. I mean they have to sell more than just shower doors right?

 

[TheDestructiveSquirrel]

I always wonder this when I am driving around. It doesn't even have to be specialty stores. Like there's a small mom and pop book store nearby. I just wonder how many customers they'd possibly get in a day. Can't be more than three or so. I walked in and it was pretty empty.

There's a shower door store nearby as well with a big sign that just says SHOWER DOORS. I mean they have to sell more than just shower doors right?

Click to shrink...

Do they install the doors? Repair the doors? Do other renos? Could just be a showroom

 

[bjork]

A new comicbook store opened in my city, they got to be up to something

Click to shrink...

The comic shop that opened in my old anime shop's location, has to be up to no good. Granted, the owner of my place was kind of a buffoon, but at least we had the hentai market cornered with a fat markup. The few times I visited the comic shop, that dude was sleeping. SLEEPING, I tell you. The location itself has a back door that opens to the alley out by the street, so who knows.

 

[Deleted member 2083]

Another one I just remembered seeing was this large warehouse/store that only sold Christmas supplies. The sign on the front said 'open 364 days a year'...

Click to shrink...

Nah, that's legit.

 

[Reeks]

Click to shrink...

505 fo life, son

 

[LL_Decitrig]

The comic shop that opened in my old anime shop's location, has to be up to no good. Granted, the owner of my place was kind of a buffoon, but at least we had the hentai market cornered with a fat markup. The few times I visited the comic shop, that dude was sleeping. SLEEPING, I tell you. The location itself has a back door that opens to the alley out by the street, so who knows.

Click to shrink...

This is you in my head:

 

[Ghostmate]

I always have a good chuckle every time I pass this place. This shit is so suspish - on so many levels.

 

[abrack]

I always wonder the same thing when I pass this store:

 

[skeezx]

my neighborhood is full of these type 'stores'. my favorite is one called "computers" adjacent to an adult video store and has just a desk with a computer in it and eastern european looking dudes walk in and out of there around 2 AM. and it's been "open" for like ten years now

 

[MajesticSoup]

Small car audio shops I suspect are mostly fronts. Its 2019, even bestbuy barely has floorspace for car audio.

 

[sfortunato]

First, there's a cognitive bias: we don't or can't remember how such specialty stores were everywhere until a few decades ago when large chain stores were still building their presence and online retailing didn't exist. The stores you see are just a fraction of the remaining store population. They survive because there's still a tiny demand.

Second, specialisation is the key to survive. Experience in specialties is something really valuable nowadays that big companies can't acquire so easily.