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There is, round the corner from me, a fireworks shop. They open for obvious events like the run-up to Halloween / Guy Fawkes etc, but the rest of the year the shutters are closed. If I was pressed to hang a figure on it I'd say they're probably open in total for one month per year, perhaps five weeks. They're open now, windows full of sun-bleached boxes with names which sound like Putin's Amazon Wish List.
Now, I know the obvious vox-pop man-on-the-Clapham-omnibus Farage-Padawan tabloid-delivered answer here is that it's a front for drugs / money laundering / tax-dodging / illegal immigrant employment / etc etc but... well, is it?
How does a high street storefront like this stay in business? (Alright, the main thoroughfare between Accrington and Burnley is hardly premium real estate and half of its neighbouring properties are vacant stores, but still.) Did they get lucky and buy the premises outright, so its primary usage is a domestic dwelling? Do organised larger-scale events pay the bills? Is the owner loaded and it's simply a vanity project? Is the markup on the resale of wholesale fireworks (ahem) sky high? Does a month's profit keep the other 11 ticking over? Is the bulk of their trade conducted online (posting explosives must be challenging)? Is there something else going on? If it is nefarious, why haven't they been raided and shut down by now? They've been here for many years, considerably longer than I've lived here.
Genuine question, I really don't want to be a plastic tory about it (and frankly I don't particularly care beyond this post) but it absolutely baffles me every time I walk past. I assume that online is where the real money is to be made but then... what's the point in having a mostly-closed shop?
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money laundering
If people don't bang on about it, it'll lose its commercial spark and the owners interest will fizzle out.
If people don't bang on about it, it'll lose its commercial spark and the owners interest will fizzle out.
Light blue touch paper and then retire?
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Peppercorn rent. Fairly secure facility.
Used as a storeroom for online sales and opened for peak wee phud season.
A not vacant shop is better than a vacant one. It will generally have atleast the minimum maintenance on it to keep ot weather tight. Look at the state of a shop thats been empty for even a fairly short time.
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Sensible answer - you do know that most retail premises only "survive" due to Christmas don't you?
Sensible answer - you do know that most retail premises only "survive" due to Christmas don't you?
Indeed - shop rental is only part of the business costs - it costs money to have the door open, lights on and staff in attendance so probably makes sense to be open only during periods when its profitable to be so. You'd still be paying for premises somewhere to store stock out of season anyway. Joe Public only buys fireworks for bonfire night and halloween but they'll probably have jobbing business to the business work through the year for events (weddings, concerts etc) to supply to.
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I have to buy things like Christmas trees / decorations and so on out of season for filming and all the companies  that make those kinds of seasonal supplies are in fact in business and busy all year round, just behind closed doors, as corporate clients, shopping centres, hotels and so on plan and spec stuff months, even years ahead. I had to buy a Christmas tree in July once and I was late to the party almost every tree on the farm was already spoken for.
Sensible answer - you do know that most retail premises only "survive" due to Christmas don't you?
This being the case, why open the rest of the year? Advertising?
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A not vacant shop is better than a vacant one.
Also, if the shop is vacant the landlord pays the business rates, if it's rented then the tenant pays.
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