Not Fooling Anyone

Every town in America has one or two shops in it that people can't figure out how they stay in business. You probably know the ones that I am talking about: small, not located in a convenient area and they sell an item that usually doesn't have much appeal to a lot of people. Normally this would be a perfect storm to drive them out of business by the end of the month, yet somehow they continue to stay open even though you never see any customers in there. The most likely scenario is that they are either very well funded by people who saved their entire lives to open a store dedicated to a product they have always had a passion for or the owners got in to the location at a ridiculously low and lock-in rent. Now, the joke that I always make about stores like this are that they are fronts for the mob. Well, it turns out that I should have been a detective, because on a few occasions lately I would have been right.

The first one was discovered a couple weeks back, when a local day spa turned out to be covering up a prostitution and drug ring. (I guess the hot rocks massage wasn't the only thing they could think of to make people relaxed.) Then about two weeks ago a local bike shop was raided and they found a large stash of drugs in the back. (Turns out people who want to make a career out of riding bikes like smoking weed. Who knew?) All of this has done nothing except raise my awareness to anything that seems even slightly off. Now I'm not just joking about stores being mob-funded - I expect it to turn out to be true. The issue has been compounded by the fact that is now time for holiday shopping and if you can't think of anything to get people you find yourself wandering into a lot of smaller and less-crowded stores looking for gift inspiration. What I'm finding instead of gifts is that I'm more convinced than ever that some store outside of the big chains are absolutely just a mask for illegal activities.

I think it has everything to do with who is behind the counter. For example, I was in an arts and craft kind of store the other day. It was the kind of store where people sell home-painted signs and you expect both the clientele and the staff to be around 75 years old. Instead working the registers was a mid-30s man who was not exactly carrying himself with a welcoming demeanor. Also, when I went to ask him for a gift recommendation he appeared to be woefully unprepared to answer such a question with a limited knowledge of both arts and crafts. Now, it is entirely possible that in the current job market people are scrambling to find work and are forced to take employment in an area outside their comfort zone. But, given the events of the passed couple of weeks, it mostly felt like this guy wasn't interested in making a profit as much as not attracting attention to himself.

Does this mean that every small business is nothing more than a shell corporation for some larger crime syndicate? Of course not. But, the fact remains that some of them are. It also means that those stores should be a little more careful about who they make the public faces of their stores. Even if the store exists only to cover up illegal activities they should at least make sure that it's a good cover. Hire a couple of useful and friendly salespeople to blend in among the regulars who are just there to protect the larger interests. It will make the whole thing seem more on the up-and-up. And even if you can't fool everyone, it will increase the chances the unconvinced might be willing to let it slide. Customers are willing to overlook a lot of other sins when a place provides good customer service. Not to mention, I'd much rather support a small local business than some giant like Wal-Mart. After all, when you think about some of the moves that company does, mobsters are saints by comparison.