Patchogue Village and Vacant Stores:

Like many small municipalities, we are also plagued with too many vacant stores in our village. The question that arises is why has the "Vacant Store Disease," been allowed to proliferate.

I spoke to a merchant in our village and asked him, "how much rent are the merchants in Patchogue Village paying every month." I was amazed to find out that "the bottom line" for store rental in our village is Three Thousand Dollars per month! The high end for Store Rental is generally Six Thousand Dollars per month!

What does this minimum rental fee mean to me? Disregarding initial monetary investment and break even time, let me consider the operation of a "fictitious Business," an Espresso Bar!

Applying the general one third profit rule; how many customers would I have to serve in order to just break even? Assuming that the average customer spends about three Dollars for Espresso, I would have to sell Coffee to three thousand customers. Assuming a 24 day work month, I would need One Hundred and Twenty Five customers per day, every day, just to break even. Selling Espresso, with a rent of Three Thousand Dollars, per month, would be very difficult!

Our Village Government is responsible to act on issues that benefit our entire population. What if our village, purchased some of the vacant stores in Patchogue, under the direction of a committee of local merchants. The stores would be renovated and then rented under the direct control of our Local Merchant Committee. The Committee would make sure that the village owned stores, were rented to businesses that would complement our existing commerce infrastructure. The intent would be to make our Village a more interesting place to visit.

One Village Owned Store, could be broken up into four smaller rooms or areas which could be rented to people who sell specific craft items.

Another store could be broken up into two or three desk areas or Offices, that could be rented to three separate businesses. A Contractor, Accountant, and Entertainment Agency, could occupy the same office, with a shared Conference Room, and common Reception Area. Many small businesses only require a desk and a few file cabinets to function. I have seen this concept work in Las Vegas, and it would be a good idea to consider the possibility of adopting this concept for our village.

A third store could be rented to a Doctor or Dentist.

The Customer Base, generated by these new businesses would have the effect of helping our existing businesses, and also create an environment that could result in the remaining vacant stores being rented.

Quoting Mayor Pontieri. "The worst thing to do in any situation, is nothing!"


Send your comments and ideas to the Maple Avenue Neighborhood Watch, via Email at davispark2000-manw@yahoo.com

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