Businesses in Davis

[ronhaha108.livejournal.com]

Hi group, I'm thinking of starting a business in Davis, something possibly with a store front, and am trying to come up with some ideas. What do you think is sorely lacking in Davis?

Cheers,
Ron

Comments

[hissilliness.livejournal.com]

* Laundromat with a wet bar. Good luck getting a liquor license.

* Sex shop (the nearest good one is in Brookline). The nearest place to buy Liquid Silk is Hubba-Hubba in Central.

* Computer store; the nearest (if you don't count Radio Shack) is probably Microcenter.

* Sparqs (http://www.makezine.com/extras/26.html). God, I miss it.

* I bet a fantasy/anachronistic clothing store could do well 'round these parts.

[dani-namaste.livejournal.com]

I also second sex shop and computer store; especially one that sells Mac stuff.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Heh. Read that first sentence another way, and you have an even more interesting store!

[-afton-.livejournal.com]

I agree with the sex shop.
The closest one is a hike, and I'm pretty sure there are a fair number of tufts students who would frequent it... actually, I know that there are.

...

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I've pondered the idea of a sex shop around here for years now and would totally do it if I had a person or persons to go in with me. (I'm not the type to do this sort of thing all alone.) I think it'd be great. Not to mention a context where it wouldn't be inappropriate to constantly share my opinions on all the different toys. :)

[turil.livejournal.com]

Ok, what if you made it an artsy sex shop? We Somervillians are an artistic bunch and you could have a selection of locally made art/crafts that feature the more exciting bits of human (and others') anatomy. This would give you a niche and a draw.

(I'd almost be interested in being a partner, but I have absolutely no money, terrible credit, and have been hoping to move to Vermont for years now...)

I really miss having a place nearby to get fun x-rated comic books (like the adorable sci-fi/fantasy comic XXXenophile).

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Any shop of mine would be artsy, because it'd be mine. :)

[ron_newman]

Would Comicazi be willing to order those for you? They're just outside the Square, on Highland Avenue east of Cutter. Someone there told me that they are soon moving a block closer to the Square on Highland, but I'm not sure exactly where.

[hissilliness.livejournal.com]

Million Year Picnic in Harvard Square has a good smutty comix section, as you may know. Unfortunately, Foglio appears to have stopped doing Xxxenophile for the time being.

[ron_newman]

Nearest computer store to Davis is probably Computer Cafe in Arlington Center.

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

Sex shop. Yes!

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

Sparqs closed? That's too bad - I thought it was a cool venture (though I looked into it I never used it - being able to wrangle shop access through one of the local art schools).

I wonder if it was too far out (in miles)? Or...? One would think Boston would be a hotbed of DIYers but maybe it's all school-based activity. It's been tough to get a dorkbots started here or similar sort of hacking group.

[hissilliness.livejournal.com]

What Tim (the proprietor) told me was that he made two key mistakes:

One was opening in the fall. People hunker down in autumn in New England, so he didn't really get much show of interest until the spring. That was six months of rent and taxes on a business that wasn't taking in much money.

The other was, as you suggest, misjudging his market. He'd expected his customers to be suburban dads and such--property owners who were spending a lot of time behind the wheel already. Instead, most of his interest came from SCUL or Burningman types, for many of whom (myself included) the trek out to Woburn was a big ol' pain in the ass. In 20/20 hindsight, it would have been better to take on the somewhat higher rent of setting up in Winter Hill or somewhere like that.

I still very much hope that someday he'll find the right space and re-open.