I find the evolution of certain businesses of great interest. Take, for example, Divine Finds – a niche boutique that specializes in vintage apparel and accessories. According to owner Danielle Loukataris, Divine Finds was created in 2002 as an online business selling items of fine vintage apparel and accessories through eBay and other online sites. In 2004 Danielle added a brick and mortar shop, that eventually led her to establishing a more permanent location on Elmwood Avenue. In 2008 the Elmwood store closed due to a sharp turn in the economy, and she decided to downsize.
A number of other stores that experienced the same economic downturn, eventually saw the writing on the wall and opted to close their doors. Danielle had a completely different idea in mind… an idea that she continues to run with to this day. “In 2010 I changed my focus and put my efforts back online and created a pop up shop for my disco customers who attend the World’s Largest Disco party,” Danielle told me. “I have created a niche rental service, dressing my clients from head to toe in authentic disco attire and thankfully this has a demand and a loyal customer base but only during that time of year. Also, Sinatra & Co. realty allows me to open for just three months during my “disco season” and have a short term lease.”
Not only does it take a business owner who is willing to operate seasonally (the disco season in this case), it also takes an building owner that has the desire to grab hold of a fleeting business opportunity. Fortunately Sinatra bucks the trend in Buffalo, because as we all know, there are insane property owners who are willing to have empty storefronts sit for years and years, rather than work with small business owners that are able to be part of the local economy no matter the short window. “Unfortunately, there is a lot of unused real estate in this city and surrounding areas,” Danielle pointed out. “I think more folks who want to create a short term business should be able to do so and building owners should be open to those short term leases. We live in Buffalo, NY – and we love it, but let’s face it, paying for retail from January to April can be risky depending on the business and the location. Online buying and selling is getting easy to do from your phone, and to own a brick and mortar you must have a demand to be open year ’round.”
Just think about Downtown Buffalo, and some of the empty storefronts that you are aware of (think Main Street). You can’t expect a business owner to just set up shop down there for a sold year and expect to not have down times. But, if certain building owners were willing to lease their spaces seasonally, that might be a completely different story. Plus, I bet there are plenty of business owners who would like to test the waters during the summer, without being held accountable for the winter season… at least until Downtown undergoes a complete renaissance (many believe that we’ve turned the corner). “A great way to see if your business is viable is to test it,” said Danielle. “A 3 year commercial lease can be too long for some new businesses and they fail all together from too much inventory, overhead and online competition. The seasonal store just made sense to me and my lifestyle – I enjoy having the time with my family during the off season and ship overseas on a weekly basis selling my items. Also this allows me to find and consign great items and work in other creative areas like the movies, finding items for designer archives as well as new product development. This is my 3rd year “popping up” in a different location and already we have rentals for World’s Largest Disco holding. I hope to continue to build my Halloween customer base but know the disco clients are always looking forward to a new outfit and the new items I have found during the year.”
Divine Finds Shop is located at 3108 Delaware Avenue and is open through The World’s Largest Disco. The annual event this year is on November 30th, 2013. Learn more on Facebook.