New business at Veterans Sq and State Street

Corner of Veterans Sq. and State St.

The building at the corner of Veteran's Sq. and State Street has been vacant for sometime, though in the last couple weeks there's been active work which changed the store front to include a new entrance and window space.  At thousands of dollars a month in rent for these types of business locations, I've always been interested in who, what and when these stores will be occupied.

From what I've gathered, I've heard it's planned to be a nail salon.  I have yet to substantiate that, as I've also heard rumors of a tanning salon too. Perhaps a possibility of both.

The pattern is becoming all too familiar: What can be bought over the internet or in bulk stores, doesn't make for a great business model on the streets of Media.  Bill Battey's sporting goods comes to mind and the former toy store where Media Pizza and Grill now is suffered a similar fate.  They had a great selection, but couldn't compete on a larger scale of convenience and price.  With online stores, they were no match, unfortunately.  Even at a mark up 10 to 30 percent, I tried to buy what I could there.  It's not just Media, but the malls on each end of town (Granite Run/Springfield) are both feeling a similar pressure.

What is thriving is an abundance of restaurants,  bars, banks and salons; as they seem to be the only sustainable model that works, which is categorized as the "services" industry.  Yes, Deals does well and maybe the gift/antiques stores too, but they provide unique items special to Media were price is not a determination point.   B. Gross a long time clothier of Media recently scaled down and adapted to the times by discontinuing men's suits.  I was in there this weekend, and aside from a casual line of clothes, there wasn't much selection for dress shirts.  I will say you can order custom shirts there and the quality is the best I've ever seen.

As for manufacturing, that's long been gone.  The only business I can think of that still produces something is Bevan's candy on Edgmont and Baltimore Pike.  I did see however, jars of honey in 7 Stones cafe for sale that said "Made in Media, PA."

Essentially for retail, if you can't buy it online and it's a store where most of the goods are under $30 dollars, you may have a viable business.  That is, if you can generate the needed sales volume to cover the typical rent on State St of $4,000 per month.