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Part science outlet, part Radio Shack, part curio cabinet—American Science & Surplus is unique:
It was shortly after moving into Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood that I saw the sign for the first time: American Science & Surplus. My curiosity piqued, I pulled into the strip mall and walked into a store filled with an unimaginable variety of lab equipment, military surplus, tools, electronics, toys, and so much more.
Now, nearly 90 years after its launch selling "reject lenses" as American Lens & Photo, American Science & Surplus is facing an existential threat. The COVID-19 pandemic and increased costs hit the business hard, so the store has launched a GoFundMe campaign looking to raise $200,000 from customers and fans alike. What's happening in suburban Chicago is a microcosm of the challenges facing local retail, with big-box retailers and online behemoths overwhelming beloved local institutions. It's a story that has played out countless times in the last two-plus decades, and owner Pat Meyer is hoping this tale has a different ending.
Launching a fundraiser was a tough choice for Meyer. "I don't like asking people for money," he said.
With his voice catching, he continued: "It's hard for me to talk about sometimes, because the more I'm in the store, the more I see how much people care about it and don't want it to go away."
And the current environment is tough for small business owners. "Banks... are real hesitant [about lending] money," Meyer told Ars. "Interest rates are high, too. So we decided that we were going to try and reach out to the community that we built over the last 88 years."
[...] Over time, the store has moved far beyond lenses and lab equipment. There's a science toy section and an aisle devoted to Etsy-style craft supplies. But other, once-thriving areas of the business have suffered. When I first discovered American Science & Surplus in the early 2000s, I would always linger at the massive telescope section. The store staff was always more than happy to answer my questions and explain the differences between the scopes. Now, telescopes are just a small corner of the store, and sales are infrequent. "People come in to ask questions and then buy the telescopes online," Meyer explained.
In many ways, American Science & Surplus is a physical manifestation of the maker ethos. There is an endless array of motors, switches, cables, tools, and connectors. "Sometimes our customers will send us photos of their creations," said Meyer. "It's always cool to see how people are inspired by shopping here."
The store should feel familiar to those who were alive in the peak days of Radio Shack. In fact, there used to be a Radio Shack in the same strip mall as American Science & Surplus' old store in the Jefferson Park neighborhood on Chicago's northwest side. Meyer said that Radio Shack would frequently send customers a few doors down to his store to find things Radio Shack didn't stock. And one time, the surplus store sent a customer back. "Radio Shack sent one guy over to us after telling him they didn't have the item in stock," Meyer said. "We didn't have it, but one of our associates knew Radio Shack did, so he walked the customer back, pulled the part out of the bin, and handed it to him."
[...] American Science & Surplus has adapted over the years. There's now a well-stocked section of science toys. And Meyer has started hosting science nights. The next one, slated for June 7 at the Park Ridge store, will double as a fundraiser—in addition to the usual science experiments and demonstrations, there will be a silent auction and live music.
What will Meyer do with the money if the fundraising goal is reached? "We have to move our warehouse," he said. "It's too expensive, it's too big." Other plans include updating its operating software and updating the website. A quick look at the About Us page of the current site shows the need for an update. It contains a warning that the "heavy use of tables" may not be supported in all browsers—paired with a suggestion to download Netscape Navigator.
As of this writing, the GoFundMe campaign has raised $136,903. Meyer says contributing isn't just about supporting American Science & Surplus; it's about supporting local retail during a very challenging time. "Who wants to buy everything at Amazon, Walmart, Temu, and Target?" he asked.
[Ed. note: I've purchased oddball optics from them before and they truly are unique --hubie]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 10, @04:03AM (11 children)
If you manage your business such that if anything ever happens, you can't afford it -- then you will lose your business.
If you manage your life, living paycheck-to-paycheck, with no way to deal with something happening -- you'll lose your house, your car, whatever saves you don't have, and be inelligible for credit.
It sounds like this business was charging unsustainably low prices -- or at least unsustainable for maintaining its (massive?) warehouse. End result: it loses its low prices and it loses its warehouse. When you have a fire-sale it usually gets you through these things, until the next going-out-of-business sale.
GoFundMe might make mismanagement someone else's problem, this time, but it probably won't work a second time (almost certainly not a third).
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday June 10, @07:43AM (9 children)
More and more small and medium US businesses will suffer the same fate.
I hope you are prepared with other explanations, 'cause it may happen the real case is not a sudden epidemic of businesses stupidity in the US, long live the multinational coprorations as, in their wisdom, they can twist the arm of customers to pay more
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Unixnut on Tuesday June 10, @10:37AM (8 children)
It is very much being "stuck between a rock and a hard place" for small businesses. As AC mentioned the business was living on the knife edge of sustainability and part of the problem was that the prices they were charging were too low.
However even with those low prices, prices at online big corporates like Amazon were lower still, so much so that it was not worth buying at the shop even if someone put the time and effort to go there in person to look at the merchandise and ask questions (as referenced by the anecdote about the telescope).
At this point it sounds like their businesses model is dead and the gofundme may buy it some more time, but unless people actively go there and pay higher prices then they can find online in order to support their local business, it will sooner or later hit the same issues it has now.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday June 10, @12:11PM (7 children)
How sure are you that Joe Average can pay higher prices today?
How about 3-6mo from now, when the choice will be between sending the minors to pick the crops for the same pittance paying, long hours as the (now deported) immigrants [michigandaily.com] or raise the prices for whatever one can pick and let the rest rot?
See also:
- Who's going to milk the cows? [msn.com]
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday June 10, @01:55PM (6 children)
False dilemma. The people freaking out about lack of abusable illegals are the soon to be frozen out corporate middlemen.
Something like a pint of blueberries are picked by people in poverty for 25 cents, then resold endlessly by multiple stages of middlemen until the consumer happily pays $5 at a supermarket.
If they have to pay $2/pint for labor, thats fine, the customers are still willing to continue to pay $5/pint so there's STILL $3/pint profit for the middlemen, but thats a lot less than the $4.75/pint of profit the many layers of middlemen were getting and they are freaking out now.
All we need is a nice startup to automate CSAs and maybe a gig economy delivery truck and we can cut the middleman profit to $1/pint for the startup, perhaps.
Big corporate is REALLY mad they won't own slaves anymore, but overall the world will be better off.
The existing system of endless layers of 100% profit middlemen is about to expire and big corporate and their bootlickers are MAD about it, but everyone else will be very happy.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Tuesday June 10, @06:29PM (5 children)
Rrrright, because the mighty US economy allowed rent-seekers middlemen that don't do anything useful to proliferate. UberEats or whatever tech brotherhood should be able to disrupt them and get yesterday-picked Florida/California oranges delivered into Fairbanks Alaska, at a price $1/pound.
Come on, enlighten us, which of the grow -> wash/pack -> transport -> cold storage-> distribute -> retail intermediary your disrupting gig-economy techbros are going to eliminate?
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday June 10, @06:36PM (3 children)
I'm already in two CSAs, which could eliminate the last four. "Some kind of automation app" could help with subscription and delivery.
The farmer makes more money and I pay less for food, it already works, but could be optimized quite a bit. Lots of sales by seeing flyers and word of mouth and payment by paper checks LOL.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday June 10, @11:28PM (1 child)
Gotta love acronyms: first page of the search on CSA returns Child Sexual Abuse. Oh, not quite, the bottom of the page offers Child Support Association too.
Do you care to translate it for me?
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Informative) by deimtee on Wednesday June 11, @12:03PM
The first few results were Christian Schools, Commercial Systems, and Crime Statistics Australia, but I think he means about the 10th result on DDG. - Community Supported Agriculture
https://afsa.org.au/csa/ [afsa.org.au]
200 million years is actually quite a long time.
(Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Tuesday June 10, @11:43PM
Whatever the CSA stands for, do any of the two solves the "oranges in Fairbanks Alaska" problem eliminating the transport step? Maybe some nifty wormhole or teleporter involved?
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 10, @10:16PM
That actually sounds like there is a business opportunity for someone to buy the 3kg packs from the farmers, repackage them into 250 & 500 gram packs and sell locally.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Whoever on Tuesday June 10, @02:29PM
Remember when those large businesses all needed a bail out in 2020?
Were they running unsustainable operations?