Stacey and I chatted about this topic a bit recently (private message). Lately I've been wondering why I'm even doing this, and if it's worth all the energy and headaches to probably end up with nothing at the end. I took over another shop that was closing, they couldn't find any buyers so it was basically dumped on me because I thought it was worth a shot. At the very end they were just giving things away...equipment, roll media, reams of
paper, furnishings. No buyers for this stuff. My closest competitor has had his
sign shop for sale going on three years now, almost as long as I've been in business. We met once to discuss it, but the asking price was so high it was almost comical. He must not be desperate enough because I still see it listed on Craigslist sometimes, no price reduction. I'm guessing he'll eventually just close the doors like Stacey's competitors and his customers will come my way. There's a couple other shops in my area, both owners are semi-retired and often lock their front doors and don't answer the phone.
What is it about
sign shops in particular that close their doors because there's no interested buyers to take over? Yes, the customers suck, but that applies to any business. I've definitely dealt with much worse in my life.
