why is north texas void of small business (Houston, Dallas: credit card, buy)

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Pepper beat me to it. Mico (nn for Michael) is a bit of a legend around here.

The Rise and Fall of Dallas Restaurateur Mico Rodriguez – D Magazine

Yep. We all know!

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by _OT

That list is talking about small businesses in general, those of a larger scale, rather than actually being "small." Which in that case, based on sure size, Dallas should be very well at the top of that list. Construction, Media, Food Manufacturing, and Sports aren't the typical "small" businesses you find in the average neighborhood.

I was in DFW last month hanging with family, and one of the things I often would talk about was the lack of Corner Stores/Bodegas, especially whenever I wanted cheap alchohol/snacks; I always end up settling for either 7/11 or a Valero/Shell.

My idea of a small business is something like a simple Sneaker Shop, or a Record Store. I remember living in my old neighborhood, there would be a Sandwich Shop called Fat Sam's, at the most there were like 4-6 employees in total, next to them was a Vape Shop, and outside there would be a fruit stand, the only thing close to a larger chain nearby was a Starbucks in a nearby neighborhood.

The DFW "area" is newer than Miami. Not all of it, but a great deal. What city or town in the area were you hanging with family? Was it Dallas proper and you couldn't find independent corner stores? That would be strange, even in the closer in/older suburbs. If you were in newer suburbs and exurbs...Frisco (where OP is), The Colony, Prosper (which I never even heard of until 5 or so years ago), so many places...it wouldn't be surprising at all because these places are brand new. Some were tiny farming towns up until the last few decades.

[TheOverdog]

My idea of a small business is something like a simple Sneaker Shop, or a Record Store.

There are independent shoe stores in DFW. Record stores barely exist anymore because of iTunes, but they still exist too. The Frisco Outlet mall has one. Dallas many not have as many local corner stores as where you are from, but it has them too. There are independent liquor stores everywhere as well.

Also 7-Eleven was started in Dallas, so it's our local bodega even though it's a chain.

[DitsyD]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

There are independent shoe stores in DFW. Record stores barely exist anymore because of iTunes, but they still exist too. The Frisco Outlet mall has one. Dallas many not have as many local corner stores as where you are from, but it has them too. There are independent liquor stores everywhere as well.

Also 7-Eleven was started in Dallas, so it's our local bodega even though it's a chain.

True about 7-Eleven. They started as an ice house that added staples like milk and bread.

[Julio July]

Originally Posted by numbersguy100

Chase is based in New York, not Dallas. Good for Dallas that some of the lower value jobs are moving here - but if your post is meant to imply that the important and high paying Chase jobs are moving from New York to Dallas you are absolutely incorrect. OP is not making a lot of valid points but neither are some of the people attempting to argue the other side. Dallas is a fairly well diversified economy. Yes, very tied to oil money, especially when you're talking about it as a source of wealth, as opposed to strictly the jobs, but it's not dependent on it the way Houston is. It's neither a banking town, nor a retail town, nor an oil town, nor a telecom town, nor a high tech town, nor a logistics town, nor an advertising town. There's a little bit of most things here, including small businesses as well as large ones. I do think because of the fact that the region is very active in giving out economic incentives to large businesses to relocate here, that you get perhaps a disproportionate mix of larger companies relative to small. But I don't think that's because it's a bad place for small business, I think it's just the fact that so many large companies are shipping a lot of their jobs here.

This is the middle ground between both sides' argument and the correct answer right here. Sure, North Texas has historically been a good place for startups and small businesses for a long time to the point where a lot of big, national chains that are practically household names today got their start in DFW, and most people---unless they are from DFW---don't even realize it. However, these days, so many big name companies, chain restaurants, and big box stores are moving here so fast that the number of those compared to the number of local business seems extremely disproportionate in most of DFW, and getting even more so all the time, especially compared to many other metro areas/markets. So although the OP is technically wrong, I know exactly what he's trying to say.

[Julio July]

Originally Posted by _OT

Actually he's kind...of right.

Does DFW have small businesses? of course, but they're not as prosperous due to the larger chains and companies, so you don't see them in large numbers. That's one of the major things that also caught my attention about North Texas. My personal opinion of what a small business is, are those that barely have logos, nothing but a simple generic font and name. You know, something along the lines like Greg's Pharmacy, Dominican Salon, Windsor's Grocery, La Nueva Michoacana, Super Oriental Market, or etc. etc. most of the time these businesses are distinct to their specific neighborhood/area, let alone the city.

For a broad example, see LA or NYC.

Exactly. Most people notice this when they move to North Texas these days from other areas of the country (notice most of the people saying, "But my family owned a successful business here for 30 years," are, of course, natives). We noticed it almost immediately, and not just in the suburbs, like many people are insinuating.

Sure you can find some local businesses here. There are 7 million people in the DFW metro, so that only makes sense. But for an area with 7 million residents and that takes up more land than some states do, the number of those local, small businesses seems EXTRMELY disproportionate to the large chains and businesses that you can find in Anywhere, USA.

I love DFW, but that's often one of the main reasons why outsiders who don't like it call it bland, and as somebody who is not originally from DFW, it's a hard point to refute, even when you love DFW and want to defend it. Heck, as much as people are calling Houston "the oil town," even it has a bigger, better, and more diverse local/small business to chain stores/big business ratio, ESPECIALLY when it comes to restaurants and grocery stores.

[pepper131]

I'm going to an indie record store this weekend. Inside Dolly Python. Going there is an adventure and an education. I always pick up an LP for my son at Christmas.

[Soonhun]

Originally Posted by Mentallect

Exactly. Most people notice this when they move to North Texas these days from other areas of the country (notice most of the people saying, "But my family owned a successful business here for 30 years," are, of course, natives). We noticed it almost immediately, and not just in the suburbs, like many people are insinuating.

Sure you can find some local businesses here. There are 7 million people in the DFW metro, so that only makes sense. But for an area with 7 million residents and that takes up more land than some states do, the number of those local, small businesses seems EXTRMELY disproportionate to the large chains and businesses that you can find in Anywhere, USA.

I love DFW, but that's often one of the main reasons why outsiders who don't like it call it bland, and as somebody who is not originally from DFW, it's a hard point to refute, even when you love DFW and want to defend it. Heck, as much as people are calling Houston "the oil town," even it has a bigger, better, and more diverse local/small business to chain stores/big business ratio, ESPECIALLY when it comes to restaurants and grocery stores.

Like I said, many members of my extended family have small businesses and they came here as poor immigrants from a then-dictatorship.most of their businesses are no more than 10 years old.

Also, I'm not being as harsh with this question since you did say it "seems" to be the case, but past experience isn't evidence, at least not for something that should have data like the number of small businesses. I already refuted the idea that Dallas has less small businesses, per capita, than most of the other large cities. Granted, that was flawed, being based on city limits, but no one has brought up any recent data for metropolitan areas (one poster did allude to it but would not show the data even after asked for).

[jgn2013]

Dallas proper has a ton of small businesses. Most people that move here don't really explore "Dallas" but instead "DFW" as if DFW = Dallas.

[Aceraceae]

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/ne...dding-the.html