Is Jacksonville small business friendly? (St. Augustine: house, maintenance, move)

[sport69]

Is Jacksonville small business friendly cans a curtain and upholstery business thrive and survive in Jacksonville?

[judeK]

Originally Posted by sport69

Is Jacksonville small business friendly cans a curtain and upholstery business thrive and survive in Jacksonville?

A good curtain and upholstery business, can survive in Jacksonville. Thrive I have no clue.

[SaintCabbage]

The answer is No. The giants of the industry will crush you like an ant.

[kokonutty]

Originally Posted by SaintCabbage

The answer is No. The giants of the industry will crush you like an ant.

Who are these giants of which you speak?

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by sport69

Is Jacksonville small business friendly cans a curtain and upholstery business thrive and survive in Jacksonville?

I have used both a local curtain and a local reupholstery business within the last year (2 year house refreshing project - great fun ). First time for the curtain outfit - second time for the upholstery outfit. And they're both excellent. They're certainly not national giants.

OTOH - both have been in business here a long time (probably 15-20 years). And it took them years to build their businesses in terms of clients from the ground up. And it's still not easy for either business - because so many people here don't have a clue what this stuff should cost. And most can't afford to (or don't care to) pay for decent quality.

When I talked to the curtain person - she said her only decent business is in Riverside/Avondale - San Marco - some parts of Mandarin and Ponte Vedra Beach - also some parts of JAX Beach. She will take the occasional trip to Nocatee or communities in the 210 corridor to quote a job and be met with expressions of shock/disbelief when she quotes more than $200 to fabricate wall to wall curtains (she's pretty much given up on that area).

As for the upholstery people - they're kind of odd ducks. Very rural old south - they look right out of Duck Dynasty . But I've had them reupholster these chairs for me - and they didn't blink an eye (they did a great job as well):

Saporiticasa - Armchairs and Chaise Longues - Onda

Old world craftsmanship bottled a little differently .

Although you didn't ask - I ran across another similar outfit here this past year. Because I wanted to redo an oriental rug. Remove the fringe and have the ends woven - not glued. There's only one place in town that can do this. Again - mom and pop and old southern. Worth the trip (not that long - their place is on Old St. Augustine Road).

It's a tough business here. Not because there's so much competition - or because the area isn't small business friendly - but because people here in general don't have/care to spend a lot of money on this stuff. Still - I know people who are doing ok (although it took them a lot of time to develop their businesses). Robyn

[EricBoyd]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

...they're kind of odd ducks:

Saporiticasa - Armchairs and Chaise Longues - Onda

Old world craftsmanship bottled a little differently .

I actually thought you were talking about the chairs.

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by EricBoyd

I actually thought you were talking about the chairs.

The interior of our house and our furnishings are somewhat unusual for this area. A lot of mid-century modern stuff with an industrial slant.

Over the years - I've developed a network of people/places who can do most things for us (except for some furniture stuff). They're sometimes surprised at what we want. But willing to do it - competent as well.

We are to the best to my knowledge the only house in the metro area that now has high end commercial carpet tiles. They look great - like an art gallery. Wear great too. And if we happen to spill a bottle of red wine on one - voila - we rip it up and replace it with another. I love high modern style and low maintenance . Robyn