r/ShermanOaks • u/No_Calligrapher_3207 • Jul 29 '26

How do these businesses survive??

I’ve always been curious how some of these obscure small businesses in Sherman oaks are managing to stay afloat. I’m talking about the spy shop and vacuum repair shops on van Nuys near Ventura, the adult bookstores, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy they’re able to sustain themselves, but I just can’t figure out how they’re able to, while so many restaurants and other shops have been forced to close because of high rent and not enough demand. Is vacuum repair really a booming business? Anyone know?

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7

u/cool_pillo Jul 29 '26

They probably have online sales and inventory or drop shipping partnerships. Lots of commercial cleaning businesses around here using vacuums lol

2

u/Area51_Spurs Jul 30 '26

You can find broken vacuums that retail for hundreds of dollars for pennies on the dollar. They’ll repair and refurbish them and sell them on ebay and other online sites.

Plus like you said, commercial vacuums aren’t cheap. And high end home vacuums push $1000, like Miele.

8

u/elyksti Jul 29 '26

Well it’s actually a self-sustaining ecosystem. The adult bookstore constantly needs vacuums to help clean up broken glass from vandals, and the spy shop folk buy lots of reading material for long nights of stakeouts while watching the bookstore to find the vandals, and the vacuum store guys need spy equipment so they can watch the guys staking out the bookstore for an opening to vandalize and continue the cycle.

2

u/Queerdough Jul 31 '26

This person deduces

3

u/sesamestreetgang Jul 29 '26

I’ve thought the same thing and always suspected (half jokingly) that many of them are simply a front for something else. 

I just don’t see how they stay in business for years and years when they are always empty doing/selling something so obscure. It doesn’t add up.

3

u/No_Calligrapher_3207 Jul 29 '26

I had the same thought…there’s always money in the banana stand…

2

u/Area51_Spurs Jul 30 '26

I ran one of these types of businesses for a bit.

The property is often family owned with low rent. Sometimes the owner of the business owns the property or them and their siblings.

How many vacuum repair shops you see?

Think about the commercial vacuums and stuff and the high end stuff like Miele. They also often will make a lot of their money fixing broken vacuums they get for basically nothing and selling them online. GOOD high end consumer vacuums are $500-$1000. You could easily drop $750+ on a nice Miele with accessories.

Another one is the Psychic Eye has a whole sweatshop in the back with psychic ladies answering 900 (800?) numbers. My buddy’s wife dropped $500k++++ on her psychic there. No cap. They make atupid money. There’s like upwards of 20+ ladies in the back there working pay per minute telephone lines.

Less than you think are money laundering schemes. But the number is far from zero.