In one work – convenience. I won’t know where my building will be, and have no idea if there will be the features I will want my tenants to have access will be available. I am going to assume for no. While I can’t solve everyone’s problems all of the time, I can address the few creature comforts with many of the tenants. Most of the businesses will have to share an address. For example, the convenience store is 5A, whereas the pizza shoppe is 5D. This is because I am going to assume that the block numbers that I will have will be enough to provide a unique address for each business. The PMB is the exception with 3.
First the convenience store. I will not sell cigarettes, nor vaping products. These things are dangerous not only for the smoker/vaper, but for those around them. Secondhand smoke is a real thing, and it is more dangerous than firsthand smoke it. I can not on good conscience sell things that are so harmful to more than just the smoker. Otherwise, I will sell Hungry Man meals, pizzas, iced teas, sodas, coffees, and various other items. There will be an email address that regular visitors can write to suggest new items to sell. This will especially be valuable to tenants when they need a little more to stretch until grocery shopping. I am not going to convince myself that a convenience store can replace the grocery store, nor should it. However, it will be there nonetheless. The store will support SNAP, EMV chips, NFC chips, and magnetic swipe (for the SNAP). Cash will also be accepted. There will be no denial for cash, nor card so it will be less friction. I will also try to work with Capital One to allow the store to accept deposits, and work with PRT to allow the store to provide payments to the Ready Fare card.
The Ice cream shoppe will sell hard ice creams, soft serves, milkshakes, and other sweets. While not the most healthy thing, it is good for once a week. I will try to create some unique deserts to make it more appealing to come here. With that noted, the ice cream shoppe will support cash, EMV, and NFC. I will have a member’s reward system to give a $5 discount off the next purchase for every $100 spent. I will also offer a free simple milkshake on the member’s birthday which they can acquire from the day before – the day after as I am sure one might be really busy on their birthday.
The Pharmacy will make sense. I am sure there will be a number of tenants that might need regular medications, and their only other option might be to take a bus or two to get to their pharmacy. With that said, I will be doing a service to everyone in the apartment building, and walking distance an option for a pharmacy. The pharmacy will be a pharmacy first, and a store second.
The pizza shoppe will sell all of the items you would expect from a pizza shoppe to make. This will include cheese sticks, pizzas, calzones, Strombolis, and a number of hoagies. This will be an ideal solution for game night, and the pizza shoppe will be just a phone call away. I will encourage the driver to install a SIP? client on their smart phone to show the pizza shoppe rather than their private cellular number. All delivery orders must be done with a credit/debit card. This will make the driver less of a target since those near by will know that the driver does not carry enough cash to be mugged over. The customer can still give the delivery person a tip to show appreciation, but this money will be taken to the business after all deliveries, and the driver can simply put his tips away.
The PMB? will provide boxes of various sizes and prices. There will also be packing, and shipping items for sale. In addition, the PMB will sell stamped envelopes at a little more than cost. This will allow a tenant to provide an address without disclosing their real address. However, there will not be nearly enough boxes to support the entire building. Since I am the owner of the business, my box will always be reserved for me, and never for sale. If there is a significant desire for mailboxes, I will consider trying to get another local store-front for boxes. However, this will mean the tenant will have to walk to the PMB. I will imagine that most tenants will be OK with providing their residence address, or never receive mail unless it was from the government.