To all who cherish any of the independent businesses in Malibu!
Businesses are closing. I know of a little-understood expense that, if minimized, could arguably make the difference between surviving and going under. Big secret: Don’t use credit cards.
The Malibu Newsstand is losing somewhere around $5,000 a year, due to diminished sales. Print media has stiff competition and I plan to gracefully accept our new position in the age of 21st century journalism. We are still viable due in part to the fact that we carry no debt. We’re not paying off a business loan, we don’t use credit to buy our inventory and we don’t pay any interest.
However, at the same time, we now pay more than $5,000 a year on bank charges, 95% of which are the fees they charge us for credit card purchases by customers at our store. These fees, that they charge you as well as us, are for the convenience of not carrying cash, the privilege of putting-off paying and, unfortunately for some, spending more than they can afford. If we can switch to something close to “cash only,” we could save as much as $7,000 a year. We can open monthly accounts for those who need to keep track of their company purchases.
So you make the call. If you want a local newsstand, always use cash. Yes, it’s bucking the trend, but the trend is burying the whole country in debt. The “convenience” of credit cards will guarantee that within a few years you will have to drive 30 minutes or more for any periodical that is not available at the supermarket and that you will be waiting in line at the same supermarket for Red Bull, American Spirits, Tic Tacs or Los Angeles Times. You will also have to make arrangements with Starbucks to save a Sunday paper, and you will never again be able to buy last week’s People, last month’s Architectural Digest, or yesterday’s New York Times!
You have to decide. Can you make this effort? It’s not only the Newsstand; all independent retail stores are feeling the effects of the economic slow-down and we all have paper-thin profit margins. The Malibu Newsstand doesn’t spend a dime on advertising, but I thought I would alert you to just how dire our straits are, and how easily you can help. I need and want a newsstand as much as anyone.
Fran Perry
Malibu Newsstand