On Sat, 27 May 2000, Bruce Lane wrote:
> At the end of last month, Haltek Electronics, Mountain View,
> CA closed their doors. Not because they wanted to, nor because
> they didn't have a loyal following, but purely because of greed on
> the part of their jackass of a landlord.
>
> It seems that their lease was up for renewal. Their landlord,
> decided to get greedy, and wanted to at least double what they'd
> been paying for rent (maybe even 2.5 or triple... I'm not certain).
Bruce. You don't live in the area here. You don't understand the reality
of the situation. In case you hadn't noticed, there is an economic boom
going on here unparalleled in the history of man (or so the economists
say, but at any rate, it's huge). The market for real estate in the
Silicon Valley, for better or worse, is skyrocketing. Property values
have shot up, along with rents.
Now, in a communist state, this landlord would indeed be a greedy jackass,
or worse! But here in the good old U.S. of A., he's a capitalist. Why
should he be expected to operate as a charity?
Get some perspective.
> While they may rarely have had the best prices on test gear or
> computer hardware, Haltek was a very helpful source of parts for
> me and Lord only knows how many other electronics types in the
> Bay Area and beyond.
I agree that the prices they charged for surplus electronics was mostly
inflated. Perhaps if they did have more reaonable pricing they would have
had a more vibrant business and would have been able to adjust to the
higher rent? Greedy jackass(es)?
> I sincerely hope their landlord ends up holding on to a
> completely empty building for a VERY long time! Methinks he's a
> graduate of the Bill Gates School of Compassion. :-P
I bet it's rented out already.
> Whatever else happens, I pray that other surplus stores, such
> as Weird Stuff and Sharon Industries, aren't next on the chopping
> block.
If their business model doesn't allow them to absorb higher rents then I'm
afraid they'll go under as well.
Sellam International Man of Intrigue and Danger
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Received on Sat May 27 2000 - 10:53:22 BST