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Message:: [QUOTE="Jeff Drum, post: 2131703, member: 6444"]A friend of mine hit the worst possible timing to open a new vintage/antique shop. After years of managing a successful vintage/antique business for a group of partners, my friend was ready to go out on her own. She rented a nice space in a Boston suburb to start her own business. She signed a three year lease (which made me nervous but she wanted to lock in her rent). She paid for major renovations to prepare the space. She has lots of industry contacts, and a close friend who handles high end estates who can keep her stocked with a ready supply of nice things to sell. She has abundant people skills and ability to stage vintage furniture and smalls in a retail space. I worried whether she would have enough traffic, but she knows the area better than I so all of us hoped for the best. Her opening date was going to be April 1; work was done and she was moving in and decorating for the opening. I didn't see but another friend who did said it looked great. Then the covid shutdown happened in MA on March 15. BAM, dead in the water. And she still hasn't been able to open - MA is still seeing high death rates so nothing has changed, and even if the state does start to open on May 18th we don't know which businesses or how they need to be configured. So what is happening in your state - some of them are opening up to some extent - has anyone seen any traffic at antique/vintage/thrifts?[/QUOTE]