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<DIV>Re the Gazette Article - My doll shop is a</DIV>
<DIV>small shop. If I had to depend on retail</DIV>
<DIV>sales, I would have died a long time ago.</DIV>
<DIV>My doll hospital has been around 40 yrs.</DIV>
<DIV>plus in Riverdale.</DIV>
<DIV>I survive by the skin of my teeth on repeat</DIV>
<DIV>customers & referrals. But there was a time</DIV>
<DIV>briefly that I had retail sales from Northern</DIV>
<DIV>Virginia & Potomac, Rockville area. But</DIV>
<DIV>the children grew up so the retail part went</DIV>
<DIV>also. I think there is potential for a business</DIV>
<DIV>to survive in the Town Center. And I think</DIV>
<DIV>unique shops that offer services & who are</DIV>
<DIV>established with their own customer base</DIV>
<DIV> could make it. But to</DIV>
<DIV>make the business grow further than the</DIV>
<DIV>steady established customer base is a </DIV>
<DIV>big challenge for me. I agree we are off</DIV>
<DIV>the beaten path BUT my customers say</DIV>
<DIV>that we have such charm & history they</DIV>
<DIV>think people would come.</DIV>
<DIV>(And that is why our Town Center development</DIV>
<DIV>is so important to be historically correct for us)</DIV>
<DIV> I do not see us</DIV>
<DIV>getting rich like Jemel would like & I think</DIV>
<DIV>the rents are too high for small neat shops.</DIV>
<DIV>I am very disappointed over the high rents</DIV>
<DIV>because some really nice artists have wanted</DIV>
<DIV>to have a shop in the Town Center but could</DIV>
<DIV>not afford the rents. I think the image of </DIV>
<DIV>earning a lot of money needs to be lowered to</DIV>
<DIV>making a reasonable living (modestly) doing what</DIV>
<DIV>you love with a reasonable rent. I think there has</DIV>
<DIV>to be a delicate balance between reasonable </DIV>
<DIV>modest rents, developers appreciating our town</DIV>
<DIV>history/mansion to attract tourists in their design</DIV>
<DIV>of the buildings, housing etc - being artist/service</DIV>
<DIV>orientated businesses then a coffee shop & other</DIV>
<DIV>shops depending on foot traffic would have it - the</DIV>
<DIV>little shops & tour trade to the mansion. It is a </DIV>
<DIV>matter of putting it all together.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Emily</DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's new at <A title="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" href="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" target="_blank">AOL.com</A> and <A title="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" href="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" target="_blank">Make AOL Your Homepage</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>