<html><head></head><body style="zoom: 0%;"><div dir="auto">*5,000* square feet. That's a substantial amount of inventory.<br><br></div>
<div dir="auto">James<br><br></div>
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<div class="gmail_quote" >On Sep 23, 2021, at 6:36 PM, David G Dixon via Synth-diy <<a href="mailto:synth-diy@synth-diy.org" target="_blank">synth-diy@synth-diy.org</a>> wrote:<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
<pre class="blue">I would imagine that his entire stock could easily be stored in a basement<br>or large spare bedroom or garage. He said "500 sq ft warehouse" -- 500 sq<br>ft is a room 22 x 22 ft -- in other words, a 2-car garage.<br><br>-----Original Message-----<br>From: Synth-diy [mailto:synth-diy-bounces@synth-diy.org] On Behalf Of<br>cheater cheater via Synth-diy<br>Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2021 1:34 PM<br>To: Peter Pearson<br>Cc: Brian Willoughby; synth-diy mailing list<br>Subject: Re: [sdiy] Small Bear Electronics retiring<br><br>[CAUTION: Non-UBC Email]<br><br>The real value in the business is the cheap warehouse lease and the<br>returning customers. A new business wouldn't have either, unless it really<br>lucked out. The sourcing is likely an ongoing hassle.<br><br>On Thu, Sep 23, 2021 at 7:56 PM Peter Pearson via Synth-diy<br><synth-diy@synth-diy.org> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><br> I fail to see how that would make selling his inventory easier. What<br></blockquote>you're trying to say is "I want his list of sources". Why don't you just<br>ask? If he's retiring, it might not make much difference to him now.<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><br> Time spent emailing about, packaging, and shipping parts orders is time<br></blockquote>that you aren't spending breadboarding new circuits and doing your own synth<br>diy. If you make it your full-time job you'll probably stop doing diy<br>entirely. Think about it.<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><br> Anyway, really sad to see Small Bear go. I've ordered from them a bunch.<br></blockquote>Hope they have a long, fulfilling, and happy retirement.<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><br> On Thu, Sep 23, 2021 at 1:38 PM Brian Willoughby <brianw@audiobanshee.com><br></blockquote>wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #ad7fa8; padding-left: 1ex;"><br> Small Bear Electronics plans to stay in business and sell off the<br></blockquote></blockquote>inventory. I suppose that may be harder than he imagines. Sharing the<br>sourcing list would be a lot easier than selling the entire inventory<br>(adding another shipping cost).<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #ad7fa8; padding-left: 1ex;"><br> There's always ad-hoc, where the first person who needs a strange part<br></blockquote></blockquote>does a bulk order from a distributor, then shares the remaining inventory on<br>a list like Synth DIY (assuming they don't mind re-packaging and shipping<br>after collecting from others).<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #ad7fa8; padding-left: 1ex;"><br> Brian Willoughby<br><br><br> On Sep 23, 2021, at 10:25, Peter Pearson <electrocontinuo@gmail.com><br></blockquote></blockquote>wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #ad7fa8; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #8ae234; padding-left: 1ex;"> My personal $.02 is that the real savvy would be making enough money<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>off such a venture that you can keep the business afloat and pay yourself<br>and any employees a living wage at the same time. Not easy. As Dave Jones<br>from the EEVblog likes to say, "inventory is the enemy of cash flow".<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #ad7fa8; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #8ae234; padding-left: 1ex;"><br> Just guessing here but it's probably a few hundred grand worth of parts<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>in total so the price of admission wouldn't be cheap either.<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #ad7fa8; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #8ae234; padding-left: 1ex;"><br> On Thu, Sep 23, 2021 at 12:57 PM Brian Willoughby<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><brianw@audiobanshee.com> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #ad7fa8; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #8ae234; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #fcaf3e; padding-left: 1ex;"> It seems that the business model is:<br><br> Buy in bulk, maintain inventory, display inventory on web site, take<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>and fulfill orders, price items to maintain business overhead, ship to happy<br>customers (while dealing with customer support).<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #ad7fa8; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #8ae234; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #fcaf3e; padding-left: 1ex;"><br> I assume that anyone willing to do all of that labor could start a<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>similar business. It doesn't seem necessary for the replacement to be called<br>"Small Bear Electronics" or hold any relation.<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #ad7fa8; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #8ae234; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #fcaf3e; padding-left: 1ex;"><br> Perhaps the one key piece of business savvy to pass on would be: Where<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>to source all of the parts that Small Bear carries.<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #ad7fa8; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #8ae234; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #fcaf3e; padding-left: 1ex;"><br> Brian Willoughby<br><br> On Sep 23, 2021, at 08:09, David G Dixon via Synth-diy<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><synth-diy@synth-diy.org> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #ad7fa8; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #8ae234; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #fcaf3e; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #e9b96e; padding-left: 1ex;"> It would be ideal if there were someone that he could pass the <br> business off to, rather than just shutting it down. A succession<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>plan, as it were.<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #ad7fa8; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #8ae234; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #fcaf3e; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #e9b96e; padding-left: 1ex;"><br> -----Original Message-----<br> From: Ben Stuyts<br> Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2021 2:38 PM<br><br> [CAUTION: Non-UBC Email]<br><br> Just read this: Small Bear is retiring and shutting down the<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>business.<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #ad7fa8; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #8ae234; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #fcaf3e; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #e9b96e; padding-left: 1ex;"> Selling down the inventory, so if you need something, be quick:<br><br> <a href="https://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/autumn-2021">https://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/autumn-2021</a>/<br><br> I've only ordered a once or twice from them (other side of the <br> pond), but they have a great assortment of parts.<br><br> Ben<br></blockquote></blockquote><br></blockquote><br><hr><br> Synth-diy mailing list<br> Synth-diy@synth-diy.org<br> <a href="http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy">http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy</a><br> Selling or trading? Use marketplace@synth-diy.org<br></blockquote><br><hr><br> Synth-diy mailing list<br> Synth-diy@synth-diy.org<br> <a href="http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy">http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy</a><br> Selling or trading? Use marketplace@synth-diy.org<br></blockquote><br><hr><br>Synth-diy mailing list<br>Synth-diy@synth-diy.org<br><a href="http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy">http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy</a><br>Selling or trading? Use marketplace@synth-diy.org<br><br><hr><br>Synth-diy mailing list<br>Synth-diy@synth-diy.org<br><a href="http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy">http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy</a><br>Selling or trading? Use marketplace@synth-diy.org<br></pre></blockquote></div></body></html>