January 2013 Competition Update

Yesterday I hung out with Sha after work. I’m sticking with my policy of distancing myself from him, so I plan to meet up with him once a month just to see how business is going with him. That info helps me keep tabs on him for my secret competition with him. And here’s the update.

The barbershop in his biggest property (4 apartment, 2 stores, codenamed Property Italia) seems to be finished. As I stated in the last competition update, Sha kicked out the barbershop that used to be there and decided to start one of his own. That was over a year ago and the results are not bad… cosmetically.

As one can see, the place looks like a real barbershop now. The chairs look brand new and the equipment there has a nice “barber feel” to it. The floors still look very old so that will need to be coated with polyurethane. He’s also building a salon in the back so that he can get women in there as well.

But that’s about as far as the good news goes. As of right now he only has 3 barbers, one of whom is an excuse making tenant at one of his other properties. The guy owes money and makes these ridiculous excuses as to why he didn’t pay, and Sha still works with him. Sha also started a new ad, a big display in the window that says, “ALL CUTS $5”. His thinking is that, since the economy is bad, people will jump at the chance to get a haircut done for $5. The problem is that people take pride in their hair. They don’t mind paying a lot of money if they know they’re getting a good cut, and Sha’s barbershop doesn’t have a reputation yet. And every time I pass by the place it’s closed! He lets the barbers choose their own hours, so sometimes that place is closed even when people are out and about. I’m not saying his plan won’t eventually work, but he’s got his work cut out for him.

We had to stop for gas and he called his wife to see if there was any money in their bank account. She said no, so he had to use the partial rent money he got from a tenant (stripper in his property on Butterscotch Street-- a lot of one dollar bills) earlier. At dinner, Sha continued his complaints about his wife’s expensive tastes and having to buy Sonya a $1500 ring for Valentine’s Day. He also complained about the trip his mom made to Guyana that he had to pay for. When the bill came, he was supposed to pay. Every time we go out, we take turns paying for the bill and this time it was on him. He got mad and said that I should pay for some of it, since I had 3 dinners (I was hungry and that Mexican cuisine stuff is addictive!). I didn’t care to argue with him, but it was the first time that he really seemed concerned about the bill. His family also put a stop to their statue making business because they couldn’t find another sculptor.

All in all, it seems as if things are about the same for Sha. He’s still pouring a lot of money into that barbershop and still has a ton of unnecessary expenses—all this while he still has two full-time employees and one part-timer. It’s a heavy load for Sha so this is the time for me to play catch up. I need that property Charlie to make that happen!