There’s a “cash converters” style store in my town (like a pawn shop, but they don’t do loans or deal in jewelry). Once, years ago I saw a game controller (Logitech wheel) that I was after in the window . I tried to buy it, and was told it was “reserved” It’s still there, along with everything else. They don’t seem to have any stock turnover at all, and they’re still open.
After talking with coworkers, it’s generally assumed to be a money laundering front.
I found a really niche state patrol office to pay a fix-it ticket. It was on the third story of an off site parking garage for a mall type thing. With only two “visitor” spaces. There were like 4 cops in this tiny office just yucking it up when I walked in. They all did the “oh look busy now!” dance when I surprised them. I think this was one of those “put him on desk duty so he’ll still get a paycheck while he gets cleared” type places. Nice enough for cops, but they had that shitty kid just got away with something vibe, bigtime.
I have a shop near where I live in the middle of a suburb that only sells fans (the wind blowing kind) and they are a DHL pickup point, everytime I am there there is nobody there. The fans are stacked in boxes up to the ceiling and the quantity of them never changes, been that way for over a year now.
There is also always a shady ass person behind the counter, and often a few shady persons in the “back” of the store.
Since they only sell fans they should’ve called their store OnlyFans come to think about it .
Years ago I lived in a small town on the edge of a new town in the UK and there was a shop that was rarely open but was piled high with used car radios.
There’s a neighborhood restaurant near me that is unreasonably bad. You can’t tell the staff apart from people who are just hanging around - and you do need to figure it out cause no one is coming to take your order. They’re dirty, disinterested and rude. Food is typically some piece of meat and fries which is served swimming in sauce, and often it’s way overdone or cold / raw. They’re often missing ingredients. You just get the feeling overall that they’re truly not interested in having customers.
You just get the feeling overall that they’re truly not interested in having customers.
To be fair, there’s also lots of legitimate businesses like that.
There is a wool shop that never has any customers, in the center of town, so not cheap real estate, and I saw someone go in there after looking in the windows, and got yelled at to get out.
It’s in Switzerland, so shady financial stuff isn’t exactly rare.
Not defending this particular wool shop but often those sorts of specialty shops also have an online side. Weird that they would throw customers out though
Eh, it also depends on where you live. I don’t know what it’s like over there, but we have an addiction crisis where I live. People steal many odd things, sometimes because they like them, sometimes to sell them, and other times because they hatch a crazy plan that they give up on halfway through.
We definitely have certain people that are regularly kicked out of stores due to prior misbehaviour. (Assult, theft, biohazard stuff, etc.) Sometimes there’s only so much that you can deal with from the same person, you know? It can get to the point where you just ban someone.
Which canton of Switzerland?
Basel Stadt.
Oh, yup, makes sense and sounds reasonably suspicious haha
They’ve got a big banner out front that says “RUG DEALER”.
Dude, that’s just hair club for men.
There’s one that’s a limo service that’s shady af
There’s a rim sale and limo rental place across the street from me that I’m sure is a front. The only people I ever see there are the owners and they always just have a few limos parked in front.
That’s kind of the same place as the one in my home town. Shady as fuck. 😆
Long John Silvers, of course.
Tiny takeaway with a rich owner, hires on the spot, cash in hand payments, no contracts and most regular deliveries are to houses that stink of weed. Pretty sure that one would be a front (but it’s a front that does good food)
Where I live they legalized marijuana, but didn’t issue licenses for legal dispensaries for almost two years. Nearly every corner store and head shop is a front . There’s even a pizza shop near by with weed for sale openly.
Pizza and weed sounds like a good business model, tbh
To be fair, when I slung pies in a college town back when, one of the night guys was a local shroom dealer and would take orders for “custom” pizzas. We didn’t do delivery, so little bundles of fun went out the window inside the pizza boxes (tucked in with the parm & chili flake packets) on the regular.
There’s a german stoner movie called Lammbock which covers exactly this scenario. Check it out if you can.
I hope i’ll find subtitles :)
Funny story, when they first legalized it in Colorado but before issuing licenses, I was there for a weekend and there was a guy selling “I❤️CO” bumper stickers, but where the heart is a weed leaf, for 50 bucks a piece that come with a complementary eighth. He delivered like a pizza guy.
That happened a lot in NY too, I think we called them sticker shops
Nice try, detective
I used to live round the corner from a strange little place that sold cassette tapes (what we used for music and sometimes even data before CDs, for those too young to know). Everyone was convinced it was a front but it turned out it was a world famous tape supplier. Just happened to be based in my quiet little back street.
The newsagents next door to my last place have to have been a front though. Shelves were half bare, only ever stocked with stuff that doesn’t go off. Always two or three guys hanging out in the back room, looking slightly surprised if you wanted to buy something. Cash only, no cards (not that unusual round here but they usually have a minimum purchase rather than just no card machine at all these days).
They were absolute sweethearts. Took loads of deliveries for us, always really nice about it. And that’s more evidence that it’s a front. Proper criminals are the best neighbours anyone could ask for because the last thing they want is complaints bringing the police to their door.
I used to get my hair cut buy these two dudes that owned a little barber shop and every once in a while some shady looking guy would come in and they’d stop mid haircut and go into the back for however long they were gone for. Eventually, the random dude would leave and I’d get my haircut finished. I was working as a cook so I’d show up on line a Tuesday at 11am. Place would be dead otherwise. I grew up around there and I’d been going for a long time so they weren’t worried about me.
One thing that was crazy about this place is the only magazines were like guns and ammo type magazines. In Canada. Highly unusual. This was back when a barber shop was still likely to have a few “gentlemen’s magazines” lying around. Not them, just guns. :)
Super sus, but you make it sound like such a cool place. What happened to it? Vice squad raid? :(
Mattress stores that stay open 24/7, pretty sure you send them a mattress full of cash and they deliver you a mattress full of coke
There are mattress places in my town in locations that have to cost a significant sum to rent that are “by appointment only.”
I never see anyone go in or out, and I’ve not known a single person who would schedule an appointment just to buy a forking mattress.
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Chicago has a weirdly high number of mattress chain stores. There’s a stretch near me that has 3 of them in the span of 4 blocks. They’ve all been there for awhile and there’s rarely ever anyone in them. No way these are legit businesses considering how often people buy mattresses.
Mattress stores have a way of popping up next to each other. If you see a mattress store, there’s almost always another one across the street.
They sell “gift baskets” and the website still says “order now to get your basket in time for the 2021 holiday season”.
