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Strange businesses or stores in your area


NosmoKing

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I wonder how they stay in business

I'm pretty sure he just pays rent, but isn't required to sell anything. You can legally do that from what I know. If you're up on payments, they can't shut you down even if you don't sell a damned thing.

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I'm pretty sure he just pays rent, but isn't required to sell anything. You can legally do that from what I know. If you're up on payments, they can't shut you down even if you don't sell a damned thing.

Oh ok

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I wish that I had taken photos of the place but where I grew up in Korea, there was a shop that was closed. Apparently it was a restaurant of some sort but it gave me the heebie jeebies. The large glass windows were dusty and you can see quiet well into it. It looked as though everyone just stood up and left. Mid meal. Bowls of rotting food. Chopsticks in bowls. Side dishes and etc littered over the table in a fashion where it looked like it was being used. (I appologize if that doesnt quite make sense)

But I hated to walk by this place at night on my way home. (As im sure alot of you are familiar with asian creepiness and superstitions)

It just didnt feel quite right.

Anyway. Thought id just share. Thanks for your time loveys.

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I wish that I had taken photos of the place but where I grew up in Korea, there was a shop that was closed. Apparently it was a restaurant of some sort but it gave me the heebie jeebies. The large glass windows were dusty and you can see quiet well into it. It looked as though everyone just stood up and left. Mid meal. Bowls of rotting food. Chopsticks in bowls. Side dishes and etc littered over the table in a fashion where it looked like it was being used. (I appologize if that doesnt quite make sense)

But I hated to walk by this place at night on my way home. (As im sure alot of you are familiar with asian creepiness and superstitions)

It just didnt feel quite right.

Anyway. Thought id just share. Thanks for your time loveys.

Yikes :o

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Yep :|

Maybe there was an evacuation or something. Do you remember any history about the town and why they might have just abandoned it like that?

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Well thats the weird part. The entire street of stores completely fine. Running. And open. Just that one stall! Absolutely bizarre!

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I've mentioned the phantom comic story of Brisbane in the past, but here's as good as place as any:

When I was a lad of about ten, part of my holiday routine was going into Brisbane (an hours travel away by either car or train) and the highlight was going into the various comic stores (we had three of them), imagine my surprise to discover a fourth. On Adelaide Street, opposite where the old Library was (and where there's a JB Hi-Fi now) there was a pair of twisting and rather perilous flights of stairs. One led to Ace Comics ... the other weirdly enough the "Phantom Comic Store", I know the stairs to Ace Comics and clear as day I remember the stairs up to this other store and they weren't Ace's. The store wasn't Ace. It was dark and bit "off" enough to make my old man (a copper) stick close to me rather then wander off and look at what he wanted as he usually did. It was in three parts on two levels, the third part I remember the most as it was effectively a great library of comics with long boxes and piles of comics.

Anyway, next holidays roll around and this store's gone.

Years pass, and I get to know someone who ran a store in Brisbane (Fan Attic if anyone remembers that) and he operated a storeroom for Fan Attic on Adelaide street. It was up a perilous flight of stairs and was dark and a bit dingy. It was also on two levels. I swear it was same place, but the owner swears blind he's never opened that place to the public and he never had that many comics to begin with.

oooooohhh.... thats creepy.... :unsure2:

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  • 11 months later...

I love reading these. Does anyone else have a story to share?

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We used to have a bookshop that sold books about the occult, but the owner didn't pay his lease for several months so he was forced to shut down.

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I have found several businesses that have fit the creepy and odd categories people have mentioned, most have good explanations if you ask around.

Usually a business that has old stock and never opens or opens once in a while is because of health issues with the owner or the person that ran the shop died and a loved one keeps the place out of remorse.

Sometimes people keep the shop for seasonal business, or open by appointment. Some old junk/antique stores buy from estate, yard, garage and rummage sales then take items to flea markets and list on eBay and make more money than they did dealing with the general public walking through the shop.

Then there are some that are just plain creepy and the people act strange if you ask about them. Some have to be doing illegal things.

The ones that really annoy me is when you know the people lie about it. There was a shop downtown about 8 years ago that had been around for a long time and it was never open, and I checked often at random hours of the day. Caught a guy coming out and he said they are open all the time that I must have been missing them at lunch, service calls or after hours. Use to be a Curtis Mathis sales then went into other electronics, they had computer stuff, and I was just curious. Still that place was never open to the public. It is gone now.

The other thing that annoys me is a local park. It is run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. There is a picnic area they keep gated off, they close the gates for legit reasons on several areas but this one gate is NEVER open. Off and on I ask a random park ranger about it and they all say it is open in the summer. BS, I have lived in this area since 1978 and it has never been open.

My husband and I went to a nearby boat landing and parked our car and cut through the woods to this area once because it was really starting to bug me. This is a nice picnic area and very well kept. None of the tables or cans have graffiti (which is odd) and all the garbage cans had nice clean liners or bags. The grills are nice. There is a restroom and it worked, and it was clean (Again odd) considering the conditions for the rest of the park.

My best guess is that they keep this area for their own use, like a company picnic or other functions. Nothing there that is really special other than it is in better condition than the rest of the park. Still, if they use it they must close the gate behind them while they are down there.

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I worked in a little shopping plaza for a couple of years in Tampa and there was a little store next to the one I was managing, well not really a store I wasn't really sure what it was for the longest time. It looked like a chinese restaurant/bar as it had chinese calligraphy all along the outside windows, which were tinted to the point where you couldn't see inside the place. Most days I saw a couple going in to open the place in the morning usually bringing a bunch of supplies with them, bottled water mostly, I tried to go in several times but the door was always locked and there was a bell that you had to press to have them let you in. I only pressed the bell one time and I wasn't given entrance, this place remained a mystery for a little over a year until finally a detective stopped by the store I was managing and was asking me several questions about the place. Most of which I didn't have an answer to, the detective let me know that the place was on their radar as being home to some sort of brothel, it really struck me as odd though as I never saw more than a single couple enter or leave the place. Granted I was only there between the hours of 8am-8pm so it's quite possible they were doing the majority of their business in the night hours, either way it always creeped me out.

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The mystery business in my neighborhood is the "Portland Hypnosis Center".

http://www.pdxhypnosiscenter.com/

It's been there for over twenty years in a very public location and I walk by it every day. I've never seen anyone go in or out. The windows are mirrored over so I don't know what's inside.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I live in Austin, TX, and we have a few odd things out here. But my favorite is the Museum of the Weird. It's this museum that has things like shrunken heads, mummies, two headed animals, and sideshow performers. It's downtown on 6th street (one of the popular areas to be on the weekend around here). That street is lined almost entirely with bars, pools halls, comedy clubs, and night clubs. But right in the middle of two of the bars is this little museum. So, needless to say, we love to walk up and down the street, wandering into different bars and getting trashed, then pop in there. It's a good time. :tu:

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  • 2 weeks later...

There's always been 2 small business complexes (each had around 5-7 stores in the complex) in our town. Then later 2 larger complexes (both have 1 major grocery store, and about 12-14 small stores) were built. One of the smaller complexes has this awesome gourmet pizzeria that we've always ordered pizzas from ever since we discovered it. I wen't down there the other night to pick up some pizza's for dinner, and had to park outside a store, 2 shops down from the pizzeria. I believe it used to be a really weird bike store. Old looking, never seemed to look like the shelving or displays changed to be more efficient, there were literally bikes hanging from every wall (even the front windows!). But the owners must have sold it. Now it's called "<name>'s Massage".

I just looked it up, and supposedly the owner has 5 years of training in the area of massages. But the reviews are all but 1 against it. Doesn't help that the front windows (except for the top 2) are painted luscious red, with dim fairy-lights lining them. I can understand for privacy purposes, but it looked REALLY strange. The complex doesn't look like its exactly the right spot for a massage store. Better off setting up in one of the 2 larger complexes (both have a hair salon, so the massage could match up quite well).

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Sounds like it's a "special" massage place.

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My grandparents used to own one of those small grocery stores around the 1950s and it has since been abandoned in Wilkes-Barre. What you need to know about this little store was that it was connected to the house and a neighboring house as well because the relatives lived together. When I visited my Grandma a year ago, I checked out the store and it looked dusty and just felt creepy, like someone was watching you. You can see the shelves in tact where the cans would be placed along with the meat (butcher's cutting block with meat cleaver still there) and fruit section. The cash register is still there too. Another thing I should let you guys know is that my Grandma told me that relatives died in the house and funerals were performed there and there has been paranormal activity at the house, but I never saw anything, just felt a presence. I will try to post some pictures later if I remember. I personally think those abandoned old stores are just really cool to look at since they feel like you are time traveling.

Can you get pictures of this place I wanna see it

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Ok here we go. Well there is this fish shop close to my house. Our city sort of has some old town stores that have been there decades and look old and run down. Then we have the more modern stores and places to eat in other sections of the city. But in one of the old town sections is this store that sells fish. Well every time we went it to ask the guy about fresh fish he would say in a couple of days or they come in next week. He never had fresh fish. Also there was some salted fish sitting on the shelf forever that never sold. I wouldn't buy it since it seems to be the same fish there for years. The guy was kind of strange and he just sold soda's and drinks besides the fish. Strange people would go in there and talk to him. It could just be some retired old guy who has the shop just to have something to do, or an illegal front company.

In the same section of the old town a new creepy witch shop just opened up. They painted all sort of occult symbols like the all seeing eye and other creepy stuff. It actually looks pretty cool because of the colors. I've never gone in there, but i assume they sell, herbs, potions, candles and perhaps books on the occult. I might go in there just to check it out and see what it's all about. I've never seen who owns the store or works there.. but I should go investigate huh? If I don't come back you guys will know I didn't make it out alive.

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The Cat Gallery shop is full of everything on cats, even books and mystical stuff.

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Where I live live there is a restaurant that's not to far from me that only has two or three cars there at a time. I never seen anyone go in or out. There is also a restaurant that got shut down because they offered other things beside food. It's been sitting empty for 4 years now. One business up here is called Fast Yettie, shirt printing and embroidering.

( BTW if anyone knows how to edit post please tell me)

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Where I live live there is a restaurant that's not to far from me that only has two or three cars there at a time. I never seen anyone go in or out. There is also a restaurant that got shut down because they offered other things beside food. It's been sitting empty for 4 years now. One business up here is called Fast Yettie, shirt printing and embroidering.

( BTW if anyone knows how to edit post please tell me)

I'm not certain, but I think you can only edit a post within a certain period of time after posting it. eg: just after posting this, I am able to see an Edit button next to the MultiQuote button on the bottom of my post, but I think I've had a 2 day old post where I wasn't able to see the Edit button.

Edited by Skeptic Chicken
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In the same section of the old town a new creepy witch shop just opened up. They painted all sort of occult symbols like the all seeing eye and other creepy stuff. It actually looks pretty cool because of the colors. I've never gone in there, but i assume they sell, herbs, potions, candles and perhaps books on the occult. I might go in there just to check it out and see what it's all about. I've never seen who owns the store or works there.. but I should go investigate huh? If I don't come back you guys will know I didn't make it out alive.

I wish we had one of these in my city. Sounds cool.

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One town over there is a place called Award Dental right next to a huge Target and some other popular stores. It's sandwiched in the corner between all the other normal stores. The blinds are ALWAYS drawn so you can't see inside, and it always looks dark. I've never seen anyone go in or out. It's been there for years though, so I assume its still open. It's just really shady- I've always wanted to open the door and peek in, but that would be awkward. Maybe its a front for something else. Idk, but it gives off some weird vibes.

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My hometown has a Chinese restaurant, which all the locals avoid. I've never seen anyone go in there, yet it somehow stays open. Rumor has it that they own a successful restaurant in the nearest city (about 40 minutes away), and use the one in the town as a tax dodge :P

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