The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin • Hacker News Board

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#111

Post by notJim » Wed, May 01, 2019, 4:39 PM UTC

gbear605 wrote: post #101

teddyh wrote: post #27

I would assume that the decline of specialist shops is strongly correlated with rising rents for storefront properties. But with online shopping on the rise, maybe landlords (outside shopping malls and after some years to pass through the stages of grief) can accept that there just isn’t that much money in rents for storefronts anymore, and that specialist shops thereby can continue to exist. Of course, the risk is t…

I don’t know about in Germany, but the huge malls are going the way of the dodo in the US.

People say this, but both of the malls I've been to in the past few years (one in Bellevue, WA and one in Chandler, AZ) have been completely packed almost every time. Is it really still true that malls are going away?

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#112

Post by abruzzi » Wed, May 01, 2019, 4:48 PM UTC

I don't know if its still there, but west Philadelphia (somewhere around 49th St.) had a Carrot Cake store. They made the best carrot cake I've ever had, and made nothing else.

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#113

Post by daemin » Wed, May 01, 2019, 4:52 PM UTC

amelius wrote: post #109

systemtest wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a European toilet (one that is not filled to the brim with water) and I clean it by putting bleach in the bowl and leaving it overnight. I then put the toilet brush inside the drain pipe submerging it in the water/bleach mixture. By doing this I can use a single brush for years with it being brand new. Also, when you flush and wipe the skidmarks from the bowl, use the flowing water to immediately clean the bru…

> I clean it by putting bleach in the bowl But if your neighbors flush vinegar down the toilet, it will react into chlorine in the sewer.

What does vinegar + bleach do exactly? It sounds like something I don't want to try at home.

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#114

Post by jamespitts » Wed, May 01, 2019, 4:52 PM UTC

spectramax wrote: post #79

Hyper-specialization is everywhere if you ever step into any Asian country. Indians even have last names based on their hyper-specialized occupation. I was in Thailand and I saw a tiny shop whose only job was to take old torn notes and exchange it for a new one by charging a small flat fee. I had an Indian friend that told me that specializations in old cities was also geographically organized. One part of street wou…

This is why I love Taiwan, so many interesting shops.

Small store size, walkable streets and alleyways, cheap rent, not many rules about what you can do. People will take care of the rest.

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#115

Post by siidooloo » Wed, May 01, 2019, 4:53 PM UTC

notJim wrote: post #111

gbear605 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know about in Germany, but the huge malls are going the way of the dodo in the US.

People say this, but both of the malls I've been to in the past few years (one in Bellevue, WA and one in Chandler, AZ) have been completely packed almost every time. Is it really still true that malls are going away?

I believe it’s actually the smaller malls and malls near smaller towns that are dying from oversupply. The giant warehouse style stripmalls have hurt the small malls in the exurbs. Big malls in big cities seem to still be expanding.

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#116

Post by rezeroed » Wed, May 01, 2019, 5:00 PM UTC

systemtest wrote: post #92

yourapostasy wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With enough cleaning solvents and disinfectants, any object can be made safe again. There are people who dive into literal sewage retention ponds full of human waste in full SCUBA gear every day to work (clearing obstructions). After reading about that, squeamishness was never an issue for me. As long as it isn't some kind of chemical/biological/radiological warfare agent type substance, or a compound that makes chem…

I have a European toilet (one that is not filled to the brim with water) and I clean it by putting bleach in the bowl and leaving it overnight. I then put the toilet brush inside the drain pipe submerging it in the water/bleach mixture. By doing this I can use a single brush for years with it being brand new. Also, when you flush and wipe the skidmarks from the bowl, use the flowing water to immediately clean the bru…

Everyone talks about how advanced the Japanese toilets are. I think the Japanese are focussing on the wrong aspect - I would prefer efforts were put into toilets cleaning themselves rather than backsides.

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#117

Post by theoh » Wed, May 01, 2019, 5:02 PM UTC

Noos wrote: post #106

theoh wrote: post #76

It's a trope: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeverelySpeciali...

Not only is it a trope, UHF satirized this over twenty years ago. Spatula City! https://youtu.be/2XbCWmY0eqY

That's the image on the TV Tropes page.

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#118

Post by kissickas » Wed, May 01, 2019, 5:07 PM UTC

reaperducer wrote: post #94

weinzierl wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just thought of two more in Munich: - Der Lautenladen sells only lutes, Anatolian lutes to be precise. - Almost next to it is the "Spy Shop". I don't know if real spooks buy there but you can take the name quite literally.

New York used to have a Spy Shop in the 80's. It sold all kinds of tiny cameras and listening devices and things. I never went, but the ads made it seem interesting.

There's still one there. I see them often in tourist/beach cities, presumably because kids are enticed by things like invisible ink (judging from their billboards).

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#119

Post by patall » Wed, May 01, 2019, 5:19 PM UTC

soperj wrote: post #104

weinzierl wrote: post #10

Several hyper-specialist shops I know in Munich: - balloon shops seem to do really well because we have several here and every major city seems to have one - foam shop for when you need to fix your upholstery - venetian blind store which only sells the vertical kind - Ketten Wild was a chain shop that only sold chains but chains in all forms and sizes - la porcelaine blanche's slogan is "only china, only white" and t…

>elk shop for everything elk related - not that we have any elks in Germany but elks are cute This sentiment right here is why more people are killed by Elk every year in Canada than bears.

This statement is actually wrong since Germany has a population of about 10-20 elk (and more are migrating from Poland). But yes, last year we also had a car crash with an elk in Brandenburg but only the animal and its unborn died.

Re: The hyper-specialist shops of Berlin

#120

Post by mediaman » Wed, May 01, 2019, 5:21 PM UTC

notJim wrote: post #111

gbear605 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know about in Germany, but the huge malls are going the way of the dodo in the US.

People say this, but both of the malls I've been to in the past few years (one in Bellevue, WA and one in Chandler, AZ) have been completely packed almost every time. Is it really still true that malls are going away?

A-class malls are still doing well. The mall you're referring to in Bellevue, where I have also been, is a class-A mall.

Class-A malls tend to be in busier, higher wealth, sometimes more urban areas, have best in class furnishings, and have tier-1 national tenants, with many of those tenants catering to more of a premium/luxury consumer.

Most B-class or C-class malls, however, are dying.