Techshop Portland Going Under

[macona]

Well, TechShop Portland has fallen on its face. Got till Sunday to get the stuff out of the shop.

Now I have to find a real job. That is not going to be fun.

I think I am going to go cry now...

[beanbag]

oh crap, what happened?

[macona]

Found out last thursday he had not paid the rent for the past two months. Monday there was a eviction notice on the door giving us till the 7th to move. The landlords want $50K to make things right, but that only brings us up to end of feb on rent.

Im pretty unhappy right now. Not only has the owner been lying to me I have to explain to the members whats going on and why he STILL has not made an official announcement. He is irrationally optimistic that this will all turn around. Sorry folks, the party is over. We rats are fleeing the sinking ship <squeak>

And he owes me about $7400...

[Ryobiguy]

I have an uncle who put his CNC lathe in the Tech Shop in the San Francisco bay area. He then left the country to go sailing for a while and came back asking where his lathe went. Well, they left it out to rust and had scrapped it.

I have a hard time imagining that their business plan would work, unless there were many hundreds of people signing up for monthly fees right as they opened up shop. Do you suppose they had even 20% of the signups they would have needed in order to pay the bills?

Not only is it a bummer, but just a few days of notice to move everything out?? Not a happy situation.

-Matt

[Greg Q]

Sorry to read this Macona. What a crappy deal.

Make sure you leave that incarcerated troublemaker's machines behind for the landlord to keep.

[RB211]

Never depend on other individuals, and if you do, never become comfortable or complacent about it.
Sucks that Portland went under

[Doc Nickel]

He owes you almost eight grand? No offense, but how'd you let him slide that long? I know the place is kind of a "startup", but that's being pretty optimistic on somebody's part.

And Sunday? As in three days to move a bunch of major machines? Is that "everything"- as in you have to help move everything out, or are you just going to focus on your own machines, or the machines you got donated, etc.?

Wish I was nearby, I'd help for a day or two- or, you know, cart off that Gorton vertical mill to keep it from falling into the wrong hands.

So what's the deal? Was the place just not making any money, or was the guy skimming everything off or stuffing it up his nose, or what?

Doc.

[macona]

Originally Posted by Ryobiguy

I have an uncle who put his CNC lathe in the Tech Shop in the San Francisco bay area. He then left the country to go sailing for a while and came back asking where his lathe went. Well, they left it out to rust and had scrapped it.

I have a hard time imagining that their business plan would work, unless there were many hundreds of people signing up for monthly fees right as they opened up shop. Do you suppose they had even 20% of the signups they would have needed in order to pay the bills?

Not only is it a bummer, but just a few days of notice to move everything out?? Not a happy situation.

-Matt

I had heard about that I think. It was an old paper tape machine. The guy was supposed to teach how to use it and then disappeared. They ended up having to pay to have it hauled away. At least thats what I heard.

We had about 20% to pay the bills.

There are so many reasons why this place went under. The owner picked a place way too big. The california location gave virtually zero support. The original goal was lost to trying to become a replacement for shop classes. Money was wasted, it looks like were were literally subsidizing the businesses that were there. The owner wouldnt listen to me, he tried bad idea after bad idea wasting time and money chasing after "what ifs".

TechShop relied on "angel lenders" for its investment income. 25k loans paid back 10% per year for 10 years. Lenders got sold a bill of goods that did not work like it said.

This place could work and become profitable if done right. That is obvious from what I have seen. With a few basic pieces of equipment one could have a small shop and turn a profit. Some of us are thinking of getting together to try a small version on our own. I have a virtual techshop in my garage (Which is soon going to become significantly more packed.)

It was an incredible simple way to deal with that guy.

[macona]

Originally Posted by Doc Nickel

He owes you almost eight grand? No offense, but how'd you let him slide that long? I know the place is kind of a "startup", but that's being pretty optimistic on somebody's part.

And Sunday? As in three days to move a bunch of major machines? Is that "everything"- as in you have to help move everything out, or are you just going to focus on your own machines, or the machines you got donated, etc.?

Wish I was nearby, I'd help for a day or two- or, you know, cart off that Gorton vertical mill to keep it from falling into the wrong hands.

So what's the deal? Was the place just not making any money, or was the guy skimming everything off or stuffing it up his nose, or what?

Doc.

I never realized it was that much until I got my W2.

Right now I am only concerned about my stuff. Though I am going to probably take some equipment in lieu of payment. Im broke. One item is that gorton. Too bad the motor needs to go have a check up at a motor shop. For some reason it started tripping the ground fault circuit in the VFD. Thinking bad insulation.

Donated machines go back to their donator if I can find them.

[toolmaker76]

Bummer, man. I packed up my tools at a shop in July because the bank would not honor my paycheck. Took me 4 1/2 months but I found other work.

Same kind of situation, the owner constantly misused funds. We would work to get a job out so that we could bring in cash to the place, only to find out on payday he had done something stupid with the money. Glad that headache is over!

It will work out, hope you are able to get some machines in lieu of pay!