Tommy was really excited about his new store. Ever since he was in high school, he had an unusual fondness for antiques. Whether it be the history of the chair, or the lost art of a hand-crafted mortise and tenon joint, he didn’t know or care. He just knew that he liked antiques.
The store was a labor of love, and took hours comprising of locating an appropriate retail location to securing the bank loans. Unfortunately, the literal pay off after the grand opening was non-existent. It was due to the fact that he opened Tommy’s Antiques during the 1970s downturn. People didn’t have that much money, and those that did wanted to spend it on new mass manufactured crap instead. Those unrefined new money he would grovel under his breath.
One day, while looking for new income streams, Tommy noticed a new fangled ad for an “ATM.” A machine which can dispense cash, freeing the consumer from the shackles of bank hours. Unbeknownst to Tommy, the arrival of ATMs marked a tectonic shift in the banking industry. But Tommy just saw the immediate profit potential of owning a machine, and placed an order.
The wait for the delivery and setup wasn’t too long. In the meantime, Tommy ran into another problem, how does one advertise the fact that he now owns an ATM? Often, the easiest solution is the most effective and so he decided to place a placard in the median of Menaul boulevard with the simple phrase “ATM” and an arrow.
The advertisement worked. People came in to see the new gizmo on the weekend, and also realized the beauty of the furnitures. Tommy’s business bloomed from the passive traffic generated by the ATM and he eventually sold the store to a couple when the arthritis started effecting his store keeping duties.
To this day, that placard remains on the median.
In response to a placard on Menaul blvd that advertises an ATM… in the year 2021.