At Small Businesses, It’s Busy at the Top
La Mesa, CA – Lisa Schmidt was among more than 14,000 people who lost their jobs at Bear Stearns during the height of the financial crisis.
“Being laid off after a 28-year career, it was horrible trying to get back in the workforce when your skill set was in one field that had absolutely tanked,” she said. P>Schmidt decided to fulfill a long-cherished dream of owning a gift shop. Using her severance package, she rented the historic post office building in La Mesa, converted it into a boutique and opened her doors last
December. In the first few days of business, she sold enough antiques and collectibles to cover her rent. Since then, business has been steady, but not as good as she had hoped. The income won’t pay for a part-time clerk, who would free Schmidt to spend more time buying distinctive merchandise.
