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Could you reveal whether the Bay Area shops were borderline profitable or operating with decent margins ? I was surprised that they managed to stay open for mor
by viewtransform 9y ago
Could you reveal whether the Bay Area shops were borderline profitable or operating with decent margins ?
I was surprised that they managed to stay open for more than a decade and assumed that they had
figured out a decent sustainable business model.
- URSpider94 9y agoIt's been a little while, my recollection is that they were narrowly cash-flow profitable, but I don't recall at this point whether that included debt service, and this is before they took on a ton of debt to relocate the San Jose facility. I'm pretty sure if they can get rid of all of their debt, they would make a little bit of cash. But not enough to justify their billing as a start-up. The other looming issue is that a lot of the equipment at the Bay Area sites is, er, well-loved, and will need to be replaced over the next few years, which is a major capital expense. At the Redwood City shop, the laser cutters are all getting pretty run-down.
- bagels 9y agoSan Francisco and Mid-Peninsula were break even (as of 2015). The rest, including San Jose were hemorrhaging money.
- cr0sh 9y agoI'm kinda surprised to think that about the "Phoenix" (Chandler) location; they were essentially "given" the building they used by the city; it was also a shared space with some portion of ASU (IIRC). I wonder what will happen with that ASU program (I think it was part of the engineering school)? I wonder if they will simply take over the space and continue using it (though probably closed to the public)?