4 ms·

The Struggle of Keeping a Roadside Attraction Alive

54 points by Thevet 9y ago

NotSammyHagar 9y ago
So the administrator of the estate is basically drastically reducing it's value by making it more organized. Get rid of that person.
- Firerouge 9y ago
  A Connecticut probate court appointed an independent administrator to manage the assets. It's likely the only way to remove the individual killing off the business is for the families dispute over the inheritance to be resolved.
- smelendez 9y ago
  If the business ends up being liquidated, it makes more sense to only keep the doors open on cash-flow-positive days now and not spend the estate's cash on new merchandise.
nasmorn 9y ago
This headline is the rare opposite of a click bait headline given how good I found the content to be. Is there even a word for that? Click shield maybe
- have_faith 9y ago
  The simplicity of the title and lack of clickbaity-ness actually made me click through and read the article instead of checking the comments first.
tomohawk 9y ago
If the attraction (and his daughter) was important to him, he should have written a will and maybe set up a trust, or created a corporation to to ensure this. If you don't have a will, take some time and make one this week.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- lovemenot 9y ago
  In this case it's not as simple as having the right legal documents. It seems the store was a physical manifestation of an iconoclast who's now dead. This seems less a business than a living work of art. A bleached coral can survive for a while, but if it cannot attract and retain the right symbionts, it'll die.
  - prepend 9y ago
    While this is a good point, it’s not applicable in this case as the main problem is based on a dispute with inheritance that is closing and refocusing the purpose of the business. So even the bleached coral from your example isn’t being allowed.
stmw 9y ago
Great article. After reading, I realized it may also describe Apple. "Businesses like Wild Bill’s, which are formed around the passion and personality of a unusual individual, can be hard to keep alive over the long term, even when the founder is still alive. And when the visionary passes on, and a family disagrees over how to run their inheritance, the chances of survival become slimmer still. ... In the past, part of what made Wild Bill’s Nostalgia a special place was these sort of improbable, impractical projects, which functioned as round-about investments because they attracted people to the store to spend money. Under the supervision of a fiduciary, there’s little room for that sort of creative marketing."
- nitwit005 9y ago
  The company hardly shut its doors after Jobs died. They're pulling in over $200 billion a year, after all.
  - gonvaled 9y ago
    They closed, once or twice - for all practical meanings of "closed"
georgeecollins 9y ago
The moral of this story is that people that own a business must have an estate plan that they have discussed with their heirs. If you don't resolve a plan while you are alive, it's likely your loved ones will suffer.

54 points by Thevet 9y ago

So the administrator of the estate is basically drastically reducing it's value by making it more organized. Get rid of that person.

Firerouge 9y ago
A Connecticut probate court appointed an independent administrator to manage the assets. It's likely the only way to remove the individual killing off the business is for the families dispute over the inheritance to be resolved.
smelendez 9y ago
If the business ends up being liquidated, it makes more sense to only keep the doors open on cash-flow-positive days now and not spend the estate's cash on new merchandise.

nasmorn 9y ago

This headline is the rare opposite of a click bait headline given how good I found the content to be. Is there even a word for that? Click shield maybe

have_faith 9y ago
The simplicity of the title and lack of clickbaity-ness actually made me click through and read the article instead of checking the comments first.

tomohawk 9y ago

If the attraction (and his daughter) was important to him, he should have written a will and maybe set up a trust, or created a corporation to to ensure this. If you don't have a will, take some time and make one this week.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
lovemenot 9y ago
In this case it's not as simple as having the right legal documents. It seems the store was a physical manifestation of an iconoclast who's now dead. This seems less a business than a living work of art. A bleached coral can survive for a while, but if it cannot attract and retain the right symbionts, it'll die.
- prepend 9y ago
  While this is a good point, it’s not applicable in this case as the main problem is based on a dispute with inheritance that is closing and refocusing the purpose of the business. So even the bleached coral from your example isn’t being allowed.

stmw 9y ago

Great article. After reading, I realized it may also describe Apple. "Businesses like Wild Bill’s, which are formed around the passion and personality of a unusual individual, can be hard to keep alive over the long term, even when the founder is still alive. And when the visionary passes on, and a family disagrees over how to run their inheritance, the chances of survival become slimmer still. ... In the past, part of what made Wild Bill’s Nostalgia a special place was these sort of improbable, impractical projects, which functioned as round-about investments because they attracted people to the store to spend money. Under the supervision of a fiduciary, there’s little room for that sort of creative marketing."

nitwit005 9y ago
The company hardly shut its doors after Jobs died. They're pulling in over $200 billion a year, after all.
- gonvaled 9y ago
  They closed, once or twice - for all practical meanings of "closed"

georgeecollins 9y ago

The moral of this story is that people that own a business must have an estate plan that they have discussed with their heirs. If you don't resolve a plan while you are alive, it's likely your loved ones will suffer.