Congrats private equity is coming for your local plumbers, electricians etc

[Anonymous]

There were 2 nice independent chains of pet stores in the DMV, Bark and Whole Pet Central. I used to shop there for dog food, toys, the works. The employees were always knowledgeable and friendly and would readily do special orders. Some PE firm bought them out, combined them under a new business and then the whole thing shut down a few years later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In fairness…I know many somewhat successful small business owners who don’t really have any exit plan. They thought their kids may take it over, but their kids saw how much work and time away from the family it took (not to mention the physical pain) and are all saying no thanks.

It’s not easy to find a buyer for these companies…their competitors aren’t exactly flush, so PE is one of the few buyers.

Perhaps these companies should wind down into retirement and then new small businesses can open. If every small business sells out to PE, then the next generation is screwed from ever breaking into the market. This is where we need regs and tax laws that disincentivize PE taking over these businesses.

That's easy for you to say, not owning one. Nobody spends their life building a business, just to wind it down and close up shop...unless that is their only alternative (which is actually how like 90% of all businesses come to their end).

I know some try to sell the business to their employees, but running a several million $$$ plumbing or HVAC business is harder than maybe it seems, and their employees that are great at laying pipe or fixing clogs are terrible about running a business.

It's a big problem in many industries with baby boomer owners looking to get out of their businesses and their own children having no interest and the pool of eligible buyers is shrinking.

[Anonymous]

This is probably also why Big Money is pushing for deportations. We've never used established tradesmen for any work in my house for any of the remodels. Mostly hispanic labor without regard to immigration status. If their direct competitors are removed, these f***ers can charge what they want, pay the local tradespeople a little bit more, and keep most of the money.

[Anonymous]

The American consumer has completely lost any leverage it had and will probably never get it back.

[Anonymous]

PE and AI lobbyists will likely cause the demise of modern society

[Anonymous]

Agree. Our HVAC was bought out (are we all talking about ARS?) and now I don't trust a thing they say or recommend. They tried to upsell us so hard that I got a second opinion for a single owner/operator HVAC guy and he said we didn't need any of the things ARS was pushing.

Conversely, my dentist was bought and I love all the changes. And the dentist reports he's so much happier. I think he'll retire soon, but he gets to do something he likes without the hassle of running a business. And we can now make appointments online and everything is so much nicer.

[Anonymous]

We finally dumped ARS after the last tech that we trusted left.

[Anonymous]

SavATree was bought by private equity before 2020 and stayed ok but then got bought again around 2021. They now are all hat and no cattle, their "arborists" are just salespeople, and they are imo con artists for anything other than trimming, cutting, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been using the same company for years for my HVAC. Recently they quoted a ridiculous amount for a small project. I started digging and realized that they were bought by another bigger company which is backed by private equity.

Yep let's keep telling our kids to be plumbers electricians etc because probate equity will surely pay them good wages.

Why don’t you go into PE and get on the other side of the equation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yup and over here we are all busy bickering about political red herrings while the real enemy of prosperity and security is right under our noses. We are an arrogant uneducated society that lacks intellectually curiosity. we deserve this.

There was actually a federal office to stop this type of things, but it was DOGE’d.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup and over here we are all busy bickering about political red herrings while the real enemy of prosperity and security is right under our noses. We are an arrogant uneducated society that lacks intellectually curiosity. we deserve this.

There was actually a federal office to stop this type of things, but it was DOGE’d.

Which office was that?

[Anonymous]

And physical therapists and dentists.

[Anonymous]

Where I’ve seen it is in landscaping and lawn care. It is a highly fragmented business which is ideal for PE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been using the same company for years for my HVAC. Recently they quoted a ridiculous amount for a small project. I started digging and realized that they were bought by another bigger company which is backed by private equity.

Yep let's keep telling our kids to be plumbers electricians etc because probate equity will surely pay them good wages.

Yep thank MAGA they did this to themselves and us the fools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes these places go out of business because PE can’t give us what we want.

In my town, PE bought a small chain of previously family owned liquor stores. The stores were successful and the owners were committed to the community and believed in their products. They hosted events, welcomed wine clubs, brought in speakers, etc.

PE did none of that and had no interest in the product. The whole chain is now going out of business just three years later.

Same thing with a healthy local furniture chain in a big metro area where I live.