My View from The Balcony: (A Memoir)
A true story of three young men who came from a small town are given the opportunity to open a store in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. A Head Shop. They've never owned or managed a store before. Two of them work full time in a tool and die shop and the third one is a senior in high school. See how they started in 1969 working together building a thriving business that surprised even their closest friends. It was a different time many things in the world were changing and they had to change with them. Navigating through the competitive business world and at the same time managing their personal lives. Starting in their hometown of Lansdowne the story moves to Terminal Square in Upper Darby where they sub rent a loft, they named The Balcony. It was not easy, many obstacles came their way. Since they were a Head Shop, they were aware many believed they were selling drugs. Overcoming their personal problems became the hard part. Running the business came surprisingly easier. You would have thought the partying, drug use, a stolen car, a buyout, bootleg albums, marriages, the FBI, women, death, two new neighboring malls, additions, a move, a divorce, bootleg tee shirts, would have brought them down, but they didn't. The Balcony survived nineteen years. Nineteen years is a long time when you are working. The three main characters find out owning your own business is a 24/7 job. Like many things in life, they started together with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Many fads came and went but the store was always up to date on all the new trends. The store became so popular customers would drive from New Jersey and Delaware to shop there. It was the beginning of the Woodstock nation. The music, drugs and sex were happening like never before and these three were ready to take it on. Many newsworthy events happened during the life of The Balcony. The reopening of the Tower Theater revised the music scene in Upper Darby bringing memorable acts to town. David Bowie played a whole week of shows to promote one of his albums. Bob Marley made a rare appearance and actually sent one of his crew to come in and ask if Bob could come in to shop. Bob and some of his band including his little brother and son came and spent over an hour shopping before the show started. Money was being made as the three partners started to disagree and find fault with each other. This is the story of how it happened from the very beginning to the end. It answers so many of the questions that have been asked since The Balcony closed its doors in 1988.
"1139908731"
My View from The Balcony: (A Memoir)
A true story of three young men who came from a small town are given the opportunity to open a store in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. A Head Shop. They've never owned or managed a store before. Two of them work full time in a tool and die shop and the third one is a senior in high school. See how they started in 1969 working together building a thriving business that surprised even their closest friends. It was a different time many things in the world were changing and they had to change with them. Navigating through the competitive business world and at the same time managing their personal lives. Starting in their hometown of Lansdowne the story moves to Terminal Square in Upper Darby where they sub rent a loft, they named The Balcony. It was not easy, many obstacles came their way. Since they were a Head Shop, they were aware many believed they were selling drugs. Overcoming their personal problems became the hard part. Running the business came surprisingly easier. You would have thought the partying, drug use, a stolen car, a buyout, bootleg albums, marriages, the FBI, women, death, two new neighboring malls, additions, a move, a divorce, bootleg tee shirts, would have brought them down, but they didn't. The Balcony survived nineteen years. Nineteen years is a long time when you are working. The three main characters find out owning your own business is a 24/7 job. Like many things in life, they started together with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Many fads came and went but the store was always up to date on all the new trends. The store became so popular customers would drive from New Jersey and Delaware to shop there. It was the beginning of the Woodstock nation. The music, drugs and sex were happening like never before and these three were ready to take it on. Many newsworthy events happened during the life of The Balcony. The reopening of the Tower Theater revised the music scene in Upper Darby bringing memorable acts to town. David Bowie played a whole week of shows to promote one of his albums. Bob Marley made a rare appearance and actually sent one of his crew to come in and ask if Bob could come in to shop. Bob and some of his band including his little brother and son came and spent over an hour shopping before the show started. Money was being made as the three partners started to disagree and find fault with each other. This is the story of how it happened from the very beginning to the end. It answers so many of the questions that have been asked since The Balcony closed its doors in 1988.
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My View from The Balcony: (A Memoir)

My View from The Balcony: (A Memoir)

by Mike Smith
My View from The Balcony: (A Memoir)

My View from The Balcony: (A Memoir)

by Mike Smith

eBook

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Overview

A true story of three young men who came from a small town are given the opportunity to open a store in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. A Head Shop. They've never owned or managed a store before. Two of them work full time in a tool and die shop and the third one is a senior in high school. See how they started in 1969 working together building a thriving business that surprised even their closest friends. It was a different time many things in the world were changing and they had to change with them. Navigating through the competitive business world and at the same time managing their personal lives. Starting in their hometown of Lansdowne the story moves to Terminal Square in Upper Darby where they sub rent a loft, they named The Balcony. It was not easy, many obstacles came their way. Since they were a Head Shop, they were aware many believed they were selling drugs. Overcoming their personal problems became the hard part. Running the business came surprisingly easier. You would have thought the partying, drug use, a stolen car, a buyout, bootleg albums, marriages, the FBI, women, death, two new neighboring malls, additions, a move, a divorce, bootleg tee shirts, would have brought them down, but they didn't. The Balcony survived nineteen years. Nineteen years is a long time when you are working. The three main characters find out owning your own business is a 24/7 job. Like many things in life, they started together with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Many fads came and went but the store was always up to date on all the new trends. The store became so popular customers would drive from New Jersey and Delaware to shop there. It was the beginning of the Woodstock nation. The music, drugs and sex were happening like never before and these three were ready to take it on. Many newsworthy events happened during the life of The Balcony. The reopening of the Tower Theater revised the music scene in Upper Darby bringing memorable acts to town. David Bowie played a whole week of shows to promote one of his albums. Bob Marley made a rare appearance and actually sent one of his crew to come in and ask if Bob could come in to shop. Bob and some of his band including his little brother and son came and spent over an hour shopping before the show started. Money was being made as the three partners started to disagree and find fault with each other. This is the story of how it happened from the very beginning to the end. It answers so many of the questions that have been asked since The Balcony closed its doors in 1988.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781098387938
Publisher: BookBaby
Publication date: 08/13/2021
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 260
Sales rank: 754,891
File size: 9 MB

About the Author

Mike was eighteen when he joined his brother and their friend to open The Balcony. The education he got during those nineteen years in The Balcony was priceless. When Yoko entered their lives Mike knew no matter what he did his relationship with his brother would never be the same. The pain of losing that relationship stayed with him for many years, and in the end when his brother died, he knew he had to write the story about their journey in The Balcony together. Mike lives in North Wilmington DE with his husband and their two dogs.

Table of Contents

1 Beginnings 1

2 Everyone in Lansdowne knew a Smith Boy 13

3 69th Street Shopping Center 20

4 We Can Do This 23

5 It's Working 34

6 Atlantic City Pop Festival August 1-3, 1969 37

7 School, 4F, Eddie, The Beatles and Claudia Urie 40

8 Allentown Fair 43

9 A New Life 47

10 Earth Day 51

11 Legion Terrace, Gulliver's Travels and Flare Jeans 56

12 7014 Terminal Square, Renee Designs and Bicycles 60

13 Rita Coolidge moves in 63

14 John's music store 65

15 A Sewing Machine, Phone call from Dad 68

16 New York shows, Missing Trains 71

17 Going to Wildwood N J Hunter S. Thompson Style 74

18 Buzzy Arrives 77

19 The Brow Bender 78

20 Mark Segal, Powelton Village Adventure 80

21 The Tower Theater Opens Again (Photos) 82

22 Marty's Tee Shirts, Alice Cooper 90

23 Expanding, 7012 Terminal Square 92

24 Telling Lies, New employees and Bowie 96

25 VW Accident, Claudia Moves and Susan 100

26 Jimmy Goes Missing 103

27 Mike and Claudia Get Married 107

28 The Slowdown 110

29 A New Opportunity 113

30 A New Building, Another New Beginning 117

31 Walter Pigeon 122

32 Lights, Windows and a Baby on the Way 124

33 Bob Marley Visit, Renee is Born and Curly Hair 129

34 Big Star Enterprises 136

35 Christmas Time 140

36 Blue Law, Disco, Cabbage Patch Kids and Punk 144

37 Philadelphia Rock and Roll Convention 150

38 Stevie is born 153

39 The Nyack 155

40 Sandhoff 158

41 New Law, Video Games, John Lennon 162

42 Copley Road 167

43 Some Girls 171

44 Sea Isle, Goodbye Debbie, A Bridge 174

45 Nikki Comes Home 179

46 Our Yoko 182

47 Friday the 13th 184

48 GI Joe, Building in Sea Isle 186

49 Yoko-Now You See Her, Now You Don't and Capt. America Returns 190

50 The Big Bust 194

51 A Shit Storm 196

52 Gucci and Live Aid 201

53 Trip to California 205

54 Advertising and Coming Apart 213

55 New License, Mom has Cancer 218

56 Move's Last Stand 224

57 End of the Bust, Hello Joe 226

58 Gucci Polo Bust 229

59 New Landlord 232

60 Goodbye Mom 234

61 Landlord and Yoko Showdown 237

62 The Close Down-The End 241

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