Pullin' the Old Switcharoo

Since I live in a country where most people don't speak English and my level of Georgian is stuck at the taxi cab level, I consistently frequent stores where I have found at least a small level of success. This is especially true when I am not in the mood for a game of charades (you should have seen the hand motions when I tried to buy condoms!).  

The problem is...many stores are here today, gone tomorrow. One day you go into a store and have a wonderful experience, purchasing everything you need with ease. Two days later you go back to the same store because you knew you should have bought the dandruff shampoo when you were there two days ago, but you didn't feel like lugging it home. You round the corner and low and behold- the store is boarded up and empty. Sometimes the signs are torn down, but many times they stay up for awhile.

Here in Georgia, bank loans are hard to come by. If you are able to get a loan, it is at a very high interest rate (not sure exactly what it is for businesses, but for homes it is about 18%). So many people save their money, borrow what they can, and open their dream shop. They stay open as long as they can with the savings they have. There is no wiggle room. No one is floating them for a few months. They can't afford to lose money and can't afford to borrow from a bank, so they close if they are not breaking even or making a profit.

This is used to be our favorite shawarma place.
Now it sells hot dogs and other meats.

Now the good news in all of this is that, if you're lucky, a pretty decent pizza joint might open directly across the street from your house. Hopefully it will be here at least another month.