Identifying Local Opportunities

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5A

Local vape shops lose profits due to recent tobacco law
https://www.alligator.org/news/local-vape-shops-lose-profits-due-to-recent-tobacco-law/article_6033000a-42d4-11ea-bd9f-4f3ed2b963e4.html
The vape shops have a problem with the new law stating that 21-year-olds can buy tobacco products. The new law is meant to help teenagers stop vaping. The law hurts businesses who sell vapes, so those businesses have the problem.

Students protest Supreme Court Clarence Thomas’ arrival
https://www.alligator.org/news/students-protest-supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-arrival/article_95298b0e-42c9-11ea-b249-9b476a11e71d.html
Multiple protestors got together to boycott the visit of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The problem is that US students didn’t want someone who had an accusation of sexual assault to be on campus. 

Future of Gainesville Lucky’s Market unclear
https://www.alligator.org/news/future-of-gainesville-lucky-s-market-remains-unclear/article_158d3cc4-426f-11ea-9004-cffc3a103c6e.html
Lucky’s Market, the grocery store is closing almost all of its Florida stores. The owner of the Gainesville location seemed to be lost in this transaction. He claims that he didn’t know that Aldi bought them out.

Hard freeze warning activated starting midnight
https://www.alligator.org/news/hard-freeze-warning-activated-starting-midnight/article_d1f9e1d4-3cc8-11ea-b1e5-a34c4bd31f27.html
A meteorologist had predicted that there is going to be a freeze warning by Wednesday, Jan. 29th. The lowest temperature is should be about 26 degrees and then go to 50 degrees. The problem is that the temperature dropped in Gainesville.

County commission may install cameras on I-75 to prevent speeding
https://www.alligator.org/news/county-commission-may-install-cameras-on-i--to-prevent/article_60ca8a1c-3940-11ea-9518-f75f01e96b1d.html
There has been a lot of speeding happening around I-75. Alachua County commissioner decided to install cameras to watch speeding cars. Student drivers think it’s an invasion of privacy. The problem is that student drivers are not happy with this decision.

Comments

  1. Christopher ZislinFebruary 1, 2020 at 7:49 PM

    Hey Deborah,

    I also featured the news about the unhappy students outside of UF's law school. If I was an owner of one of those vape shops, I would also be upset as much of their business includes those who are 18-21 years old. Now that its strictly 21 and over, their business just changed dramatically. In addition, the news regarding cameras on I-75 is understandable but actually surprising to me. Cameras wont fix the problem, but having cop cars on the side of the road usually reminds drivers to slow down.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Linnea LindemanFebruary 2, 2020 at 12:43 PM

    Hi!

    On the topic of the first article about the vape shops losing money and struggling with the new law change requiring customers to be 21+, I actually just drove by a vape shop that had recently announced they are closing down last night. They were in business a week or two ago, and are suddenly shutting down. There are a lot of vape shops within Gainesville so it is already a competitive market, but it will definitely be even harder to make enough money now that basically all freshman and sophomores and some juniors are not able to make tobacco purchases.
    Interesting choices in all your articles! Great job :)
    Linnea

    ReplyDelete
  3. Justino Quezada Jr.February 2, 2020 at 3:47 PM

    Hi Deborah,
    Your first article is one that I have the most experience with. My roommate used to buy tobacco products and now after the new law he can not buy any because he is 18. If I was an owner of one of these shops I would be devastated because most of my clients are probably 18 19 and 20 year old college students so I will now be losing money. Also on your last article, I do not think cameras will fix the problem but it may be a start. Great post!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Camila ParraFebruary 3, 2020 at 2:53 AM

    Hi Deborah,
    One of the most interesting, yet shocking articles you discovered was the one about the Lucky's market owner not knowing about being bought out by Aldi. I think in this case, poor management skills were involved and entrepreneurship was thrown out the window. Opening this franchise technically classifies the owner as an entrepreneur, and to think there was such a lack of management is honestly saddening. I really enjoyed all of your articles, but this one in particular caught my attention. Great job.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ethan ENT 3003February 3, 2020 at 11:15 AM

    Hey Deborah,
    I did not know anything about two of your articles, so it was interesting to find something new to read about. I surely hope that I-75 doesn't get speeding cameras because I take it south every weekend to go to work and speeding saves me a lot of time. Secondly, I did not know middle Florida could get below freezing, I hoped that by moving here I would avoid the cold.

    ReplyDelete

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