Business Services Industry
San Jose, Calif., Entrepreneur Builds Shoe-Shine Network from One Stand.(Originated from San Jose Mercury News, Calif.)
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, December, 1997 by Romano, Bill
SAN JOSE, Calif.--Dec. 8--Tom Appleton used to shine shoes for a living. Now the San Jose entrepreneur hires others to do it for him.
Over the years, the 53-year-old Appleton has parlayed his one-man spit-and-polish business into a network of shoe-shine stands in the Bay Area -- and his business is still growing.
With 10 "Shine 'em Up" outlets in office buildings, shopping malls and the San Francisco and Reno-Tahoe international airports, Appleton is looking to expand. He has his eye on a spot at the Los Angeles International Airport, where business is brisk.
Appleton's success story is among the dozens fueled by a low- and moderate-income small business loan program, which targets minorities. The project is funded by Lenders for...
- 5 Rules for Immediate Annuities
- Death in the Family: 12 Things to Do Now
- Dumbest Things You Do With Your Money
- 6 Online Networking Mistakes to Avoid
- 401(k) Mistakes to Avoid
- 5 Economic Scenarios to Keep You Up at Night
- The Real ‘Best Places to Retire’
- Best Credit Cards for You
- 12 Tough Questions to Ask Your Parents
- The Real ‘Best Colleges’
- Home Buyer Tax Credit: How to Cash In
- Why You Shouldn't Bash Cash
- 8 Phony 'Bargains' and Better Alternatives
- Danger: 3 Debit Card Scams to Avoid
- 6 Myths About Gas Mileage
- 29 Fees We Hate Most
- Quick and Easy Ways to Boost Returns
- Best Stocks to Buy Now
- Lower Your Taxes: 10 Moves to Make Now
- New Jobs: 8 Lessons from Real-Life Career Switchers
- The New Job Market: Who Wins and Who Loses?
- Health Care Reform's Public Option: Everything You Need to Know
- Volunteer Work When Unemployed: Should You Work for Free?
- Whose Recovery Is This?
- Long-Term-Care Insurance: 4 Biggest Risks to Avoid
Most Recent Business Articles
- Psyadon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Announces Regulatory Milestones and the Initiation of a Clinical Trial of Ecopipam in Lesch-Nyhan Disease
- Emergence of “Femtomedicine” - New Frontier of Biomed Sciences - Reported at First Global Congress on Nano Medicine
- Research and Markets: Ethiopia Power Market Outlook to 2020
- Research and Markets: Orphan Drugs in Asia-Pacific: from Designation to Pricing, Funding & Market Access
- Research and Markets: Now You See It - TV Program Sponsorship & Product Placement in China
Most Recent Business Publications
Most Popular Business Articles
- 7 tips for effective listening: productive listening does not occur naturally. It requires hard work and practice - Back To Basics - effective listening is a crucial skill for internal auditors
- FHM Features Anna Benson, Baseball's Hottest Wife
- Building a DNA database: the federal government has just enacted two bills related to DNA. The first would drive the collection of DNA from all infants. The second would attempt to prevent the DNA that is collected from being misused
- America's most wanted j-o-b-s - 10 hottest employment opportunities
- Developmental sequence in small groups
