Midcentury furniture dealers pop up in small spots  

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I dont know about the rest of the world but this tends to be the start of most businesses, the humble garage.
Thomas Pedersen as in stingray?

Wheeler dealers
The start of most business is in a garage or spare room.
As Lord Alan sugar said.
"You need to know the exact cost of your product before you can truly sell it and make a profit"
how many of these garage sellers forget to incorporate the rent they pay or the repayments on their mortgage to the bottom line?
While there is a lot to be gained from a garage sale there is also a lot to be weary of.
I have a public presence in the from of a large showroom where you can walk in and view any item before you hand over the cash and where you can bring any item back that falls below the standard expected from me!
Hell the shop bricks and mortar costs but reputation is built on prescence, location, track record and big bollocks to take the step from obscurity to main street and respectability.
SECONDLY
the down turn in employment and earnings from investments / employment also divide the world into those who get up and grab EVERY opportunity by the balls and those who wallow in self pity and state hand outs.
To make money you need to spend money and small business is where money is made free from the preasure of employment laws, EU directives and "9 to 5"
The changing world of antique furniture also has influenced the trade as dealers are sometimes in a position where they grew up USING the same as what they sell, compared to the antique dealer of yesteryear who sold items of "more than a 100 years" = antique.
Antique today hold not the same definition as it used to and that has opened doors for those who can see possibilities and closed doors for companies like Rover and many others