Always the Entrepreneur - Sub's at Sledgens

As the title implies and something you will read in this and many of the post that will follow, I was always thinking with an entrepreneurial mindset.  I always had my eyes and ears open for opportunities, like the one I developed when I was about 18 years old, Sub's at Sledgens.

Sledgens bar was a local dive sort of establishment on Route 5 in Elbridge, NY.  Dark and dingy, but it was a hang out for lots of the younger generation, several under 18, the then legal drinking age in New York.  I was 18, but I rarely if ever drank anything but soda.  Some of my buddies were known to tip a beer or two whenever they could get their hands on it.  The old couple that owned and ran the bar were pretty slow and as some would say, "blind as a bat"

When asked for ID's, many of the under 18 kids would show the old lady anything in their hand saying it was their ID.  I remember someone even opening a pack of matches showing her the cover as if it were their ID.  Occasionally, she could see enough to know they were trying to pull a fast one on her ... not me, I was 18, I won't name any names (after all, I wouldn't want to implicate Barry, Doug, Dave or Tom), but some of the culprits were in a "gang", some called the "U5".

a K-Mart sub, and it was pretty good eating

 Anyway, one of the complaints was that there was no food at Sledgens.  I'm guessing they had closed up kitchen operations years before.  Did you hear that Dan? There's a need for food!  Businessman Dan stepped up and convinced them that they should buy submarine sandwiches (that's what we called them in central New York - other places call them hero's, hoagie, poor boys, or even a torpedo) from me to resell to customers.  They agreed and we were in business.

this is how the subs came from K-Mart

But wait, I'm not going to make a bunch of subs every day, I really don't remember how many days a week I took them subs, but enough to make some money.  So where did they come from?  I bought them from K-Mart.  It got to the point, if I can recall correctly, I would call and pre-order what ever number I needed so they'd be ready when I got there.  Always fresh and not too bad tasting either.  I've read that K-Mart stopped selling subs and other deli kind of things sometime in the 70's.

I can't remember how long we remained in business together, at least long enough to make a few bucks, had some fun.

Here's a tie to the present day.  I ordered a Stanley PowerIt 1200 Jump Starter on eBay for $128 and change, with free shipping.  I bought it from a user with 0 history, but, since I used a credit card, I wasn't worried.  The weirdness started with I received a shipment from WalMart.com, for which no one here had ordered from them.  When the package arrived, it was the item I bought on eBay.  So, I go to WalMart.com search for the starter and low and behold, WalMart had it for $99 and change with free shipping.  The best I can figure, the seller sold me the starter for $128 minus the eBay fees, ordered the unit from WalMart.com and had it shipped to me... making about $20 plus bucks.  He was doing a "Sub at Sledgens" dance with me.  I like it (but not happy I paid for that experience and lesson.

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Never, ever, forget, you matter!