MHC150: BENEDIKTSSON
INTERVIEWS WITH MERCHANTS
SAMPLE INTERVIEW TOPICS
Owners’ biography:
- Where they live and for how long they have lived there
- Where they are from originally
- How they came to work in this specific industry, trade, etc.
- How they came to own a business in this block / neighborhood / city.
- How they approach their work
- How do they actually do it? What are the skills, techniques, strategies that they use?
- How they feel about the work they do
History of business:
- How long the business has been located here
- Any previous locations it occupied
- How many employees the business has
- Any other locations it currently has
History of neighborhood / block:
- Description of customers
- How the customers have changed
- What do customers appreciate about the business? What do they get from it? How does it fit into their lives?
- Good things / bad things about doing business on this block / in this neighborhood
Current business strategies / difficulties:
- How the owner has kept it going
- Biggest obstacles to doing business:
- paying rent
- meeting NYC regulations and requirements
- finding good workers
- reaching new customers
- keeping old customers
- How the business owner’s relations with the landlord are.
- Whether the owner participates in any merchants’ associations
- Whether they participate in any community organizations
- Any government agencies that are especially helpful or not helpful to the business
Plans for the future:
- Do you plan to change this store in any way in the near future? How?
- What would improve this location for your business?
