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September 26,2001
minority
business
V / v z X
s p e c ia l e d itio n
Shifting from Hard Times to Great Success
A Decades-Old Family Business Learns to Adapt for Survival
by J oy R amos and R on W ebf . r
T he P or plan d O bserver
F o r o v er three decades, the K nauls fam ily had built up an
im pressive clientele through their food and entertainment busi
ness, and then later w ith a h air studio. Just to econom ically
survive, they ’ ve had to “shift gears.”
W hatever the K nauls fam ily ventures into through their
businesses, they leave a national im pression. T heir ties to
fam ous people is obvious w hen you step into their hair studio,
G e n e v a ’s S hear Perfection, located at 5601 N .E. M artin
Luther King Jr., B1 vd. O ne wall is dedicated to their association
w ith w ell-known entertainers, professional athletes and politi
cians. S tanding out in these pictures is the ever-present Paul
K nauls Sr. w ith his naval hat and beam ing smile. The opposite
wall is littered w ith honors and articles w ritten on them about
their exemplary service and comm unity involvements.
The first family business started by the Knauls family was the
C otton C lub in 1963, located at 2125 N. V ancouver A ve. It
w as one o f the “hottest” m usic night clubs in Portland, fre
quented by blacks and w hites. M usic artists on -th e-rise got
their start at the C otton Club. M any o f them later w ent on to
becom e nationally renown.
B usiness from the C otton C lub w as so profitable that the
K nauls opened another club called P a u l’s in 1965. It was
located at 125 N. Russell.
T he dow nfall o f the C otton C lub occurred w hen M artin
Luther King, the fam ed civil rights leader died. B lack and white
club-goers w ere not as likely to be seen together. Segregation
w as again on the rise.
P a u l’s m et the sam e fate o f closing because E m m anuel
H ospital w as expanding out, m aking it necessary for the
hospital to buy out the business. W hat rem ains o f the area is an
em pty street block.
The Knauls fam ily kept up their interest o f running a club by
opening G eneva’s in 1970. A fter over 20 years in that business,
they grew tired o f doing it.
Opportunity “knocked on their door” w hen U nion Ave. was
given anam e change to M artin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and a small
building along the busy street was for sale. It took som e serious
convincing by K nauls Sr. to get his w ife G eneva to consider
opening up a h air studio there. T he fam ily spent one year
renbvating the building that once housed W in ch ell’s D onut
Shop. In 1991, G en ev a’s S hear Perfection w as opened. The
family business currently em ploys thirteen stylists and barbers,
including son Paul K nauls Jr. and a granddaughter, Cherice.
Besides servicing celebrity clients, G eneva’s gives fine ser
vice and w arm hospitality to anyone w ho com es in the door -
fam ous or not.
P rofessionals such as the K nauls give hope to o ther busi
nesses, exem plifying that not only can you succeed as entrepre
neurs, but you can also survive ever-changing financial tim es
through hard w ork and good planning.
The Knauls family (from left) Paul Sr., Geneva and Paul Jr. in front o f their nationally renown hair studio, Geneva's Shear Perfection
that's located In northeast Portland. The greatest part of America's wealth lies with family-owned businesses. Family firms comprise
80 to 90% o f all business enterprises in North America.
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver •
Soft Real Estate Market Might Provide Benefit for Small Firms
NEW YORK (AP) — Your
small business has grown so
large that your office or build
ing is just too small. And maybe
you’re in a part of the country
with a depressed real estate
market. It might be a good time
to consider buying or leasing
bigger quarters— after you ’ ve
done a lot of business analysis
and careful shopping.
Recently, the Federal Re
serve reported some softness
in the commercial real estate
markets in the Boston, New
York, Philadelphia, Cleveland,
Richmond, Atlanta and Dallas
areas. The Fed also said there
were more vacancies and fall
ing lease rates in California,
the result of the continuing
cutbacks among Internet and
technology companies.
Lower rents or asking prices
means business owners are in a
stronger bargaining position when
dealing with a landlord or seller.
But even in areas where com
mercial real estate is strong and
rents and prices are high, there
are ways to find a good deal.
Real estate experts say cur
rent market conditions in some
areas favor sm all business
owners, particularly when it
comes to leasing.
“A year ago or
two years ago, a lot
of people couldn’t
be bothered with
you,” said Tamie
Thompson, a prin
cipal with Spaulding
& Slye Colliers, a
real estate firm in
B o sto n .
Now ,
“they want to fill
those little spaces
and if you’ve been
a stable business
around for a long
time and good about
steadily paying your
rent, y o u ’ll find
landlords more will
ing to rent.”
Fallout from the
dot-com crash has
made space much
more available in
parts of the coun
try where high-tech
co m p an ies were
clustered. Often,
the space is being
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sublet by companies that rented
more space than they needed
based on growth projections
that have now been discarded.
Thompson said the glut of
space some landlords have is
making them more inclined to
negotiate not only on price but
on improvements to the prop
erty and other lease terms.
Even in the stronger mar
kets, small businesses can find
better terms, said Linda Stoller,
director of the Center for Real
Estate at Babson College in
Wellesley, Mass.
“If companies are willing to
be a little less centrally located
to highway access or be in
buildings that don’t have the
cachet that others have,” they ’ 11
find rents arc cheaper, she said.
“If I were a small business
owner, I would be looking,”
she said.
Bill Gladstone, a real estate
agent in Harrisburg, Pa., said
business owners will find bet
ter terms in what he called
Class B buildings, those that
are a step below the brand-
new, glossy office towers.
If you’re thinking of buying,
perhaps the most important bit
of advice you can get from a
real estate professional is not
to rush into anything.