Music/Vespa-Fest

OK, so this upcoming party lies more in Gowanas than Clinton Hill, but is being thrown by BrooklynBretta, a supercool scooter shop. AND, the shop owner, Nicholas Mendizabal, lives right here in Clinton Hill! Recently, I asked him a few questions about being a small business owner, and living in the Hill:

How long have you lived in Clinton Hill, and what brought you here? I've lived in Clinton Hill for 2 years, and before that Greenpoint for previous 6. I moved to Clinton Hill to be closer to the shop. Working late is typical, even the 2 mile commute to Greenpoint proved to be too far!

What do you do for a living? I own and operate NYC's best scooter shop :)

How did you come up with the idea for Brooklynbretta? I knew there was a need for a scooter shop here.

How did you pick the shop's location? Sackett Street between 3rd and 4th is ideal because it's on a commercial block where we are able to do our own thing. Being part of a string of retail shops presents its own issues - so I avoided it.

Any tips for small business owners? Doing the math helps a great deal. Having a worst case, best case, and a most likely case really helped keep fiscal expectations in line. Starting a small business is relatively easy, keeping it going is another challenge . . . I would also recommend businesses with 'seasonality' be avoided. Maintaining the proper staffing can be difficult.

Craziest story resulting from owning a business: It has to do with someone asking to use the rest room 'for just one moment'. I can't possibly sanitize this story for you, so going any further is a little difficult.

Favorite Clinton Hill Hangout: My favorite restaurant is Zaytoons, those guys make some good schwarma!

What do you hope opens in the neighborhood? A Belgian mussel joint. They always have the best beers . . . and with a pot of moules - they're perfect.