Vendor Story: Merv Sims

I changed locations. I went to Division and State streets. It’s more residential, more people. For a while I did both locations. Division and State in the evening and my old location, Franklin and Madison, in the morning. You could look two blocks in all directions and see one person maybe in two blocks. I’ve been there 27 years; I was hoping to see someone that knows me, just to see the spot is still there. Sometimes it was not worth coming at all. I played it by ear.

I tried to go to both spots every day, but if I slept too late, I didn’t go to Division and State.

Now, in March, I am not going to Division and State anymore. It’s not profitable. There are too many panhandlers on Division and State. Madison and Franklin is starting to pick back up.