My View from The Balcony: (A Memoir)

Description

A true story of three young men who came from a small town are given the opportunity to open a store in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. A Head Shop. They've never owned or managed a store before. Two of them work full time in a tool and die shop and the third one is a senior in high school. See how they started in 1969 working together building a thriving business that surprised even their closest friends. It was a different time many things in the world were changing and they had to change with them. Navigating through the competitive business world and at the same time managing their personal lives. Starting in their hometown of Lansdowne the story moves to Terminal Square in Upper Darby where they sub rent a loft, they named The Balcony. It was not easy, many obstacles came their way. Since they were a Head Shop, they were aware many believed they were selling drugs. Overcoming their personal problems became the hard part. Running the business came surprisingly easier. You would have thought the partying, drug use, a stolen car, a buyout, bootleg albums, marriages, the FBI, women, death, two new neighboring malls, additions, a move, a divorce, bootleg tee shirts, would have brought them down, but they didn't. The Balcony survived nineteen years. Nineteen years is a long time when you are working. The three main characters find out owning your own business is a 24/7 job. Like many things in life, they started together with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Many fads came and went but the store was always up to date on all the new trends. The store became so popular customers would drive from New Jersey and Delaware to shop there. It was the beginning of the Woodstock nation. The music, drugs and sex were happening like never before and these three were ready to take it on. Many newsworthy events happened during the life of The Balcony. The reopening of the Tower Theater revised the music scene in Upper Darby bringing memorable acts to town. David Bowie played a whole week of shows to promote one of his albums. Bob Marley made a rare appearance and actually sent one of his crew to come in and ask if Bob could come in to shop. Bob and some of his band including his little brother and son came and spent over an hour shopping before the show started. Money was being made as the three partners started to disagree and find fault with each other. This is the story of how it happened from the very beginning to the end. It answers so many of the questions that have been asked since The Balcony closed its doors in 1988.

Mike Smith AM is a veteran desert archaeologist who learnt his trade in Australian archaeology's 'decades of discovery'. He is an emeritus research fellow at the National Museum of Australia and the author of The Archaeology of Australia's Deserts (Cambridge University Press, 2013).