Anything with four walls and a ceiling is regarded as a “house” type in feng shui terminology. Of course, there are some major differences between what can be regarded as balanced for a home, but not good for a business. In the last couple months, I had a particularly colorful list of commercial clients, which I thought my newsletter subscribers might find interesting.
To know that these kinds of enterprises sought the services of a feng shui consultant might peek your interest in some of the special applications of feng shui theory.
Shopping Center: A Shopping Center has many layers to consider, starting with its positioning within a community, the natural landscape, and connecting streets. The parking lot’s dimensions and points of entry are also important. The whole complex can be viewed as one big entity and each store can be evaluated on its own terms. The location of each store’s entrance and the positioning of cash registers are all very telling in how well or how poorly the businesses do in comparison to each other.
Recording Studio: A recording studio is dark by definition. Where it is within a larger building and the areas where people spend most of their time is similar to many other businesses. But the product which comes out of the studio is the music itself. Classical feng shui practitioners know that the “4 star” is associated with music and creativity, so that is one area that should be activated in the recording studio. Water activates the 4 wood energy and it is always challenging trying to incorporate a fountain if it’s close to electronic equipment. A few years back I took a look at the Village Recording Studio in West Los Angeles. Without knowing anything about the history of this building, I showed them where the most positive and prosperous area naturally was. As it turned out, that was the studio which generated the biggest selling records, including those of my all-time favorite band, Steely Dan.
Restaurant: The kitchen is a crucial area for the success of a restaurant and in the last month I evaluated one well-known successful establishment, as well as a new restaurant still in the design phase. If there is a bar, I recommend that it also be placed in one of the more prosperous energy fields, but a bar can also do well in a lousy area. It can lure people to the sad and lonely areas where they can drink their emotions away and still be a money-maker for the restaurant.
Furniture and Stage Prop Store: It’s always fun to use a store’s inventory as feng shui remedies. I have done this with clients many times over with success. As an example, if a certain part of the store needs the metal element, then that is where they can display furnishings made of wrought iron, copper, brass, or bronze. Furniture and various items of décor can be positioned to manipulate the chi flow through the space and usually there is a lot of freedom of where the owner’s consultation desk can go.
Jewelry Store: Any items for sale, whether it be high-priced hair products in a salon or diamonds in a jewelry store can be positioned in areas where customers are most likely to stand and feel good about splurging on themselves. This is also the type of business where security must be a priority. Weakening the “3 robbery”star wherever it happens to be in the store is an automatic part of the consultation.
Real Estate Agent’s Office: Over the years, many real estate agents have become my clients and a few have become friends. Even though it is sometimes a conflict of interest for a realtor to recommend a feng shui consultant, you can bet that these folks want to have their own homes and offices “feng-shuied” so that their own money luck improves and they will sell more properties. Real estate is an “earth” type business so sometimes there are special applications to enhance their “earth” luck.
Retirement Home: Most of us don’t get a great feeling when we think about Retirement Homes, especially with more and more information leaking out about elder abuse and neglect in these facilities. But The El Descanso Retirement Home in Covina, California is a major exception. Here, the owners Joseph and Clemencia Bousheri are like two resident angels who keep the Home immaculate, cheerful, and Joseph is personally making freshly squeezed juice and healthy meals for all the residents. They were very interested in enhancing and maintaining good feng shui of their Retirement Home, not just for their own business goals, but also for the health benefit of their clientele.
Private Investigator: By definition, what a private investigator does and researches is of a legal matter. In some respects, his office will be treated similarly to a lawyer’s office. Virtually no business owner wants to attract legal problems, except those who are in the position to correct or expose those problems.
Catering Company: Food and fashion companies can benefit greatly when they have over-all good aspects for making money, but particularly when the “4 artistic star” gets stimulated. This is a type of energy that exists in every building, but being able to access it wherever it happens to be is part luck, part design, and part feng shui enhancement.
One of my most unlikely clients was last summer, with a follow up annual visit early this year. In case you think that only New Age types employ lucky colors 2019, I did a consultation for a company that rents male and female strippers! (And I hope that’s all they do!)
Their whole office needed a feng shui and design makeover, with tangible results in increased business soon thereafter. Classical feng shui practitioners reading this will appreciate knowing that the entrance to their business is a 4-7 energy.
(This is code for the invisible chi that resides in that location, based on when the building was built and its compass direction.) The 4 energy is sometimes associated with sexual activity and scandal. The 7 energy is sometimes associated young, pretty flirtatious girls, the breasts, and the mouth. Need I say more?