One of The Profit’s most entertaining episodes dives into the business called Artistic Stitch. Owned by Sal Loretta and Nicolo Meola, artistic stitch incorporates basketball courts, baseball training facilities, bubble soccer, birthday parties, and a restaurant that caterers. The part of the building that was making the most money was the embroidery part, where the name Artistic Stitch comes from. Instantaneously, Marcus noticed some major problems within the business. First, Artistic Stitch had accumulated a substantial debt over the years. In addition, the many separate businesses made the business a “shopping mall,” as Marcus said. The owners Sal and Nicolo were also a little sneaky in their attempts to keep the business alive to simply sell the building and make millions. Accounting documents also showed misconduct as Sal had paid for a $200+ dinner using the company credit card. Thinking that these problems could be fixed and that the business could end up being successful, Marcus invested $660,000 into Artistic Stitch for 50% of the business. Much more focus was put on the embroadary part of the business. Embroidery machines were placed over the basketball courts and large paintings decorated the facility. A $20,000 printer was even purchased by Marcus to help with sales. The owners were surprised when Marcus put Nick 100% on commission as he was failing as a salesperson. The landloard, who was angry with the lack of money he was receiving from Artistic Stitch, was given money by Marcus to resolve conflict. The name of the business was even changed to Queens Vibe. Marcus left New York feeling confident that Queens Vibe would turn a profit, but he was mistaken.
Update
An episode later in the season exposed the realities of the future of artistic stitch. Ironically, the landlord didn’t receive the money he was promised. Months after Marcus left New York, he returned to learn that Marcus had sold the printer. The once-covered basketball court area had been restored and the design shop was moved back into its old tiny room. The name Queens Vibe was even changed back to Artistic Stitch. For these reasons and many more, Marcus considers Artistic Stitch to be one of his biggest failures.