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Man with Down syndrome opens his own retail shop
| Thursday, Mar 8 2007 9:50 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Mar 8 2007 10:40 PM
Coby Short, 27, has Down syndrome. But he's long on ambition and he knows who's the boss.
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"I'm the boss," he said.
It's a favorite phrase of his that he delivers often, with confidence, from the lobby of Bakersfield Heart Hospital.
That's where he runs Coby's Gift Shop, his newly hatched small business.
He hawks Milky Way and Butterfinger bars, glass baubles, purses and silk flower arrangements to hospital staff and the families of patients.
"This is my business," he said.
He's come a long way from the All-Star Cafe, a lunch and snack shop launched by the Kern Regional Center to help developmentally disabled people start careers.
He learned to use a cash register and help customers there.
Now he's taken those skills to the Heart Hospital where, today, he celebrates the official grand opening of his own business.
Short rides a bus to work in the morning and opens up shop himself. He has a business coach, thanks to Goodwill Industries, who helps him keep business on track.
But Short is the guy you'll meet when you stroll into the hospital's lobby.
The small gift kiosk has been open for a couple of months already and Coby has his fans among the staff.
"We're the fortunate recipients of this project," said Heart Hospital Vice President Chip Robinson. "Our staff have taken, quickly, to Coby and his merchandise."
The hospital didn't have a gift shop before Coby came along.
Now doctors are prone to dart out into the lobby to grab a quick snack in the middle of their rush.
Kern Regional Center bought the kiosk for Coby, and he's paying off the loan with profits from the business.
Tony Delgadillo, Short's business coach, said the business is already doing well -- better than what they expected.
And Joyce Short, the stock buyer for Coby's Gift Shop (and the boss's mom), said the personal payoff for her son is huge.
"When he wasn't working we saw him slide down," she said. "He has to keep busy."
Joyce Short and her husband always pushed Coby to succeed and achieve big things, but even they weren't sure he could handle this challenge.
"When you are told you have a child that is disabled at birth, you never expect what's happened to him," she said. "He was like, 'I'm going to be my own businessman,' and I was like 'I don't know, we'll see how things go.'"
Coby Short's confidence didn't waver. He got the job done.
"With the help of a lot of people we've been able to get this going, and he's doing fantastic," his mother said. "This has been a great, great opportunity for him to show that kids, and adults, with disabilities are capable of doing their own business and being a productive citizen just like the rest of us."
Do you know people in our community with extraordinary accomplishments? Nominate them for a Real People story by calling 395-7418 or writing to local@bakersfield.com.