[Vision2020] Goodnight Goody, Goodnight Ridge
g. crabtree
jampot at adelphia.net
Sat Mar 4 17:37:04 PST 2006
oops, obviously I meant west. What do they call that lodestone on a pivot thingy again?
----- Original Message -----
From: g. crabtree
To: Art Deco ; Vision 2020
Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 2:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Goodnight Goody, Goodnight Ridge
Wayne, You are very much mischaracterizing what I write. I know for an absolute fact that Moscow has the ability to attract and grow business. What I fear is that our current city government and our political party by any other name will interfere to the point that they wont bother. If it becomes to much of a hassle to do business here it will follow the path of least resistance and do its thing a couple of miles to the east, in Whitman county. Your examples are fine as far as they go, I could add at least a dozen more without straining myself but it takes quite a few little enterprises such as these to equal a more major commercial development such as a SWM or the proposed Lowe's & its attendant stores. Development I would strongly prefer to see in Latah county.
G. Crabtree
----- Original Message -----
From: Art Deco
To: Vision 2020
Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 10:54 AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Goodnight Goody, Goodnight Ridge
Gary,
Perhaps you are just a trifle pessimistic about Moscow's ability to grow, to attract and/or to help businesses succeed.
If it is permitted, let me write about two local success stories.
Rudy's
Dan and Gretchen Ruark had a vision about opening a small cafe offering high quality super-delicious hamburgers, related items, and fast, sincerely friendly service. They planned carefully. They invested their time and money, not without risk in a location in a mall which at that time was having occupancy problems. They worked hard, long hours. They were not adverse to changing and experimenting with various ideas to enhance the attractiveness of their products and atmosphere.
I don't know for sure if they are making a decent income, but they have what appears to be an enthusiastic, very satisfied customer base. When we think of fast food to eat in or to go which is substantial, nutritious, and does not taste like cardboard, we stop at Rudy's. We have never been disappointed.
I admire what they have done. I recommend Rudy's constantly to others. They provide a positive, reasonably priced product in a convenient and pleasant location. They are, to me, a sterling example of what a locally owned business can and should be.
VGH (Video Game Headquarters)
Todd and Tonia Green also had a vision. The result of their vision was at first a small store in the PEM selling mostly game hardware and software. They now are much, much more. They sell a wide variety of the latest game hardware and software. But now they also build computers and computer systems for businesses and home users. They sell computer software and hardware components. They service/repair a great variety of different computer hardware and components at very reasonable prices.
They started out in a small space and moved to a larger one as their business grew. They have recently expanded again. I sit at this moment using a computer which they custom built for me. It is an especially complex computer. They built it for me at a price which was competitive with that of those companies that build high quality PCs. They service what they have sold me. I am very satisfied with all the business that I have transacted with them.
Like Rudy's, VGH provides positive, reasonably priced products and services in a convenient and pleasant location. They are, to me, another sterling example of what a locally owned business can and should be.
Many other examples could be added to this list: Paradise Creek Cycle, Book People, Wild Women Traders, etc. Perhaps other posters will tell about their favorite success stories.
There have sadly been some failures also. Many of these failures, in my opinion, could have been prevented with a little more business acumen, better customer service, and better planning in sync with the needs and temperament of the community.
I have been in the past critical of some of the direction, the lack of certain direction, and the faintness of the efforts of the LEDC. I think things are looking much better there now. Phil Nesbit, our recently departed advocate, for example, recently made some very useful suggestions for areas for the LEDC to pursue. I think there is a new open-mindedness at the LEDC and less of a What's-In-It-For-Me attitude.
There is a whole set of questions about what kind of businesses to attempt to attract to this area and questions about community values. I sincerely hope that we are hostile to some kinds of businesses: private prisons, rendering plants, large open pit mining operations, etc. There are still many kinds of businesses that would be welcomed enthusiastically into the community. Many businesses would love to locate here for the quality of life we now enjoy. [Note the subtext in the preceding sentence.] We need to identify and to recruit/help build those businesses.
There is another set of problems with Moscow community and economic development: the policies, staffing, and the internal cultural of the City of Moscow government that has developed over a long period of years. I hope that the present city council has the insight and courage to start to address those problems and to promote positive change.
Hence Gary, I don't share your pessimism.
Desirable businesses seldom object to reasonable regulation. When I was active in the field of economic development, desirable businesses wanted to move to areas with strong, effective planning and zoning because that in the long run is an important factor in determining and maintaining a city's, county's, and an areas quality of life. Besides prosperity, quality of life considerations are important to many business owners. Desirable relocating business are many times looking to escape from areas whose quality of life has deteriorated due to anemic planning and zoning and ill-planned, under-regulation.
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
deco at moscow.com
----- Original Message -----
From: g. crabtree
To: Bruce and Jean Livingston ; Donovan Arnold ; Vision 2020
Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 9:12 AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Goodnight Goody, Goodnight Ridge
Bruce, Regarding your "third category opponent" argument. Just exactly how does a community attract business development? The current city government couldn't attract iron filings if it were a lodestone nor would it be inclined to from what I can see. I am most certainly not an economic expert but I would think that what attracts development is a ready market and a relatively clear path. How does jamming a stick in the eye of one business, in the form of regulatory road blocks, make another want to try its luck? It would seem to me that our current MCA laden leadership will simply drive all future economic development across the border into Whitman county and the city of Moscow will languish in exactly the same way that, until recently, Pullman has. Until a more "laissez faire" policy becomes the order of the day I fear Moscow's future prospects seem bleak. As a planer or a consumer, sitting around wishing that a Target, a Best Buy, A Costco, or whatever dream store you imagine should take the place of a Super Wal-Mart will magically drop into your community, simply because you badly want it to be so, will not result in your desired outcome. Step out of the way and let 'er rip.The outcome can't be any worse than having our community dry up and blow away from lack of growth.
Regards,
Gary
----- Original Message -----
From: Bruce and Jean Livingston
To: Donovan Arnold ; Vision 2020
Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 6:24 AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Goodnight Goody, Goodnight Ridge
ssez
I imagine someone telling Dave he can't expand Paradise Ridge CDs, and I don't like it. But the obvious analogy to Wal-Mart that you are trying to make is not a clean one, in my opinion, Donovan, though I do agree with some of what you write.
First, I wouldn't be the least bit concerned about people telling me where they thought I should shop. I kept buying grapes, even though the Farm Workers were trying to organize a boycott. I listen to the reasons for not shopping at Wal-Mart, and I agree with some of them, but I still shop at Wal-Mart on rare occasions. I try to patronize other places, and I always try Tri-State or Spence's, first, because I think it is important to patronize local businesses to help assure that more money stays in the community. But I admit it, my razor blades come from Wal-Mart when I don't have a Costco run in the offing.
People may still shop at Wal-Mart, as they could at any other store that is operating here. I don't begrudge others the opportunity to shop at Wal-Mart, and I agree with the free market advocates and the need for business opportunities in our community, and so I agree with the right to expand when it comports with good planning and the law.
But if Dave were in the mood to expand Paradise Ridge, by buying up one of his neighbors on Third Street in the heart of downtown, where retail sales are the dominant and preferred activity according to our zoning code and comprehensive plan, anybody arguing against that expansion would have worthless arguments, and the expansion would be approved. That is where your analogy falls apart, unless you were contemplating plunking the CD store in an area where it was not allowed -- in which case I would likely not support that location despite my affection for the business.
I think that what many fail to recognize is that there are too kinds of Wal-Mart opponents out there in our community right now: those who abhor Wal-Mart and would deny its entry anywhere, and those who question the planning that went into this particular expansion effort. I am on record as being in the latter category. If I can find the reasons that I submitted to the P&Z public hearing, I will forward them to the list.
Briefly, I believe that the proposed extensive commercial motor business designation of the Thompson property is poor planning. Such developments should have occurred between downtown and the state line, as the comprehensive plan dictated, had not the lack of vision by prior councils allowed most of that property along A street to become apartments, contrary to the comprehensive plan. Such a plan would still allow us to shop and draw us through downtown, making it more likely that our lovely downtown is a convenient stop along the way. There is still opportunity for expanded commercial development in the area from behind the mall to the state line, as was proposed at the same council meeting last June when the Thompson project first surfaced. Equally and maybe more important given greater availability, there is a much more obvious existing site than the Thompson property for such extensive commercial developments at the north and south ends of town along Highway 95, a far better traffic corridor. The Thompson property ought, in my opinion, to be primarily residential (as it was designated in the comp plan until a bad planning decision by the prior council last June) and not destroy the ambience of the existing owners to the east and across the street on Ridge. Finally, we ought to be saving the west end of the Thompson property for future expansion of higher paying businesses than a shopping center; we ought to allow Alturas that room to expand, while fostering a pro-business attitude and encouraging businesses that pay at least living wages to locate here.
Now at the risk of being a little windy here, and if you are not already snoozing, there is a third category of Wal-Mart opponent, in my opinion and of which I am also a member, and it relates to limited opportunities for shopping in Moscow, the almighty mantra of "market choice." I mentioned this on the list a while back and it engendered little discussion. I expected to hear a rebuttal from Jeff Harkins who is the most fervent free marketer on the list and my compatriot on the LEDC, and he said he was working on it, but I seem to have missed it.
The "more market choice" category that I just mentioned might at first blush appear to support letting anyone expand and enter, and see what happens, the classic laissez faire free market approach. But what I am contemplating is something different.
It seems to me that we are a very small community with a relatively limited amount of disposable income to spend in (and therefore support) the local stores of all types. Wal-Mart offers one kind of shopping venue, and a Super Wal-Mart would admittedly offer more (if perhaps of the same lower quality) and the most significant addition might be food. There is already a Wal-Mart here. There are four grocery stores, the Co-op on the high end, Winco on the low end (offering similar pricing to Wal-Mart from what I understand) and Rosauer's and Safeway in between. There will soon be a Super Wal-Mart a mere ten miles away in Pullman.
The market choice that I am talking about is more choices for us. Why a Wal-Mart which we already have? Why not something else, so our consumer choices are enhanced more than by the expansion of the existing low-end product line at Wal-Mart? Why not have our city and economic development and business supporters work on attracting an alternative to Wal-Mart, so that our limited choices are not so likely to become primarily Wal-Mart? Why not work harder to attract something more interesting and beneficial to consumer choice? Why let Wal-Mart pre-empt the market and fill it up in the predatory fashion that it appears to be following with two supercenters within 10 miles? Why are we only talking about the choices that the entrepreneurs choose to offer and not the choices that we consumers would like to see? We could work toward educating other entrepreneurs and attracting them instead, and if we put in place rules that applied to all and some chose to play where Wal-Mart didn't, why wouldn't we be better off by having more varied choices?
Perhaps most significant to my "more consumer choices" angle, why let a 200,000 square foot store come in and soak up the available dollars in this very small community and make it less likely for other more varied folks to enter our market? Why isn't 100,000 square feet enough in this little community? A size cap would allow us more choices. I have a good friend on the Chamber Board (who would probably prefer to remain nameless) and he likes to talk about how students often have the most disposable dollars to spend, despite their low income, and that we ought to be able to market Moscow and interest someone other than Wal-Mart to enter our community. If we are to have big boxes in our community, why not be pro-active and get us more real choice for Moscow's consumers, rather than more of the Wal-Mart we already have?
Several of my MCA Board buddies who oppose Wal-Mart and big boxes in general characterize this as the "pig in silk pajamas" argument, because I do believe that large stores ought to be allowed, but play nice and look nice, whereas these others oppose them on general principles. I don't want large stores to just make the "great big sucking noise" Ross Perot once described, though he was talking about jobs going to Mexico and I am talking about more of our dollars going to Bentonville Arkansas. If we are to have out-of-town chains, I would much prefer to have a Costco that pays living wages than a Wal-Mart that does not, even if lots of those dollars spent go to Seattle.
Lest someone misconstrue this, I don't believe we can choose one retailer over the other on the whim of the Council. We need rules that are applied fairly to all retailers and then we need to apply the rules fairly, but I do believe we can encourage better and more varied consumer choices through thoughtful legislating and pro-active and creative economic development efforts.
Putting a halt to an ill-conceived project buys us the time to do things better the next time, to have a good plan in place, and to be ready for things instead of just reacting to the next request on a developer's wish list.
Bruce Livingston
----- Original Message -----
From: g. crabtree
To: Bruce and Jean Livingston ; Donovan Arnold ; Vision 2020
Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 9:12 AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Goodnight Goody, Goodnight Ridge
Bruce, Regarding your "third category opponent" argument. Just exactly how does a community attract business development? The current city government couldn't attract iron filings if it were a lodestone nor would it be inclined to from what I can see. I am most certainly not an economic expert but I would think that what attracts development is a ready market and a relatively clear path. How does jamming a stick in the eye of one business, in the form of regulatory road blocks, make another want to try its luck? It would seem to me that our current MCA laden leadership will simply drive all future economic development across the border into Whitman county and the city of Moscow will languish in exactly the same way that, until recently, Pullman has. Until a more "laissez faire" policy becomes the order of the day I fear Moscow's future prospects seem bleak. As a planer or a consumer, sitting around wishing that a Target, a Best Buy, A Costco, or whatever dream store you imagine should take the place of a Super Wal-Mart will magically drop into your community, simply because you badly want it to be so, will not result in your desired outcome. Step out of the way and let 'er rip.The outcome can't be any worse than having our community dry up and blow away from lack of growth.
Regards,
Gary
----- Original Message -----
From: Bruce and Jean Livingston
To: Donovan Arnold ; Vision 2020
Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 6:24 AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Goodnight Goody, Goodnight Ridge
ssez
I imagine someone telling Dave he can't expand Paradise Ridge CDs, and I don't like it. But the obvious analogy to Wal-Mart that you are trying to make is not a clean one, in my opinion, Donovan, though I do agree with some of what you write.
First, I wouldn't be the least bit concerned about people telling me where they thought I should shop. I kept buying grapes, even though the Farm Workers were trying to organize a boycott. I listen to the reasons for not shopping at Wal-Mart, and I agree with some of them, but I still shop at Wal-Mart on rare occasions. I try to patronize other places, and I always try Tri-State or Spence's, first, because I think it is important to patronize local businesses to help assure that more money stays in the community. But I admit it, my razor blades come from Wal-Mart when I don't have a Costco run in the offing.
People may still shop at Wal-Mart, as they could at any other store that is operating here. I don't begrudge others the opportunity to shop at Wal-Mart, and I agree with the free market advocates and the need for business opportunities in our community, and so I agree with the right to expand when it comports with good planning and the law.
But if Dave were in the mood to expand Paradise Ridge, by buying up one of his neighbors on Third Street in the heart of downtown, where retail sales are the dominant and preferred activity according to our zoning code and comprehensive plan, anybody arguing against that expansion would have worthless arguments, and the expansion would be approved. That is where your analogy falls apart, unless you were contemplating plunking the CD store in an area where it was not allowed -- in which case I would likely not support that location despite my affection for the business.
I think that what many fail to recognize is that there are too kinds of Wal-Mart opponents out there in our community right now: those who abhor Wal-Mart and would deny its entry anywhere, and those who question the planning that went into this particular expansion effort. I am on record as being in the latter category. If I can find the reasons that I submitted to the P&Z public hearing, I will forward them to the list.
Briefly, I believe that the proposed extensive commercial motor business designation of the Thompson property is poor planning. Such developments should have occurred between downtown and the state line, as the comprehensive plan dictated, had not the lack of vision by prior councils allowed most of that property along A street to become apartments, contrary to the comprehensive plan. Such a plan would still allow us to shop and draw us through downtown, making it more likely that our lovely downtown is a convenient stop along the way. There is still opportunity for expanded commercial development in the area from behind the mall to the state line, as was proposed at the same council meeting last June when the Thompson project first surfaced. Equally and maybe more important given greater availability, there is a much more obvious existing site than the Thompson property for such extensive commercial developments at the north and south ends of town along Highway 95, a far better traffic corridor. The Thompson property ought, in my opinion, to be primarily residential (as it was designated in the comp plan until a bad planning decision by the prior council last June) and not destroy the ambience of the existing owners to the east and across the street on Ridge. Finally, we ought to be saving the west end of the Thompson property for future expansion of higher paying businesses than a shopping center; we ought to allow Alturas that room to expand, while fostering a pro-business attitude and encouraging businesses that pay at least living wages to locate here.
Now at the risk of being a little windy here, and if you are not already snoozing, there is a third category of Wal-Mart opponent, in my opinion and of which I am also a member, and it relates to limited opportunities for shopping in Moscow, the almighty mantra of "market choice." I mentioned this on the list a while back and it engendered little discussion. I expected to hear a rebuttal from Jeff Harkins who is the most fervent free marketer on the list and my compatriot on the LEDC, and he said he was working on it, but I seem to have missed it.
The "more market choice" category that I just mentioned might at first blush appear to support letting anyone expand and enter, and see what happens, the classic laissez faire free market approach. But what I am contemplating is something different.
It seems to me that we are a very small community with a relatively limited amount of disposable income to spend in (and therefore support) the local stores of all types. Wal-Mart offers one kind of shopping venue, and a Super Wal-Mart would admittedly offer more (if perhaps of the same lower quality) and the most significant addition might be food. There is already a Wal-Mart here. There are four grocery stores, the Co-op on the high end, Winco on the low end (offering similar pricing to Wal-Mart from what I understand) and Rosauer's and Safeway in between. There will soon be a Super Wal-Mart a mere ten miles away in Pullman.
The market choice that I am talking about is more choices for us. Why a Wal-Mart which we already have? Why not something else, so our consumer choices are enhanced more than by the expansion of the existing low-end product line at Wal-Mart? Why not have our city and economic development and business supporters work on attracting an alternative to Wal-Mart, so that our limited choices are not so likely to become primarily Wal-Mart? Why not work harder to attract something more interesting and beneficial to consumer choice? Why let Wal-Mart pre-empt the market and fill it up in the predatory fashion that it appears to be following with two supercenters within 10 miles? Why are we only talking about the choices that the entrepreneurs choose to offer and not the choices that we consumers would like to see? We could work toward educating other entrepreneurs and attracting them instead, and if we put in place rules that applied to all and some chose to play where Wal-Mart didn't, why wouldn't we be better off by having more varied choices?
Perhaps most significant to my "more consumer choices" angle, why let a 200,000 square foot store come in and soak up the available dollars in this very small community and make it less likely for other more varied folks to enter our market? Why isn't 100,000 square feet enough in this little community? A size cap would allow us more choices. I have a good friend on the Chamber Board (who would probably prefer to remain nameless) and he likes to talk about how students often have the most disposable dollars to spend, despite their low income, and that we ought to be able to market Moscow and interest someone other than Wal-Mart to enter our community. If we are to have big boxes in our community, why not be pro-active and get us more real choice for Moscow's consumers, rather than more of the Wal-Mart we already have?
Several of my MCA Board buddies who oppose Wal-Mart and big boxes in general characterize this as the "pig in silk pajamas" argument, because I do believe that large stores ought to be allowed, but play nice and look nice, whereas these others oppose them on general principles. I don't want large stores to just make the "great big sucking noise" Ross Perot once described, though he was talking about jobs going to Mexico and I am talking about more of our dollars going to Bentonville Arkansas. If we are to have out-of-town chains, I would much prefer to have a Costco that pays living wages than a Wal-Mart that does not, even if lots of those dollars spent go to Seattle.
Lest someone misconstrue this, I don't believe we can choose one retailer over the other on the whim of the Council. We need rules that are applied fairly to all retailers and then we need to apply the rules fairly, but I do believe we can encourage better and more varied consumer choices through thoughtful legislating and pro-active and creative economic development efforts.
Putting a halt to an ill-conceived project buys us the time to do things better the next time, to have a good plan in place, and to be ready for things instead of just reacting to the next request on a developer's wish list.
Bruce Livingston
----- Original Message -----
From: Donovan Arnold
To: Bruce and Jean Livingston ; Vision 2020
Sent: Friday, March 03, 2006 11:08 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Goodnight Goody, Goodnight Ridge
"I am flabbergasted to hear Sam Goody compared favorably by anyone to
Paradise Ridge. I find that Paradise Ridge is extremely competitive
price-wise with Hasting's, not to mention Sam Goody."-Bruce Livingston
Apparently, enough people are in agreement with you, since SM is going out of business and Paradise Ridge is still here. Isn't free enterprise great?
Now image Bruce, is someone wanted to stop Paradise Ridge from expanding to provide you with better products and service but others that did not shop there were disagreement with you, opposed the expansion, and telling you to go to Sam Goody instead.
_DJA
Bruce and Jean Livingston <jeanlivingston at turbonet.com> wrote:
I am flabbergasted to hear Sam Goody compared favorably by anyone to
Paradise Ridge. I find that Paradise Ridge is extremely competitive
price-wise with Hasting's, not to mention Sam Goody. And the one thing that
you get from Paradise Ridge that you do not get anywhere else, at least to
the level that you receive from Dave at Paradise Ridge, is SERVICE. If he
doesn't have it, he finds it, and the ordering process with Paradise Ridge
is far easier than any other store in town.
Bruce Livingston
----- Original Message -----
From: "Art Deco"
To: "Vision 2020"
Sent: Friday, March 03, 2006 11:02 AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Goodnight Goody, Goodnight Ridge
> Music Lovers, Economists, and Absolute Monists,
>
> The following words appeared in the letter below written by Jay Feldman
> and
> posted by Tom Hansen:
>
> "Ross tells us there is just such a store in Moscow, Paradise Ridge
> Records,
> but he is unwilling to patronize it because its prices are higher than the
> defunct Goody."
>
> I believe the assumption in this quote is wrong. My experience has been
> that Sam Goody had the highest CD prices on the Palouse by a considerable
> margin except for advertised specials, some of the prices of these
> specials
> were still higher than Paradise Ridge CDs' prices.
>
> For example, I recently bought Moonlight Serenade by Carly Simon (a
> collection of really old tunes for really old people like myself, done
> quite
> tastefully). The album comes with a disc which is a CD on one side and a
> DVD on the other. It was priced at $19.98 at Sam Goody and $16.98
> elsewhere. When I shopped at Paradise Ridge CDs, I found their prices
> competitive -- many were below list. Discussions with others lead me to
> believe that they found prices highest by far at Sam Goody also.
>
> Sam Goody at the PEM is closing in part because of corporate problems,
> part
> of which may be related to their pricing strategies. The local Sam Goody
> also had other problems, some not fit for discussion on this list.
>
>
> For those keeping track:
>
> There are seven, soon to be eight vacancies at the PEM:
>
> 1. Army Recruiters
> 2. Marine Recruiters
> 3. Optometrist Office
> 4. Chocolaut
> 5. Flower Shop
> 6. Subway
> 7. Market Place Gifts
> 8. Sam Goody
>
> There are persistent rumors that one quite large retailer is seriously
> considering leaving.
>
> Questions:
>
> 1. Where is the PEM in its life cycle?
> 2. Did the redecoration at the PEM with the oodles of light fixtures
> that
> makes one think that they are in the midst of an extensive, well organized
> invasion of flying saucers help or hinder the effort to attract more
> customers?
> 3. Did the stinginess/anti-community attitude of the PEM management in
> eliminating the bus stop help or hinder the volume of business?
> 4. If the vacancies at the PEM are an indication in some way of
> problems
> of some kind with the local economy, how does this reflect on plans for
> the
> big jesus shopping mall planned for just over the state line?
> 5. Does the PEM vacancy rate have anything to do with the WalMart or
> the
> two proposed WalMart Super Centers?
> 6. What, if anything, could the PEM management do to increase the
> general
> volume of business?
>
> Of course, question 3 above is quite biasly stated; however, I think some
> community reflection on these questions would be helpful in examining and
> shaping some community values.
>
>
> Quite sadly, a downtown store which we patronized very happily, is soon to
> go out of business. Although they carried a really excellent line of
> products, gave excellent customer service, were very product
> knowledgeable,
> and had an extremely liberal return policy, they are being squeezed by the
> internet. This is what happens: People come in and look at the
> merchandise, get detailed information, ask technical questions, examine
> closely /try on the products, then they order the products over the
> internet.
>
> For many items we buy locally, we do just the opposite. We research using
> the internet, then buy or special order the products locally. Local
> merchants contribute and support many diverse community activities --
> internet etailers do not. Etailers generally do not collect Idaho sales
> tax
> either.
>
> Are any list members are concerned about the health of several local
> business who face heavy competition from the internet?
>
>
> Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
> deco at moscow.com
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tom Hansen"
> To: "Moscow Vision 2020"
> Sent: Friday, March 03, 2006 6:57 AM
> Subject: [Vision2020] Goodnight Goody, Goodnight Ridge
>
>
>> >From today's (March 3, 2006) UI Argonaut with a special thanks to Jay
>> Feldman.
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Goodnight Goody, goodnight Ridge
>>
>> Dear Editor,
>>
>> Am I the only one that noticed the irony in the placement of the column
>> "Death of a pop supercenter" next to the anti-Superwalmart editorial?
>> The writer, Jon Ross, laments that Sam Goody is going out of business
>> nationwide (including Moscow) while he dreams of an indie-esque record
>> store
>> in Moscow to replace it. Oddly though, Ross tells us there is just such a
>> store in Moscow, Paradise Ridge Records, but he is unwilling to patronize
>> it
>> because its prices are higher than the defunct Goody.
>>
>> Well, as consumers, we can't have it both ways. We can't have quality
>> independent stores that pay more into the local tax base, offer
>> personalized
>> service, a greater selection, a professional staff that is paid a living
>> wage, along with, as the writer expects, "cheap music." Yet, we expect to
>> because Wal-Mart has responded to our deep desire for the lowest price by
>> setting us on a race to the bottom where every store must match its
>> prices
>> regardless of what that store might offer its patrons and its community.
>>
>> Unfortunately, in America, price has become the sole factor in deciding
>> which stores we frequent. As the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart can
>> offer the lowest prices possible but at a high cost to communities like
>> Moscow. Shoppers have come to assume the Wal-Mart price is the proper
>> market
>> price and the Wal-Mart price thus is the price we should expect to pay.
>> Because of such a mentality, shoppers - including Ross, at his own
>> admission
>> - will not pay more than this false standard. As a result, when forced to
>> compete with a Super Wal-Mart, small independent stores, like many in
>> Moscow, go out of business and small towns are left with the impersonal,
>> poor selection, tax-base draining, Super Wal-Marts, just the position
>> Ross
>> laments.
>>
>> Certainly paying a bit extra is difficult for many, and luckily we have
>> the
>> independent chain WinCo to provide us with groceries that beat any Super
>> Wal-Mart's prices and an existing Wal-Mart for those who wish to shop
>> there.
>> What we don't need is a Wal-Mart Supercenter that will reinforce this
>> "lowest price at any cost" mentality.
>>
>> Ross laments not having a quality, all-music store in Moscow, when in
>> fact
>> we do have one. Ross needs to do what so many of us need to do, overcome
>> our
>> addiction to low price and support the local businesses whose tax
>> revenues
>> support us.
>>
>> Jay P. Feldman
>> Department of philosophy
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Seeya round town, Moscow.
>>
>> Tom Hansen
>> Moscow, Idaho
>>
>>
>> **************************************************************
>>
>> "A bad cause will ever be supported by bad means and bad men."
>>
>> - Thomas Paine (English Writer, 1737-1809)
>>
>> **************************************************************
>>
>>
>>
>> _____________________________________________________
>> List services made available by First Step Internet,
>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>> http://www.fsr.net
>> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>> ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
>>
>>
>
> _____________________________________________________
> List services made available by First Step Internet, serving the
> communities of the Palouse since 1994. http://www.fsr.net
> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
_____________________________________________________
List services made available by First Step Internet,
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
http://www.fsr.net
mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------
_____________________________________________________
List services made available by First Step Internet,
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
http://www.fsr.net
mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
_____________________________________________________
List services made available by First Step Internet,
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
http://www.fsr.net
mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
_____________________________________________________
List services made available by First Step Internet,
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
http://www.fsr.net
mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_____________________________________________________
List services made available by First Step Internet,
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
http://www.fsr.net
mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
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