[Vision2020] Safe Lefty's

[Bev Bafus]

This makes me think about a conversation my husband and I had the other day.
Many years ago, we decided that we would never work in retail, at least
until our kids were grown.  We grew up in retail, our parents both had
mom-and-pop type retail establishments.  (for those of you who go WAAAYYY
back... Bafus Jewelers in Moscow, and Discount Vacuum in Lewiston)

We grew up with parents who worked CONSTANTLY, and never got a day off.  The
very nature of mom-and-pop style retail does not allow for much free time.
But that was a different day and age, and those type of businesses are few
and far between now.

Our children work in retail.  They work for large corporate concerns, and
scheduling is easier with a larger staff.  Even the owners and managers have
days off.  (although managers are often on call - our daughter is).

Today, for a local, non-national retail firm to survive, it has to be
extremely creative.  A local firm has to create their own advertisement,
their own product base, and they must "re-invent the wheel" daily.  Many
"local" business people find it easier to buy into a franchise to have help
with those items.  I have a lot of respect for mom-and-pop type businesses
that survive today.

As these type of businesses fade away, being replaced by cookie cutter
retail chains, something in our national make-up is lost that can never been
recaptured.

The point of my rant?  Nothing really.  Just a bit of
nostalgia.................

Thanks
Bev



 -----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]On
Behalf Of Angie Doe
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 6:30 AM
To: Vision 2020
Subject: [Vision2020] Safe Lefty's




       Cut and Pasted in its entirety from an online bulletin.

        WHAT? Protest. But the weird, uncommon, positive type.

        "Save Lefty's"

        WHERE? Palouse Mall Enterance/Lefty's

        WHEN? May 2nd, 5pm

        Come, carry a sign for 5 minutes.

        Get a free shake!
        ===============================

        The details:

        By now the word is officially out. The Lefty restaurant located in
the Palouse Mall, the home of the vandalizer (a now famous burger eating
challenge) and the best shake on the Palouse for many years is being forced
to close its doors in the mall...

        The owners of Lefty's originally moved to the area with the vision
of running a small town restaurant. They bought Eric's Cafe and changed the
name to Lefty's. Over the years they have done huge amounts of renovations,
repainting, adding lighting, and just recently they added booths to make the
environment even cozier.

        Now the Palouse Mall Corporation seems more interested in large
corporations than small local businesses. This seems to have in part been
also responsible for the closure of other small shops, like the flower shop,
S&P Hobbies, etc. The sad thing is that it is the small local places that
are really a part of culture.

        The word on the street is that the mall plans to put in some large
corporate pizza joint.

        Exactly what we need more of in our college town *weary smile*

        In talking to the owner, Ken, he really wants to keep the restaurant
going… and he is looking for another location, but he needs to raise some
money to help in that transition.

        There are two ways that you can help out:

        Come to the Protest. There will be free shakes provided to everyone
who participates. There will be fun signs, etc. So come and have a good
time. The message of this is to be a positive message of helping save the
restaurant as a Moscow icon. So, not down with the mall or anything like
that. Instead, come and have a good time.

        Buy a Raffle ticket: In an effort to raise some money to help with
the search and transition to a new place, Ken is hosting a raffle contest.

        The raffle tickets will cost $10 each, and the prizes are as
follows:

        5 Grand prizes
        >> 1 year of free food, every day at the new Lefty's.

        10 Second place prizes:
        >> 1 year of free food, once a week at the new Lefty's

        20 3rd Place Prizes:
        >> $25 gift certificates.

        The raffle tickets can be purchased either in the Lefty's store or
in the next couple of days, they will be available for purchase via Paypal
at which point the link will be posted.

        In the unfortunate event that Lefty's is unable to find a new
location, the money will be given to the Community Action Partnership,
Christmas for Kids, or some similar charity.


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