Friday, August 3, 2007

When it was announced that Super Burrito had been kicked out of their building, I wondered what kind of level of outrage or concern there would be. I suspected crocedile tears and some knowing nods, but not much more than that.

After all, while very important to Super Burrito, it's at worse an inconvenience to the rest of us. Maybe as an indicater of the changes downtown, it's resonates a bit, but really what BEM said on the Bubble2 blog says it all:

"About Super Burrito, yeah, that's too bad.

"I've been in Bend since I was a littl'un, so I don't really get too hung up on whether a store gets its lease pulled or moves or what have you."

Feel the emotion.

I understand. I'm pretty much the same way. I never ate at Super Burrito, my tastes are just too bland, and the look they gave me when I asked for ketchup sent me scurrying out the door never to return. I have always marveled at the steady stream of customers going in and out of the place. But, as BEM says, places come and places go.

Aside from my family, Pegasus is probably the most important thing in my life. At the very trough of the baseball card bust, back in 1992 or so, I realized I was on my own, to succeed or fail. No matter how many compliments we had gotten over the years, no matter how important people said we were, I knew that most of the public would shrug, say, "That's too bad." and move on. Heck, if all the people who told me after I left Redmond that they wish was still there had actually BEEN customers, I never would've left!

People lose jobs all the time, and this isn't all that different. What happens when someone tells you they lost their job? You feel a little sympathy, you might avert your gaze in embarrassment for a moment, then you wonder what happened and if you're old and experienced enough you realize it could be just about anything, and then you move on. Why should the success or failure of business be any different?

One of the comments about my saying that there had been turnover in the St. Clair building had me flummuxed. "What does that have to do with the landlord?"

Oh, I don't know, maybe because the landlord sets the rent, creates the atmosphere in which you survive or don't survive?

On the other hand, the question is legit. Businesses come and go all the time, always have.

3 comments:

Bend Economy Man said...

I didn't mean to sound cold.

When I was a kid, I used to go to Flanagan's and I loved it. Then it turned into Annie's Cafe of Yesterday, a '50s-themed joint. Then I think it was something else, then Baja Norte, now Baja Norte's gone.

Same with the westside Longboard Louie's location. Peetsa Peddler, then something else, then Bettie's, then something else, then Longboard Louie's.

When I was a kid the store to the right of the Wall Street Breezeway was Wetle's Shoes, where my mom used to take me to get my saltwater sandals. Then it was the Mogul Mouse ski store. Then it was something else, now it's an artisans' mall.

What's now Newport Avenue Market was Green Mindt, then Food Towne, then Food Value, then something else, then Newport Avenue Market. I'm sure if NAM ever closes people will freak out, but it's just one of the many tenants that's been there over the years. It'll probably always be a supermarket of one kind or another.

And don't get me started on the malls!

I think the outrage about places dying comes more from people who've come here and figured all the places they like to go to are more-or-less permanent fixtures on the landscape. But, I mean, aside from Pegasus of course, in Bend there's never been such a thing as a "sacred cow" establishment. Places come and places go, as you said. Please don't consider me an a-hole for not being sentimental!

Duncan McGeary said...

That's just it. I don't think you're any different from anyone else....

Duncan McGeary said...

I mean, my thinking of opening a second location isn't a political statement, or a disgust with downtown, it's a simple business decision.

Even these 30 days to get out notices, as outrageous as they sound, mean that the tenants were going month to month on leases. Not a safe position, no matter who you are.

Or some of the others forced out, it turns out they were paying some pretty cheap rents up to now.

I hope this doesn't come back to bite me -- but it's my job to find a secure lease.