Wizard Marks wrote: Perhaps, one would have to have been in Mr. Ortega's stores to experience the full effect of what the Mpls. Inspections Dept.'s issues with Mr. Ortega were. (snip)It smelled bad the one time I was in there--sour milk, meat past its sell-by date.
David Piehl writes: I was in Selwyn's stores more than once, and ate prepared food with some other folks at the 4th and Lake store - I enjoyed it very much! I can't speak to his other locations, though, as I only know the 4th & Lake store. Wizard wrote: Other shoppers reported (1) seeing mice in the food and observing mouse droppings; (2) being treated really shabbily while trying to buy from Mr. Ortega--this from a Spanish speaker; (3) seeing meat handled in such a way as to make buying it a dubious idea for one's health. David writes: I don't know who saw what, but what I personally saw was on par with the average major grocery chain. Grocery stores are routinely cited for product handling issues, etc. From my perspective, Selwyn's store's were at least as well operated as the SuperValue Express at Nicollet & Lake, if not better. I do agree that the buildings could have been more attractive on the exterior, but I recognize and thank Selwyn for being one of the first entrepreneurs to try to do business on Lake Street in the post Ferris Alexander days. Selwyn's investment helped trigger additional investment by the Latino community, which I believe is the single most important driver in the stabilization of East Lake Street. Selwyn had alot to contend with - Urban Ventures continually trying to get his property, city inspections and related extortion issues, and retribution from Basim Sabri, who blames Selwyn for bringing FBI involvement to local business and political transactions. I've always wondered what Selwyn's stores might have looked like had he not had all these exterraneous "battles" to fight, and could have focused more on his businesses. Many STRIDE members feel that the 35W Access Expansion Project is a veiled attempt to make the area ripe for a pre-gentrification land grab - I think it is very sad if Selwyn is the first to flee the Access Expansion Project. I plan on contacting Selwyn for additional information, and will report back if he's comfortable with the idea. David Piehl Central __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More http://faith.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
