Ray, I'm going to have to jump in and disagree with you. I was on CPN's
board twice during the days CPN was co-owner of The Firehouse Market, and I
can tell you that it was never truly sucessful. It went through a series of
merchants and ownership structures, and the reason for those changes was
because merchants couldn't make a go of it. Linford Martin just reached the
end of his rope and shut it down to try a different business model.
If you take the two statements you cite literally ("in 2004 ucd and the inky
and cpn's website were saying how linford's firehouse was such a success..."
and "...and then a year later, july 2005, linford martin asked the
firehouse vendors to vacate by november 2005") there is a logical
inconsistency: that is, that on the one hand the Firehouse businesses were
sucessful, and on the other, that Linford Martin asked the successful
businesses to vacate the following year.
The statement that the Firehouse was sucessful came from UCD, which had a
vested interest in promoting the Firehouse as a successful venture, and
themselves as cutting-edge business brokers. That was nothing more than
spin. The fact that they said that the Firehouse was successful cannot be
taken to mean that the Firehouse was actually successful. No one was going
to tell the truth in a press release and say "What the hell was I thinking
putting a business on Baltimore Avenue???!!! This is tanking--I'm going to
lose my shirt!!! Aaaahhhhh!!!!!" They would have said what you quoted:
that everything was fine, all is well, UCD works wonders, etc, and hope for
the best.
The second statement you quoted, that Linford asked for the remaining
vendors to leave, supports the fact that the Firehouse venture was not
successful. He asked people to leave because it wasn't working. It's very
unlikely that any rational businessperson would ask thriving businesses to
leave in the hope that some new venture would eventually deliver the
success that he's already enjoying.
Plus, if Rosemarie Certo didn't sign anything with Linford Martin until
April, 2006, he would have evicted all of his "successful" tenants in
November 2005 on the strength of an unenforcible promise from Certo. Between
November and April he wouldn't have gotten any rent, and meanwhile, she
could have bagged the idea to move there. She could have told him to go
pound sand, and there wouldn't have been anything he could have done about
it.
From: UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: University City List <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Considering the Facts [Was: Re: [UC] Re: **Dock St
Rumor**...]
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:09:19 -0400
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Actually, if you want to carry that a bit further, a very significant
business had left the Firehouse Market by the
time Linford Martin became its owner - the very local (47th
& Baltimore) Bronson & Wolfe Meats had left, and the former
Firehouse owner could not find a meat seller with enough
expertise and capital to replace B&W. Several tries were
made by both the former and current building owners, but the
later meat businesses were not successful - nor were their
owners local, I believe!
Without a good meat store, the place was much less
successful as a destination where one could buy the
ingredients for a meal. If a shopper couldn't buy the main
course there, s/he had to go elsewhere, and while s/he was
elsewhere, it made sense to buy vegetables, coffee & tea,
baked goods, etc. in the other location. This spelled death
for the remaining merchants' businesses.
that's not what ucd and the inky and cpn's website were saying, melani.
in 2004 ucd and the inky and cpn's website were saying how linford's
firehouse was such a success, such a part of ucd's efforts on baltimore
avenue. that was the same year ucd's gail fisher was hired as baltimore
ave's corridor manager.
and then a year later, july 2005, linford martin asked the firehouse
vendors to vacate by november 2005. rosemarie certo, dock street owner,
sold her pizza rustica in october 2005 to go back into the microbrew beer
business. in april 2006 dock street signed on with the firehouse.
the installation of dock street at the firehouse meant that local vendors
first had to move elsewhere.
..................
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
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