Now you can download silence
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Another thing I’ve noticed is our Lowe’s is virtually complete and ready to open. In fact, if you read further down in this column, I have an official opening date for you. But what I’m most impressed with is how fast crews demolished the old Wal-Mart, hauled away tons of rubble, and slapped up a brand new Lowe’s.
It’s taken me longer to do a load of laundry than it has for those guys to build a shopping center. I’ve spent more time grocery shopping than those guys spent constructing Lowe’s. Well, to be technically correct, I should say my Cupcake has spent more time doing laundry and grocery shopping.
I think we ought to hire those Lowe’s guys to do everything. They should build our new jail. They should pave our streets. They should be appointed to the Warren County Commission as fast as they work. In fact, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get those guys running a paper route.
But that’s enough about Lowe’s because what I really wanted to talk about today is the phenomenon of downloading music from the Internet. Sure, it seems like everybody does it, but what is extremely curious is why folks have tried to download a recently released song by the band Sonic Youth called “Silence.”
Like its title suggests, the song “Silence” is a 63-second cut that’s nothing but silence. If you ask me, that’s just a cheap way for the band to add another “song” to their album.
Of course the band defends “Silence” by saying the usual garbage about artistic creativity and musical genius, but how is 63 seconds of dead air anything but ridiculous? What’s really silly is folks are actually downloading “Silence” from Apple’s iTunes online store and paying 99 cents for it.
I have to ask are we really becoming so technologically advanced we have to download a song to get silence? I remember in the good ole days, if you wanted silence you could just sit there and stare at the wall. Now we have to pay for it!
However, I should say Sonic Youth’s song is a product which hasn’t gone over well in the customer satisfaction department. Fans have been so upset with “Silence” that the band has pulled it from the iTunes store. A Sonic Youth spokesman later said “Silence” would no longer be available as a single and must be purchased as part of the CD.
Taking a page from Sonic Youth’s book, I might just do an experiment showing my “artistic genius” for next week’s column. Next week’s Business Pulse will be nothing but a blank page. If I want to get really creative, I could change the name to Silent Pulse and publish a blank page every Sunday.
Wow! What a powerful statement. It would be almost as powerful as the statement which would be made by Standard upper management when they showed me the door.
What will happen to Bi-Lo?
If you just happened to be wondering about Bi-Lo’s future in McMinnville, and were hoping I’d address just such a topic in today’s column, your wish has come true. And you didn’t even need to rub a magic lamp and hope for a genie to appear.
I’ve been hearing two different Bi-Lo rumors, both of them not really true. Rumor No. 1 – Bi-Lo has gone bankrupt and is closing its doors and leaving McMinnville. Rumor No. 2 – Bi-Lo has been bought by Publix.
Those are the rumors. Now here’s the truth. Our Bi-Lo is for sale. In fact, all 292 Bi-Lo stores in Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina are for sale.
The decision to sell Bi-Lo was made by its parent company, Ahold, which is based out of The Netherlands. In announcing Bi-Lo is for sale, Ahold officials said the move is intended “to optimize its portfolio and to strengthen its financial position by reducing debt.”
Ahold said it hopes to have Bi-Lo sold by the end of 2004. I talked with a Bi-Lo regional representative, Curtis Johnson, about our local Bi-Lo and he had a good bit of information to give me Friday morning. Curtis works out of Chattanooga and has been to our store.
“It’s certainly no secret the company is being sold,” said Curtis. “But I don’t have a crystal ball and we don’t even know who the buyer is at this point. I can tell you though that this industry is a rumor mill and I’ve been in this business for 30 years.”
Curtis said there has been no shortage of interest in the Bi-Lo chain, which employs 27,000 people, and Publix could in fact emerge as the new owner. But that’s a long way from being determined. There’s so much financial information involved, Curtis said it would likely take accountants months to examine all the books before any sale is finalized.
Curtis said there’s really no chance the grocery store would be closed and it could very well continue operating under the Bi-Lo name. I’d have to say I’m rooting for Publix at this point. Anyone who has ever shopped at a Publix knows they are top-notch stores – and Publix also knows the value of advertising in the newspaper. That’s a big plus for me.
Charter Communications finds a new home
For the last 10 years, the cable office has been located on the outskirts of McMinnville on S. Chancery Street. That has been somewhat of an inconvenience.
Now cable customers won’t have so far to travel to reach Charter Communications, which moved to the recently renovated office space atop the bowling alley Monday.
“We’ve been looking for a good location in the center of town for some time,” said Charter technical supervisor Ronnie Craig. “I’d say a good percentage of our customers are right here on the bypass at some point during the month.
“We wanted to jump on this location right away. When you tell people you’re on top of the bowling alley, everybody knows where you’re talking about.”
Charter Communications is the first business to locate in the new offices created by property owners Doug and Mike Patrick. They have done a quality job making the building look nice and it will also have a new name – Garden City Plaza.
There are several large offices available to rent, in addition to a neat setup the Patricks are offering to local barbers and beauticians. They have constructed 13 individual shops so stylists can work for themselves instead of having to work for someone else’s salon.
From talking to construction foreman Marvin Byars, known far and wide for his skill with a hammer, I understand three of the mini salons have already been rented but I couldn’t get any names. Naturally I wanted to know who is leaving their current salon and going out on their own, but Marvin wouldn’t budge.
Getting Charter in the new office complex is a major plus, if for no other reason than the foot traffic. In my 20 minutes out there, I couldn’t believe the number of cable customers coming and going.
Lowe’s announces its grand opening
Business Pulse has learned Lowe’s will open its doors to the public at its McMinnville location on Friday, March 19 with official grand opening festivities March 24. For those counting at home, that’s 12 days away.
The new Lowe’s has 94,000 square feet of retail space with an adjacent garden center. Lowe’s officials estimate the new store is a $12.5 million investment.
That’s all folks
Remember, this column is here to help inform the readers of Warren County about the latest business news. If I can assist you in any way possible, don’t hesitate to call 473-2191.