Would you like fries with that water tower?
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The news came Friday when I was reading a story in my all-time favorite publication, the Southern Standard. It was a story about Main Street Live and the conclusion of another successful concert season.
It was the end of the story, the very last sentence, that caught my attention concerning the 2008 concert series. It read, ‘Suggestions for a band or a type of music can be made by contacting Main Street McMinnville at 506-5335 ‘
By now many of you may know what I’m thinking. And yes, it is about AC/DC. That’s why I’ve decided to make this official request for 2008 Main Street Live.
I say let’s breathe a little life into this concert series. Here is my official request letter:
While the powers that be have a rich history of ignoring my suggestions, like AC/DC, perhaps they should change their course. If you recall, when there was discussion about painting the downtown water tower, I suggested the city paint it to look like a double cheeseburger.
This unique idea was quickly dismissed and I must admit my feelings are still a little bit hurt. Instead, we were treated to a water tower so plain and so boring it adds nothing to the city.
That brings me to the water tower in Collinsville, Ill., which is affectionately known as the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle. This water tower is a popular tourist attraction and it even has its own fan club. As far as I can tell, McMinnville’s water tower has no fans and I sure wouldn’t drive to see it.
In case you’re wondering, the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle is 170 feet tall and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
With a wedding anniversary later this month, I asked Cupcake if she would like to take a romantic trip to this historic site. That’s when I learned a giant bottle of catsup is not considered romantic. When I asked about an anniversary trip to the largest jar of mayonnaise, I was informed condiments, as a rule, are not romantic. Live and learn.
So what will the town of Collinsville do for an encore? It’s an attempt at the world’s largest catsup packet.
To try to set this world record, Collinsville partnered with Heinz to fill an 8-foot-tall, 4-foot-wide plastic pouch with 1,500 pounds of catsup. Now if Collinsville just comes up with the world’s largest order of fries we’ll be in business.
OK, so that’s enough foolishness for today. Here’s the business news.
At last, we have a selling price
It’s been speculated for weeks about what Clayton Homes would ask for its prime property on Smithville Highway across from Sonic and Bi-Lo. Personally, I thought the property would list in the $1.5 million range and drop down to an eventual selling price of around $1.2 million.
That was just my guess. And it was high.
A Clayton Homes official called me Friday afternoon to tell me the company has settled on an asking price. And that price is $950,000 for the 2.9-acre lot.
I’m no real estate developer but that seems like a fairly reasonable price. You won’t find a better location in McMinnville. I guess all that’s left is for the bidding to begin.
Morton’s Horticulture closes retail location
For over 20 years, Ernest Morton has operated a retail business on Smithville Highway selling a variety of nursery stock, shrubs and flowers.
But Ernest has decided to dig up his retail business and move it to his farm which is out Yager Road. That means the longtime location of Morton’s Horticulture is now for rent.
‘It’s a great place,’ said Ernest. ‘And it’s so big I’d say it would be good for any type of business. What we’re doing now is moving the rest of our plants out to our farm and we’re going to clean this place up so we can rent it.’
Ernest said with his farm so far out of town, he is mainly going to concentrate on the wholesale end of the nursery business. He says he doesn’t see much point in typing up such a valuable piece of property for what is mainly a seasonable business.
‘For three months out of the year, this is great,’ said Ernest. ‘But then you’re stuck the rest of the time.’
Ernest has 17 acres in all at that spot, although some of it is separated by a stream. He still has 13 greenhouses along one side of the property which he says can stay or go.
As for selling the land, Ernest said that’s not his main priority, although it is an option.
‘I’m not ready to get rid of the land unless someone wants to offer me a whole bunch of money,’ said Ernest. ‘There’s not much land to be bought and I’d say this is probably worth three-quarters of a million dollars. It’s big enough for anything.’
Ernest has owned the property since 1955 when he started planting watermelons on it. Now at age 76, he’s ready to consolidate. Anyone interested in renting the property can call 473-2922. Anyone who wants to give Ernest a whole bunch of money to buy the property can also call that number.
One store coming, one going on Main Street
Stephanie Edens is in the process of closing her popular photography studio and moving the business to Murfreesboro. While Stephanie hasn’t been on Main Street long, she quickly developed a solid customer base and, oddly enough, that is part of the reason she’s leaving.
‘Business exploded. It was too good,’ said Stephanie. ‘I’m working every night of the week and that’s not good with a family. We live in Woodbury and my husband works in Murfreesboro. I’ve found out it’s tough to be spread out over three counties.’
The news is bittersweet. It’s great to hear of a Main Street success story, but it’s sad to see such a success leave town. Stephanie doesn’t have a set timetable on when she’s going to leave. She said it will all depend on when her house sells.
She added that she’s really enjoyed her time on Main Street.
‘I love it and I’m amazed more people don’t want to open up down here,’ said Stephanie.
While Stephanie is going, I’m pleased to report there is another business coming to downtown in the spot formerly occupied by Antiques on Main. It’s a book and used record store operated by Rock Island resident John Howlitt.
I had the opportunity to look through John’s inventory a few weeks ago and he has one mean collection of albums and books. For folks like me who still listen to records and remember the old days (whether they were good or not), a used record store will be a nice addition to McMinnville.
I’ll provide more information on this new store as it becomes available.
Speaking of Main Street, the survey says ‘
Main Street McMinnville recently completed its first ever downtown business survey and received responses from 33 businesses.
As I see it, the most important part of this survey is to determine what business owners like and dislike about downtown. Then the emphasis shifts on taking action to bring positive change and not just sitting on survey results. That accomplishes nothing.
‘We really want to find ways of getting people downtown, to remind people downtown is still a destination,’ said Main Street McMinnville member Shane Brock. ‘Then we need to get people to walk from the sidewalk through business doors.’
Looking over the survey results, here are some figures I found noteworthy:
‘ 27 of the 33 business owners are either satisfied or very satisfied with their present location.
‘ Monday before 11 a.m. and Friday after 2 p.m. are the busiest times of the week.
‘ An estimated 84 percent of downtown customers are from Warren County.
‘ Business owners rank a restaurant, theater and men’s clothing store as the three top businesses they would like to see locate downtown. A shoe store and book store also received considerable votes.
‘ 19 business owners said their customer service is what makes them stand out from their competition.
So what do downtown business operators have to say about the state of Main Street? At Antiques and the Arts, co-owner George Bull says downtown needs to attract more visitors.
‘I think we need billboards on I-24 in Manchester and I-40 in Cookeville saying ‘Historic downtown McMinnville ‘ Got to see it,’ said Bull. ‘Unless something happens to get more traffic in here, the city is going to be presiding over a ghost town.’
George says he enjoys Main Street and said it just wouldn’t be the same if his business was located in a shopping center away from downtown.
However, he sees an abundance of empty buildings and believes property owners are asking too much to rent their buildings or asking too high a selling price to buy dilapidated property.
‘The buildings are overpriced for their condition,’ said George. ‘There are buildings with bad roofs, bad floors, and they’re not getting any better. And so many buildings are in the hands of out-of-town investors just looking to make a buck.’
The biggest problem I see with downtown is people are sitting on empty buildings and making no effort to do anything with them. The monstrous Fraley’s building that has been empty for years is the most glaring example of this.
City officials need to encourage and/or pressure a number of property owners to do something with their buildings, or sell them at a reasonable profit. Asking three times what a building is worth is not reasonable.
The city didn’t invest $5.2 million into downtown to have empty buildings sitting there in deplorable conditions.
School employees eat free at Ryan’s
Here’s a tidbit that’s worth mentioning from our friendly folks at Ryan’s. This Monday is education appreciation day. That means everyone associated with educating our bright, young children ‘ from bus drivers, to janitors, to teachers ‘ can visit Ryan’s tomorrow for a free meal.
Ryan’s management says it’s expecting to give away in the neighborhood of 500 free meals. Now that’s a lot of free food. I think this is a great way to honor our fine educators for the quality job they do.
That’s all folks
Be sure to contact Main Street McMinnville to request AC/DC for 2008. And call me at 473-2191 with your business tips.