Now it's Frugal Muse

Frugal Muse announced last week they're closing their Northgate location, confirming six months' rumors of their demise. I can't say I was surprised -- the store has been in more and more disarray over my last few trips, no doubt a result of cutting staff costs to the bone. I'm sorry to see them go, despite how active they've been in the "No TWLTL" campaign.

When asked about the closure, co-owner Andrew Gaylor had a familiar story:

Gaylor said recent improvements to Northgate, while welcome, didn’t seem to increase customer traffic, which started falling noticeably for Frugal Muse about five years ago, he noted, and accelerated in the last year or two.

“We’re not blaming anybody,” Gaylor said. “We understand the market. We’re in a troublesome business. We’re competing with Kindle and Amazon.”

Tom Dorn gave the same timeframe in May. There's no question the recession hit these stores hard, and our jobless recovery hasn't pumped much money into the neighborhood economy.

I can understand how hard it's been trying to bounce back these past five years, but when you can't beat Amazon on price or selection, service is all you have left. I fear that once the recession pushed Frugal Muse to cut staff, the writing was on the wall.

This has gotten me thinking about the broader economic challenges we face on the Northside. More on that in my next post.

Update 9/25: Maybe Amazon isn't the bogeyman it's assumed to be, at least with independent bookstores. The ones that build themselves into a destination seem to be thriving. Unfortunately for Frugal Muse, they were too far behind the trend.

Dorn closing is a sign...but of what?

Today's State Journal announced what most of us in the neighborhood have known all week, that Dorn Hardware is closing their Northgate store after 51 years. There have been rumors that a major tenant would be leaving ever since the North Sherman safety project was announced, but the rumors usually identified Frugal Muse rather than Dorn.

I've sort of been expecting a "we told you so" message from the Northside Business Association, but there's been nary a peep all week from anyone, not even on the Northside listserv. Of course, that hasn't stopped the idiots who comment on Madison.com from speculating that the upcoming street reconfiguration has already killed off Dorn Hardware. Has it really?

Tom Dorn, heir to the family business, doesn't seem to think so.

Occupy Fordem Avenue

Update 2/2/13: News broke this week that the owners of 2132 Fordem couldn't wait for Occupy to get its financing together and sold to another buyer.

Original post:

Thursday's Isthmus broke the news that the "Occupy" group is working to buy the vacant commercial building at 2132 Fordem Avenue. Chief spokesperson/organizer/strategist Brenda Konkel was rather displeased that word got out before the deal was done. Once again this small and vocal group is the topic of conversation on the Northside.

So why would anyone have a problem with this? Can we write off voices of concern or criticism as nothing but NIMBYism? I don't think so. There are two major issues that the new Occupy Madison Inc. must address if they want the neighborhood to be a partner in this project: standards and image.

FEED Kitchens Coming to Northgate?

At last month's SNA meeting, Ellen Barnard of the FEED Kitchens project gave us a status update...and it turned out to be a lot more than we expected! Ever since the project was first announced, their intent was to build the facility on Pankratz Street (the frontage road between Packers Avenue and The Bridges, where the new Ale Asylum and Lakeland College buildings have been going up). However, Ms. Barnard shared that they'd been in discussions this summer with Alexander Co., owners of Northgate Center, about building in the parking lot and were close to a deal.

Why is this great news?

Potpourri: Ride the Drive, Pondamonium, Ale Asylum, Smart Meters

It's been a busy few weeks for us and for the neighborhood, too. I wanted to catch up on a few things:

• By all accounts, Ride the Drive Northside was a big success. It got Northsiders out and about in a more human-scaled way and drew attention to our side of town. Kudos to all the volunteers and City of Madison staff who made this event happen!
• The Mallards' inaugural Pondamonium festival was more of a mixed bag. While the poor weather didn't seem to dampen enthusiasm for headliners Garbage and The Flaming Lips, the earlier acts weren't a huge draw. I appreciate how punctual organizers were about their 10:30 p.m. permit ending time, but the show was still too loud, too late for a weeknight in a residential neighborhood. (Doesn't that sound like such an old man thing to say?) Move it to Friday or Saturday next year.
• Word from the Ale Asylum guys at the Great Taste of the Midwest is that the tap room at their new location should be open by mid-September, with brewing operations to follow a week or two later. They have to be out of the Kinsman Boulevard location by October 1, when new brewpub Karben4 takes over their old location (and equipment!). Ale Asylum is part of a flurry of new development on the airport land along International Lane and Anderson Street. Credit goes to Supv. Paul Rusk and Dane County here...too bad the City of Madison isn't nearly as aggressive with Northside development.
• Finally, a fun fact for the anti-smart meter crowd: It's too late, the UN tricked MG&E into giving you cancer years ago! The utility teamed up with Big Meter powerhouse Itron to install a "drive by" system, where our meters are read wirelessly by trucks that drive by our houses every month. That project was finished in 2003(!) with the full blessing and support of the Public Service Commission. More recently, MG&E won a stimulus grant to pilot a full-on cellular smart grid with all the bells and whistles we've heard so much about. Food for thought for those who expect the PSC to ride in on a white horse and save them from the Water Utility...

Ale Asylum's new home good for Northside

It's been discussed on the neighborhood listserv, but today saw the first news reports of Ale Asylum's proposed new brewery on Pankratz Street. The city's Urban Design Commission will take it up tomorrow night.

They should be swift about giving it their blessing.