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Here is an interesting read on how corporate America is really hurting small business in places like WV, where local business is a major part of it's fabric.
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U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy reports that West Virginia lost nearly 4,000 of its small businesses (those with 500 or fewer employees), from 2000 to 2010 alone
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West Virginia's fifth biggest city, Morgantown has become not only a microcosm for this transition but a hotbed for its debate in recent months. Numerous local restaurants and businesses have shut down after being unable to compete with the seemingly endless legislative and fiscal resources of corporate America.
I guess part of this is the give and take with capitalism. Most people love to see Starbucks and Panera Bread move into our communities, but the opportunity cost can sometimes lead to the finacial suffering or even loss of your favorite mom and pop joints.
Last edited by Silkdashocker; 12-31-2013 at 12:23 AM..
Okay, we need to look at this objectively. This article is more than a bit misleading.
First of all, it is likely unconstitutional to have a law that favors local businesses over others. That would be considered "restraint of trade", and since this is, at least on the face of it, a free country one person or organization has as much right as the next to operate a business.
Secondly, in Morgantown, (which the article touts as the state's 5th. largest city, but which is actually either the largest or second largest... Huntington would be the only one to be in the same category) when all residents are counted... not just the voting residents, while there have been some small businesses close, others have opened up. The Golden Finch was a loss, their food was excellent and healthy, but their portions were too small. In my opinion, that was their downfall, not a chain restaurant located 5 miles away. College kids want to get their money's worth... if they feel shorted they will go elsewhere. Those 15 laid off employees surely found other employment in our city... there are help wanted signs virtually everywhere here and they probably could make more waitressing at a chain than they did at that small venue.
The Richwood Grill guy did NOT go out of business due to chain restaurants. He might not like them, and he might speak out against them, but he went out of business because his location was too small to serve his customer base, and because he wanted to take some time off to travel around and come up with some new offerings. He has indicated that he will be back in Morgantown operating another restaurant after he takes care of some personal issues. His business was always well supported here.
Thirdly, most here probably aren't familiar with the old Chevy dealership building, but it would have been far too large for Mountain Peoples Coop (nothing against them, but their customers often belong to the protest anything crowd) and ill suited for a Boys and Girls Club. Funny nobody had anything against it when it was a car dealership, and a Sheetz won't be any more intrusive than that here. It is a full block from High Street, and near the Salvation Army Building and a homeless shelter... hardly a position that changes the complexion of High Street. The article said High Street is the city's main thoroughfare. High Street is very busy, but it is far from the main thoroughfare. The main thoroughfares are University Ave., Beechurst, WV 705, and Monongahela Blvd., all of which have many times more traffic than High Street. High Street is the college town part of Morgantown, and it primarily serves students. That will never change.
Personally, I do not want to see the complexion of High Street change. It is our state's only street with a true college town feel, and it should stay that way. At the same time, new regulations are not the way to deal with it. The strong survive because they offer what customers want, and if current owners won't get off their butts and find a way to compete maybe they need to step aside and make room for those who will. Nobody is guaranteed success on business. That is earned with customer satisfaction. Those owners who are frightened by better financed competition need to get their acts together and beat them at their own game, with better products and service, and by sprucing up their properties to present a better face to the public.
In summation, our small businesses don't face any more of an uphill battle here in Morgantown than they do any place else. In fact, they might actually have an edge over most places in that regard due to the huge transient population here, and the general affluence of the area.
The strong survive because they offer what customers want, and if current owners won't get off their butts and find a way to compete maybe they need to step aside and make room for those who will. Nobody is guaranteed success on business. That is earned with customer satisfaction. Those owners who are frightened by better financed competition need to get their acts together and beat them at their own game, with better products and service, and by sprucing up their properties to present a better face to the public.
Hear, here!
The city and/or landowners have the right to sell to the highest bidders. If a local businessman wanted to purchase the spot downtown, they should have outbid Sheetz/Panera/ect.
There are plenty of places where local cuisine still flourishes. Like CT said, you just have to be better at what you do.
The people that protested against the new food vendor laws, and also against Panera Bread and Sheetz in Morgantown are the typical "occupy" type of crowd. Most didn't even know what they were actually protesting against. Most are college students or transient people that will only be in Morgantown for a few years. Because of the extreme development outside the city limits, Morgantown needs all the business it can get. Otherwise, the sprawl will gut out the center of the city. Suncrest town center and University town center are major developments that have pulled business out of the city. I support a Sheetz, Panera Bread, Starbucks, and CVS. Bring them in as soon as possible.
I have to disagree with your assessment of Morgantown being the largest city. Morgantown is actually one of the smallest cities in WV. It is quite dense within the city limits when you count WVU students. However, they do not count in the official population numbers.
Morgantown- 10.6 sq. miles, 29,600 population, 129,000 metro population
Huntington- 18.46 sq. miles, 49,138, 365,419 metro
Parkersburg- 12.3 sq. miles, 31,492, 164,000 metro
Charleston- 33 sq. miles, 51,000, 240,000 metro
Wheeling- 16 sq. miles, 28,486, 165,000 metro
Morgantown has some of the poorest infrastructure in the state. The roads are very narrow and utilities are overloaded from the growth spurt. The roads are in horrible shape. Not the case in the other cities in the state. The major developers around Morgantown never contribute to improving infrastructure, including WVU. The lack of planning, zoning and building codes in the county has contributed to this mess. The traffic congestion around Morgantown has become horrible in the past five years. If Morgantown would annex Westover, Star City, and Granville, and also extend the city towards Cheat Lake, then it may be the largest or second largest city. But something will eventually have to be done with the traffic. When WVU is in session, it takes 45 minutes to an hour travel a few miles across town and back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CTMountaineer
Okay, we need to look at this objectively. This article is more than a bit misleading.
First of all, it is likely unconstitutional to have a law that favors local businesses over others. That would be considered "restraint of trade", and since this is, at least on the face of it, a free country one person or organization has as much right as the next to operate a business.
Secondly, in Morgantown, (which the article touts as the state's 5th. largest city, but which is actually either the largest or second largest... Huntington would be the only one to be in the same category) when all residents are counted... not just the voting residents, while there have been some small businesses close, others have opened up. The Golden Finch was a loss, their food was excellent and healthy, but their portions were too small. In my opinion, that was their downfall, not a chain restaurant located 5 miles away. College kids want to get their money's worth... if they feel shorted they will go elsewhere. Those 15 laid off employees surely found other employment in our city... there are help wanted signs virtually everywhere here and they probably could make more waitressing at a chain than they did at that small venue.
The Richwood Grill guy did NOT go out of business due to chain restaurants. He might not like them, and he might speak out against them, but he went out of business because his location was too small to serve his customer base, and because he wanted to take some time off to travel around and come up with some new offerings. He has indicated that he will be back in Morgantown operating another restaurant after he takes care of some personal issues. His business was always well supported here.
Thirdly, most here probably aren't familiar with the old Chevy dealership building, but it would have been far too large for Mountain Peoples Coop (nothing against them, but their customers often belong to the protest anything crowd) and ill suited for a Boys and Girls Club. Funny nobody had anything against it when it was a car dealership, and a Sheetz won't be any more intrusive than that here. It is a full block from High Street, and near the Salvation Army Building and a homeless shelter... hardly a position that changes the complexion of High Street. The article said High Street is the city's main thoroughfare. High Street is very busy, but it is far from the main thoroughfare. The main thoroughfares are University Ave., Beechurst, WV 705, and Monongahela Blvd., all of which have many times more traffic than High Street. High Street is the college town part of Morgantown, and it primarily serves students. That will never change.
Personally, I do not want to see the complexion of High Street change. It is our state's only street with a true college town feel, and it should stay that way. At the same time, new regulations are not the way to deal with it. The strong survive because they offer what customers want, and if current owners won't get off their butts and find a way to compete maybe they need to step aside and make room for those who will. Nobody is guaranteed success on business. That is earned with customer satisfaction. Those owners who are frightened by better financed competition need to get their acts together and beat them at their own game, with better products and service, and by sprucing up their properties to present a better face to the public.
In summation, our small businesses don't face any more of an uphill battle here in Morgantown than they do any place else. In fact, they might actually have an edge over most places in that regard due to the huge transient population here, and the general affluence of the area.
The people that protested against the new food vendor laws, and also against Panera Bread and Sheetz in Morgantown are the typical "occupy" type of crowd. Most didn't even know what they were actually protesting against. Most are college students or transient people that will only be in Morgantown for a few years. Because of the extreme development outside the city limits, Morgantown needs all the business it can get. Otherwise, the sprawl will gut out the center of the city. Suncrest town center and University town center are major developments that have pulled business out of the city. I support a Sheetz, Panera Bread, Starbucks, and CVS. Bring them in as soon as possible.
I have to disagree with your assessment of Morgantown being the largest city. Morgantown is actually one of the smallest cities in WV. It is quite dense within the city limits when you count WVU students. However, they do not count in the official population numbers.
Morgantown- 10.6 sq. miles, 29,600 population, 129,000 metro population
Huntington- 18.46 sq. miles, 49,138, 365,419 metro
Parkersburg- 12.3 sq. miles, 31,492, 164,000 metro
Charleston- 33 sq. miles, 51,000, 240,000 metro
Wheeling- 16 sq. miles, 28,486, 165,000 metro
Morgantown has some of the poorest infrastructure in the state. The roads are very narrow and utilities are overloaded from the growth spurt. The roads are in horrible shape. Not the case in the other cities in the state. The major developers around Morgantown never contribute to improving infrastructure, including WVU. The lack of planning, zoning and building codes in the county has contributed to this mess. The traffic congestion around Morgantown has become horrible in the past five years. If Morgantown would annex Westover, Star City, and Granville, and also extend the city towards Cheat Lake, then it may be the largest or second largest city. But something will eventually have to be done with the traffic. When WVU is in session, it takes 45 minutes to an hour travel a few miles across town and back.
You missed my points. The article said Morgantown is 5th. largest. That is blatantly false on the face, unless you are talking about what they call "permanent residents", in which case according to the most recent Census estimates we are #4. On any given day, there are more people living in Morgantown than in any other city in the state with the possible exception of Huntington. The students live here too, even if they don't vote and aren't considered "permanent". "Metro" areas have nothing to do with that assessment. There are more people living within 60 miles of Morgantown, by far, than within any place south of Sutton. There are only two places in our state that can rival that... those are the Eastern and Northern Panhandles.
I do agree with you that we easily have the worst infrastructure in the state. We might have the worse infrastructure in the Nation. No place has been as neglected by a state government as has our city in terms of capital infrastructure spending related to needs and demonstrated demand loads. That neglect is downright shameful.
Ok, I understand what you are getting at. It is a shame to drive around in Morgantown seeing all of the potholes, etc. The streets downtown are horrible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CTMountaineer
You missed my points. The article said Morgantown is 5th. largest. That is blatantly false on the face, unless you are talking about what they call "permanent residents", in which case according to the most recent Census estimates we are #4. On any given day, there are more people living in Morgantown than in any other city in the state with the possible exception of Huntington. The students live here too, even if they don't vote and aren't considered "permanent". "Metro" areas have nothing to do with that assessment. There are more people living within 60 miles of Morgantown, by far, than within any place south of Sutton. There are only two places in our state that can rival that... those are the Eastern and Northern Panhandles.
I do agree with you that we easily have the worst infrastructure in the state. We might have the worse infrastructure in the Nation. No place has been as neglected by a state government as has our city in terms of capital infrastructure spending related to needs and demonstrated demand loads. That neglect is downright shameful.
You guys are having the wrong conversation. Framing the the issue with local vs. corporate America is nothing but a distraction from the real problem. 99% of the people who have to live here do not want a gas station, let alone another Sheetz, on that prime piece of property downtown. Unless you work for Sheetz, I'm not sure how you can think there's any benefit or why you think a community can't come together to reject a stupid decision.
You guys are having the wrong conversation. Framing the the issue with local vs. corporate America is nothing but a distraction from the real problem. 99% of the people who have to live here do not want a gas station, let alone another Sheetz, on that prime piece of property downtown. Unless you work for Sheetz, I'm not sure how you can think there's any benefit or why you think a community can't come together to reject a stupid decision.
That shouldn't be a problem then. Raise the money, outbid Sheetz, and put something else in place. If you can't do that, then I guess it should be a Sheetz. It is much better to put it to productive use than allow it to sit there and deteriorate, paying no taxes and providing a long term liability. Somebody needs to get the Warner Theater in working order too or do something else with it. You say 99% don't want a gas station. Personally, I wish it were being used for something else too, but I can assure you Sheetz did their market research and determined that location would support the station. If not, they wouldn't be investing millions into putting one in place there so I guess that 1% you are talking about makes sense to them.
You see, I love and respect Morgantown natives. I really do. They are the nicest folks on earth. But, they also think it appropriate to protect the student slumlords who have been fleecing people for decades and who do little to maintain their properties. The status quo is not always best. Times change, and within reason, our city has to change with them.
That shouldn't be a problem then. Raise the money, outbid Sheetz, and put something else in place. If you can't do that, then I guess it should be a Sheetz. It is much better to put it to productive use than allow it to sit there and deteriorate, paying no taxes and providing a long term liability. Somebody needs to get the Warner Theater in working order too or do something else with it.
The Warner should be turned into a Sheetz. In fact, all of High St. Should be bought out an turned into 15 Sheetz. And unless you can outbid them you would shut up and deal with it, right?
The Warner should be turned into a Sheetz. In fact, all of High St. Should be bought out an turned into 15 Sheetz. And unless you can outbid them you would shut up and deal with it, right?
I hope nobody puts a gas station on High Street, but University Ave. in that area is not High Street. That side of the street has, among other things, the Salvation Army Thrift Store, a homeless shelter, a private detective agency, and down the other way a couple vacant lots where a run down beer distributor's operation was torn down. Putting a Sheetz in that location won't change the character of anything.
High Street is another matter. But that doesn't mean local business owners should get any special protection over anyone else. I can think of some local owners who take little pride in the upkeep of their properties that I wish would sell them to others to develop. The assets of our city provide an opportunity to develop a showpiece city in every respect, with well kept, wonderful shops, clubs, and buildings. If the old guard doesn't see fit to get on board with that, then they are part of the problem, not part of the solution. These same folks protested some guys making a living selling hotdogs from carts, just to protect their own interests. That was absolutely ridiculous, in my opinion. If what they have to offer is so better than what anyone else has it will stand on its own merits, and be successful. If it isn't, if they can't stand up to the competition, then they need to get into another line of work and let someone else take over. That is what free enterprise is all about.
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