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| Town Biz 101
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CITY OF VENTURA
LOOKING
AT THRIFT STORE
"MORATORIUM"
November 13, 2009
Thrifty is Nifty!
Adios Nicholby's Antique Store, I'm real sorry to see Nicholby's go, my wife and I enjoyed browsing around in the cavernous caves of old nostalgic stuff. We bought a few items from time to time when something hit our fancy. We also have been known to buy items from the Thrift Stores in downtown.
So Goodwill is going to replace Nicholby's, Goodwill was located down the street where the "Your Florist" Restaurant is now. It was there for a good number of years until the owner of the building decided to raise the rent. Now Goodwill is more than likely going to pay even more rent than they would have been paying if they had stayed put.
It seems a bunch of "Upscale" downtown Ventura business owners and residents went to the Gang in the Ivory Tower with their displeasure that a "surge" of thrift stores are opening downtown. They even suggested a "moratorium" temporarily halting the opening of any more thrift stores. They also suggested a city ordinance that all thrift stores donations must be delivered offsite and not in plain site stacked in the alleyways and at the rear of buildings.
Now I don't know which "Upscale" business owners were up-in-arms about the "surge" of new thrift stores but they must be fairly new to Downtown Ventura. I remember when there were more thrift stores downtown than "Kitchey" clothing stores, as a matter of fact if it weren't for the thrift stores Ventura's downtown would have turned into a ghost town. Folks came from many miles away to shop in the Ventura Thrift Stores they would also frequent other shops and restaurants in the area.
Of course, when the developers decided to turn Downtown into their idea of a "Upscale Tourist Haven" with all the upgraded stores and upgraded rents most of the thrift stores couldn't handle the extreme rise in cost and moved to other pastures. Now, since the "Newby" storeowners have realized that they also can't handle the extreme rental costs, many stores are closed and the buildings are lying fallow. The owners, of course, can only afford to leave the buildings empty for so long and have no choice but to rent to who ever makes an offer, these days because of the economy, thrift stores are experiencing a resurgence and are the only ones offering to rent.
I do agree that something has to be done about the method of drop off donations. However, a real good reason for a "drop off donation ordinance" can be witnessed behind the "Treasure Chest Thrift Store". It looks like what was left over after a bombing raid in Iraq most of the time. But for these "Upscale" business owners sticking their noses in the air because someone wants to open a "Thrift Store" all I can suggest is that these "Upscale" business owners think about relocating to Beverly Hills or some other "Swank" place. This is Ventura after all!
Rellis Smith
rellis39@sbcglobal.net
www.californiachile.com
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VFW MOTTO
"HONOR THE DEAD
BY SERVING THE LIVING"
By J. F. Robinson
The fighter jet malfunctioned and fell from the sky. The impact of the crash affected far to many lives including the death of the pilot - a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, a fighter-jet captain in the USAF, a son, a brother, a cousin and nephew of the former owners of Knudsen Products and my dear, dear lost friend. His loss, like so many other losses, stretches across our nation from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic and in this case to Pennsylvania.
Our loss was but one of 58,000 from the Vietnam Conflict - a conflict that left no state or few still living in our era untouched. Meantime hundreds of thousand more were lost in other American war involvements and conflicts. Some of us, certainly not all us, thank God for the millions who came home to restart their lives by reentering the mainstream of society. Many of those did so on their own while others welcomed the help and camaraderie of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The VFW started in 1913 by two associations of veterans mostly from the Spanish-American War. By the end of WWII, the VFW was comprised of one million plus - a membership that emerged from those who served overseas. Today that includes every war in the twentieth century and conflicts of the twenty-first century including the Spanish-American War that according to Wikipedia Encyclopedia started in August 1898.
The VFW headquarters is in Kansas City where it together with the worldwide posts have gone on to establish a strong political influence by lobbying in our nation's capital:
- For Veterans,
- For Foreign and Military Policies,
- Of Peacetime Patriotism that calls the nation to remember the soldiers who defended American's freedom.
Far over and above all this, the VFW does more through its services as a huge helping hand that reaches out to the families of the casualties of war including Vets themselves, widows, orphans, communities, hospitalization, medical, physical, psychological, work rehabilitation and training for Vets preparing them for the employment force and living in society. More than anything, they help in the rebuilding of the human spirit - one's zest for life.
Located on Market Street is an extremely active VFW post - a post that is shared with approximately 8,100 posts worldwide. Today, Ventura VFW Post enjoys a rising membership of over 500. Among its members are either working or retired people who are/were enmeshed in your business, medical and legal community, building industry, repair/maintenance, transportation, government and, of course, more.
They served in every military branch - Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and National Guard and some were placed in extremely hazardous situations. They are AMERICAN HEROES who understood and still understand our rights to freedom and the foundation on which the United States of America was founded.
On Veteran's Day yearly, these Ventura patriotic soul from the VFW will together with American Legion, Knights of Columbus and others honor those who died serving our country. Services will be held at Ivy Lawn on Valentine Road in Ventura.
Updated: 11/09/09
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