A Walk in the Park

I'm all for competition.

We've been trained to overcome adversity and defeat mediocrity through competition before attending grade school by playings games with our friends and siblings.

The business of America is business and competition is at the core unless a no compete contract is presented as terms of employment. Hair stylists sign them, so do tattoo artists.
Obviously pet groomers also sign a contract if they work at Petsmart.

A few months ago, A Walk in the Park pet grooming opened for business here in TGS on the corner of Wyoming and Gustine:

Copied below is an email I received from one of the owners.

I only have time to type a few comments about this debacle which I realize Petsmart will be reading.

I want this business to remain open. It's critical to have an occupied storefront with foot traffic and eyes on the street in my neighborhood. I shop at Petsmart (yes, I have a pets perk card) and I'm willing to share where I shop or use a service. Is Petsmart willing to allow this business remain open for the good of my neighborhood?

A Walk in the Park probably can't link a petition to their website so I'm asking if anyone reading has a stake in TGS, please post your comment. Petsmart will be reading.

Interior of A Walk in the Park with blooming plants, a fountain, and a gazebo desk.

November 19, 2009

Dear Clients, Friends & Neighbors,

As you know, we have just opened our new pet grooming salon, A Walk in the Park, at 3892 Wyoming at the corner of Gustine and Wyoming. This neighborhood seems a perfect fit for our salon. First, we live within the neighborhood and therefore appreciate the level of pride that exists and continues to grow here; opening a business at this location serves to deepen our involvement and commitment to our community. Additionally, this is an area rife with dogs and cats that are well served by the presence of a grooming salon. Many of you have expressed your enthusiasm at having pet grooming back in the neighborhood and for this we thank you. There are those who do not even own animals who have stopped in to welcome us and express their delight at seeing a new business, attractively presented, in their neighborhood where a vacant store front stood for nearly two years. We are grateful that the neighborhood has been so welcoming to us and supportive of our business venture, particularly in view of these economically trying times. However,…

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

A Walk in the Park is currently under attack. We hosted our Grand Opening Party on Sunday, November 8th from 2-6pm and posted that information on our website (awalkintheparkgrooming.com). At 2pm on that Sunday, in front of our guests, we were served by Petsmart’s attorneys. Petsmart, Inc. is suing us under a “non-compete” clause and threatens to shut our doors.

Chris Lee worked for Petsmart for 6 years beginning in October of 2003 and, in fact, signed a contract with Petsmart in order to obtain that employment. No counsel was given for explanation of the contract save the undeniable fact that a position would not be given without a signature. In good faith, Chris believed that since he had not worked at the Petsmart located at Kingshighway and Chippewa for over a year (he had been working in Illinois) that he had abided by any binding “non-compete” agreement that he had with Petsmart.

The suit brought by Petsmart claims that Chris was given Petsmart’s training and “trade-secrets” which he is now utilizing to unfairly compete with them. Our response is simple. Chris brought over 20 years of grooming experience to the table when he joined Petsmart. He had owned and operated his own salon in the Dallas, Texas area before moving to St. Louis in late 2002. Chris’ talents in grooming were utilized by Petsmart to teach its internal grooming “Academy” for the training of new Petsmart groomers and Chris was frequently praised for his superb execution of this training program above other trainers by two different District Managers. In short, Petsmart didn’t teach Chris anything about the grooming industry but, in fact, took advantage of what he was able to teach them.

Further, the suit claims that Chris had taken client lists which he is alleged to have solicited to the detriment of Petsmart. No such client list has ever been taken from Petsmart by anyone who works at A Walk In The Park. Undeniably, we are now serving clients who have been or are still customers of Petsmart. But, this has not come about through the theft and solicitation of mailing lists, client roles, or email lists. Of our clients with whom we have spoken on the subject and who have been or are still customers of Petsmart, we have identified four different groups.

• CONVENIENCE: First, many of our clients have simply come to us because we are conveniently located within this neighborhood. The only advertising we have done is to place a sandwich board on the corner in front of the salon. Additionally, we have taken an ongoing ad in the Tower Grove Heights Gazette the first of which has not even been published yet. We don’t even have a listing in the yellow pages. Obviously then, none of these people came to us out of some calculated direct solicitation of Petsmart’s clients.
• DEVOTION: There are a number of clients who have followed Chris because of his talents. This is the same as following a hair-dresser from one salon to another. If a person is happy, they will follow the service provider even if they have to hunt them down as some people have done with Chris. One customer followed him from South City all the way to Glen Carbon. Similarly, another customer has come all the way from Edwardsville now after locating him.
• SMALL-BUSINESS MINDED: Some people would rather spend their money in support of local small business instead of with large corporate behemoths.
• DISGUSTED: The final group of people who are now coming to Chris here at A Walk In The Park are people who have become disillusioned and fervently opposed to taking their beloved pets in to be groomed at Petsmart. I would like these people to tell their own story(ies).

Until this all happened, we were, like many of you, Petsmart’s retail customers buying our dog food there amongst other things. We have even been referring other people there for specific products. Obviously, we did not avail ourselves of their grooming services and equally as obvious, we won’t be spending our money there any longer or referring others.

Frequently, we all hear people in the media as well as politicians tell us that ‘the consumer is best served when there is real competition in the marketplace’. We believe that also. We believe that your pets are better served in this manner as well. If this suit is to be taken at face value, then it seems that Petsmart does not believe in this ideal. Is this just another case of corporate greed overriding concern for the well being of the community in which it is located?

Another thing we hear incessantly is how important small business is to the overall economy and how small business is the real driver of economic growth and job creation. Can it be that corporate bullies are reaching into this community and trying to restrict small business in order to protect what they believe to be “their markets”?

I am pleased to let you know that local attorney and incoming President of the Tower Grove Business Association, Jennifer A. Coke, located at 3187 Morgan Ford, has agreed to represent us in this matter. Jennifer is someone who has spent a great deal of time fighting Banks on foreclosure issues in order to keep our neighbors in their homes. We are very comforted that she is not afraid to go up against “the big boys” and brings a level of experience and confidence that is equal to the task.

I believe strongly that we can beat this lawsuit on its merits in a court of law. The law and legal precedence speak loudly when striking down such over-expansive language in non-compete clauses. In our case, as with others that have been won against Petsmart, Chris lives and requires employment in a city in which there are 13 Petsmart locations. This makes it virtually impossible for Chris to practice his trade (of 26 + years) anywhere within the city without crossing into one of Petsmarts “marketing areas”. Therefore by seeking enforcement of such broad terms, Petsmart is attempting to abridge Chris’ right to earn a living.

All of this having been said, let me finally get to the point of this letter. A protracted legal battle may have the very impact that Petsmart desires. Conceivably, the costs associated with this could drive us out of business. Although we are prepared to do what we must, we believe that there is another way to stop this whole thing. We must bring pressure to bear on Petsmart in order to convince them to withdraw this suit. In order to accomplish this, we must have community support.

We are asking you, our neighbors to speak up with your voices, your letters, your phone calls, your internet postings and blogs, and most of all with careful consideration about where you spend your dollars. I am including the names and numbers of Petsmart executives that we believe to be involved in this lawsuit, as well as the mailing address of Petsmart’s Corporate Offices. Also included is Petsmarts corporate “800” Customer Comment line. Please contact these individuals and make your thoughts and feelings known to them. Next, please spread the word. Talk to friends and pet owners. Mobilize your friends on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or your favorite local blog. Hopefully, with enough support, Petsmart may come to feel that it is shooting itself in the foot and that this proud community which has worked so hard to make our neighborhood what it is will not tolerate this kind of stuff.

• Phil Benoist, Store Director, Petsmart, 4621 Chippewa St, St Louis, MO 63116
(Kingshighway & Chippewa) 314-776-7608
• Bob Wurth, District Manager, (800) 738-1385, ext. 6688
• Chuck Paul, Regional Director, (800) 738-1385, ext. 6790
• Customer comment/complaint line: (800) 738-1385, Menu Option 2
• Petsmart, Inc., Corporate Offices, 19601 No. 27th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85027

If anything in this letter has touched home for you; if you believe that this community deserves to have a grooming salon in its midst and that you as well as your pets are better served; if you believe that our small business deserves a chance to grow and thrive here in the community in which we live and are invested; if you believe that corporate bullies should not be allowed to squash competition in the name of shareholder profits or if you simply believe in the local benefits of having a clean, respectable, attractive and successful business on these streets instead of “FOR LEASE” signs adorning empty windows, then again we ask for your help.

In closing, I want to thank all of you. First, for enduring this very long letter. Second, for welcoming us the way you have. And finally, for the support I trust that you will extend to us now. On behalf of Chris, Megan, Melissa and myself, thank you, my friends and neighbors.

Mark Langevin
A Walk In The Park Grooming
314-664-DOGS

Hydraulic Press Brick Company

Henry Ware Eliot was the owner of the Hydraulic-Press Brick Company and father to T. S. Eliot. I found this page from an Architecture magazine from the 1920s.

Remains on MGF is your Saturday Destination!

Remains is located at 3340 Morgan Ford Road just south of the Marti Frumhoff Memorial Garden* at Utah and Fyler here in TGS. They are open to the public on Wednesday and Saturdays from 8-4. Cash only. What's available? Scroll down to the price list and photos below.

Where to go:

Drive back about fifty feet, this open door is on the left. There's a friendly dog on the premises name Pal.

Rag refers to any article of discarded clothing or textile and Remains is a rag company in the business of post-consumer textiles. It's mega Green!

I've been fascinated with this industry since I first heard the term 'rag company' from my grandfather when I was a teenager. I had been reading the Post and noticed fibers in the paper. He explained that newsprint has a high rag content (as does paper money) and the rag industry developed in large cities with a side business of selling rag for pulp. The pulp gets mixed in huge vats but that's another post.

A rag company contracts for textiles from thrift stores (They also use donation boxes). They buy and resell it by the pound. It's a huge and vital industry with dozens of related businesses. Owner Kelly Stewart recently started a related business: Arch Paper http://www.archpaper.net/servlet/StoreFront

After arriving at Remains the textiles are sorted and graded. The clothing in excellent condition is baled and purchased by brokers then shipped to Canada (for another sort) and third world countries where it's sold for the third of fourth time.

The history of rag companies is, as I mentioned, fascinating. It's directly linked to paper production and the history of public schools. Prior to paper (a rag product) being mass produced, formal education was only for the wealthy who could afford tutors for their children since the ability to mass publish texts and primers didn't exist. Paper also allowed students to develop linear thinking by writing a series of numbers and learning basic math.

My thanks to Kelly and the staff of Remains who graciously allowed a tour of the business and answered my relentless questions.

Textiles are delivered by fork lift then fed by a worked onto the conveyor belt:

The conveyor belt where clothing and textiles get sorted then head up the line to be baled:

A worker on the sorting line:

The baler where clothing is compressed:

Baled textiles:

Price list and photos of the sales floor:


Photos of the 'sales floor'.

All garments are hung and the place is hyper neat.


I saw many pairs of never worn fleece and flannel lined slippers:

Long johns, union suits, and bibs.



* As a fundraiser for Marti's garden I am talking with Remains about accepting donations of shoes and clothing. More info will follow.

Heinous Repointing

There I was driving down a street minding my business when I spotted this building and the bizzaro repointing:

Click to enlarge if you're seated.

Gates

Ringworm update

Poor Beau!
His valor is waning due to being bathed every 3-4 days.
The upshot to the bath and stinky Malaseb shampoo* is being wrapped in towels where he luxuriates for an hour wile being rubbed.

The manufacture's of Malaseb have experienced a FDA recall in 2001 and the information as to why is sketchy. It was 48.00 for an eight ounce bottle at the Humane Society. I found it online for a third of that price two months ago and it's on 'back order' on other online sites. I called the HS today and they are out. A search on ebay revealed a seller that's aware of the demand and the price has spiked.

The critical ingredient is Miconazole (2%) so the search is on. Since the recall was issued in 2001 I may be using expired shampoo. Poor Beau!

Flatirons - Mt Pleasant

Friday morning at 5 AM Tim and I arrived at St. Claire Hospital in Fenton where I was having surgery on my hand. I had been up for 20 hours and was a bit delirious. Should have taken the camera, the waiting room (Tim said) looked like a Shrine and the counter (I swear) looked like an altar.

I like my doctor, he a stitch. I felt for the poor nurses who were baffled my absence of an obvious vein to run the IV. Nurse 1 tried everything including the rubber hose and usual prodding. After five minutes Nurse 2 stepped up with no success. The anesthesiologist finally gave it a shot, kneeling down next to the bed.

You're holding me up, my favorite doctor said.
I flipped him off under the guise of discussing my useless finger.
What kind of pain med do you want, he asked, tapping a pen on the script pad.
I'm allergic to all narcotic pain pills but my dentist gave me something non narcotic so I'll use those.
No script?
No, I have some at home.
Anyone else want a script, he asked of the nurses but no one laughed. He's a stitch, I tell you and one big ass pharm pimp.

The last thing I remember saying was something about how men should always be on their knees when talking to me. One nurse guffawed and that was when the anesthesiologist opened the line. Lights out!

I slept most of Friday, woke up in time to take some mail orders to the post office (ignoring the Don't Drive advice and found myself driving down a one way street. Bad, very bad). It took another 12 hours for the anesthesia to dissipate.

I picked up something in the hospital of course. Some nasty stomach bug in addition to my slashed hand wrapped in gauze which was pulled open today when Beau lunged on the leash. Worse, the gauze was stuck to the stitches which gave my stomach an extra turn.

Just in case you're wondering I type with two fingers.

By yesterday afternoon I was feeling recovered (before the stomach flu) and Tim and I drove the Mount Pleasant neighborhood so I could snap some photos of two flatiron buildings:

Just imagine what this looked like with pavers and street car tracks.
This building is now smartly owned by an architect and I am envious. Tim said this building was built by Anheuser-Busch and was a tavern.


Triple arch alert!



Sonrie likes these green glazed bricks but I'm queer for the amber color. BTW, white mortar was always used with glazed brick to make them POP.



In the front of this second flatiron is an original planter on the sidewalk that resonates with the buildings design.

Wrap around step that some idiot painted red.

Dreamy ivory glazed terra cotta.


I'm betting the original door had a keyhole design.

When I first saw this circle within circle motif I thought: Celtic. Bad Tim Said it's a Moorish influence.


Water struck bricks.

Flecks of feldspar in the brick and large pebbles in the mortar.

These buildings sit on triangular island blocks on Virginia in the Mt Pleasant neighborhood.

Cheap Sleeps

Many years ago (long before my brother starting appearing the in Pirate movies) I had a dream that Johnny Depp and I were business partners in Cheap Sleeps.

I happen to dream in feature length movies often with landscapes influenced from reading William Gibson novels in the 80s and hanging with the likes of the Survival Research Laboratories guys.

Cheap Sleeps was a series of sleeping chambers that could be rented by the night for 10.00. It was my creation: 6 steel silo-like buildings with an elevator in the middle that made various stops at sleeping pods. The pods were smaller silos and were stored vertically against the building when vacant. When in use (accessed with a purchased card) they turned horizontal for a 10 hour stay.

Our clientele was mostly transients. Do you recall those old linen towel dispensers in bathrooms? Your pulling on the towel would also cause another roller to pull in what was soiled. This is how the bedding was changed in Cheap Sleeps. Whenever someone carded out the door the roller would change the linen!

It was a thriving business and Johnny was an investor but a mega slacker. Some of the silos were beginning to show rust and Depp was refusing to make with the elbow grease.

We had a small office below the flickering red neon CHEAP SLEEPS sign and one night, while listening to rain spatter on the tin roof I scolded Johnny for being greedy and unconcerned about a gleaming surface. His apathy was infuriating and his proclivity for flicking ashes on the floor while dabbing orange Kool Aide behind his ears was getting on my last nerve. Worse, he dressed like one of our clients but with an expensive deliberation that I found to be mocking.

He scoffed at my proposition for a free sleep-in once a month.
He was all bottom line, leather soles, and smoky whiskey. His hair had been dyed a rich shade of red oxide and his jeans had been professionally ripped.

He snottily informed me that rusted steel was the preferred finish of choice for many surfaces in his home. It was maddening.

The End.

My Brother the Film Actor

It's true, my brother is a Player. His credits include the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He's also Jim Carrey's dance partner in the unreleased, I love you Philip Morris.

Go to http://www.imdb.com/ and type in Randy Herman. He's the second Randy Herman.
He seems to have the power to make gay men and women swoon. Seriously, I've been places with him and have experienced the awe. None of his siblings get it.

He was also a Chippendale dancer in the 80's which is still raucously hilarious.

Send me Flowers

I have to go back.
I missed doing photos of the stained pink pointing on this exquisite building. It's critical because the emphasis is on the phenomenaland v aried brickwork and the terra cotta relief. The objective was no visible mortar hence the staining and using rubbed brickwork wasn't an option. Marble steps and limestone foundation.

Sunflowers in a vase surrounded by egg and dart:


Radial, bull nose, pyramid, and were those edges rubbed off?


The owner kindly talked to me about his building which was built in 1895 and is
located on 39 Iowa. Thanks Tom!