Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:37:35 -0500
From: Jeff Lane
Subject: Der steelin’ our jerbs!
> ——————– 12 ——————–
> Date: Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:31:39 -0500 (EST)
> From: dismay2164
> Subject: Pittsboro’s Mobile gypsy vendors
>
> There are so many parts to this problem it is a joke. First and foremost, these folks that set up on the
> curb and in parking lots ARE TAKING BUSINESS FROM PITTSBORO FIRMS. To sell in Pittsboro, a
> vendor must have a vendor’s licence obtained from the town of Pittsboro- at a cost of $25.00 per year.
> They can set up anywhere they like, provided they have WRITTEN PERMISSION from the property
> OWNER. Those selling food (especially that prepared on the site) must be inspected and passed by the
> Chatham County Health Department.
Hooo Boy… You are correct sirah… there are so many parts to this problem it really is a joke. But sadly, the joke is in how y’all local business lovers are so bigoted. And so quick to shoot off at the mouth without any proof to back up your blatant and non-blatant allegations of societal misconduct by “them danged gypsies” and their snubbing if your well ordered and established land of pre-existing businesses.
So you’ve been to the county and town offices and have determined by going through the records that none of these people have business licenses? Because if you have, I’d love to see a detailed report on your findings, and the person you worked with, because I would like to follow up on this miscarriage of justice.
But lets be just a little bit realistic here. Shot of Spro (the much maligned mobile menace) and the Hot Dog lady have been there for quite a while now. Given the size of Pittsboro, and the very tiny number of businesses within Pittsboro, to you HONESTLY believe that they could have gone this long, sitting in the SAME SPOT FOR WEEKS without the tax man coming to collect his sheckles? Really?
Now over in Metropolis, I could see a few mobile vendors getting away with it for a good while, but in a town with so small a population, and so few brick and mortar stores, really? I can’t even get away with not having my septic system inspected twice a year and I live MILES away from the office that handles that boondoggle.
But let Madame Hot Dog speak for herself “Yes, I pay taxes. I have a Tax ID number with the state of NC but I refuse to post it here. Yes, I pay rent to have a space at the Old Ford Dealership. Yes, I had to get my permit from the Chatham County Health Department and NO, it did not piggy back off of my commissary which is Virlies. I had to go through “you know what” to get it, just ask anyone on BBS, they followed our ordeal. And, Lisa Morgan has stopped by my cart while I was fully operational and gave me my own inspection and I passed with flying colors. I keep my permit, my business license and my recent inspection with me on my cart if you would like to stop by and see it. I have nothing to hide. ”
And let’s let Tina speak about rent, “If you or anyone you know that is interested in renting a small portion of the OLD Pittsboro Ford lot with all of us, please have them contact Noel at (919) 616-5068. Noel is wanting to turn the area into a little market with lots of variety; a one-stop-shop! There is also electricity available at the site. You will need to have your Town of Pittsboro business license/permit and depending on what you are selling there may be additional things you will need to obtain. You can utilize the services of the small business center to help you get started. This is where we started too. Gary Kibler is fantastic to work with! Best of luck and we hope to see you soon as we grow and grow!
Noel is even interested if you just want to do something on nights and/or weekends.
Note: We will also be hooking up to electricity soon and will be further back toward the building so if you don’t see us at the entrance just look further back! We will be extending our hours as well.
Tina Meeks
Shot of Spro – Mobile Espresso Van”
That was from the BBS and took me all of about 30 seconds to find it.
http://chatham-county-nc.com/bulletinboard/index.php?topic=16453.0
> Take a look the the vendor’s set-up- These vans and cooking things cost thousands of dollars- a sure
> sign that the vendor is not hard up for money. As for the vendors paying Noel to set up in the old car lot, I
> suspect that is baloney. (Free everything is these vendor’s style) I overheard Noel tell someone that he
> could not charge vendors for space, or rent out space, because it would be in violation of his lease. (If the
> old car lot is indeed leased, why is there a big sign saying it is available for lease?)
correlation != causality. No matter how much you want it to. Oh, they have a big fancy van so they MUST be wealthy, ergo, they don’t live here and are just takin’ our jerbs. Really? You should ask the other local Pittsboro business owners how much THEY had to sink into buying/leasing and remodeling their physical stores. I bet Eric Shook (J. Henry) would probably tell you that it is NOT CHEAP to start any business, mobile or not. In fact, I remember not too long ago that the expenses he owed, compared to the sales he was doing had almost made him close the store. And the Co-op? Not too long ago IT TOO was having some pretty bad issues with money, honey. But someone who bought a van OBVIOUSLY has money, right? I bet it never even occurred to you that buying a van or a cart gives you an easy way to start your own business without having to pay extortionate leases and the expense of actually occupying a building, did it. I bet you never realized how LESS expensive it is to start a business that way, giving you a far better chance of actually making a profit since, guess what? Your overhead is lower, AND you can go to where the customers are, instead of sitting back and hope they see your signs.
As for rent, read again Tina’s BB post. Sounds like she and others were working WITH Noel to rent out space in the lot for their businesses. YOU heard, or think you overheard, meaning you were eavesdropping on a private conversation and you didn’t get the context, nor did you get the actual conversation did you. Did you YOURSELF actually ask Noel if he was renting space out, or if he had allowed people to be there?
Yeah, you don’t have to answer that. I know the answer already.
> These ugly trucks and vans that set up to grab a fast buck are not pretty to the eye and the noise of the
> propane generators are a nuisance- and a pollutant of air and eardrums. Why should we have to endure
> this offensive noise and smell, just so they can make money and, their product is not cheap by any
> means. And remember, they are only interested in setting up in a location that is free to them.
Even uglier is the attitude that you and others seem to have regarding LOCALS having the gall to start up businesses that compete with your preferred businesses. How dare they? As for price, their products are as cheap as you’ll find them anywhere else. As for your last statement, please qualify that. You KNOW this for a fact? You can prove that they are not paying rent and are just squatting? And again, I point you to my FIRST paragraph. In a town as small as Pittsboro, with a local government that is money hungry as they are, do you REALLY BELIEVE that they would let a few small businesses like that sit in the old Ford Lot for WEEKS without coming to collect their money? If you do, I think maybe you should go join the Chemtrail watchers… they could use someone with your astute insight.
> A tell-tale sign of this took place last First Sunday (day of Pittsboro Christmas parade) The owner of
> Mobile Espresso van was overheard to let the manager of First Sunday know, in no uncertain terms, that
> she had no intention of paying the $20.00 set-up fee (which all first Sunday vendors pay)- And that no
> one could force her to pay. Not only that, but she had a bad attitude. She further bullied the situation by
“was overheard”? There you are again, eavesdropping on other peoples business. Didn’t your mama teach you any manners? But from what you said, YOU didn’t do the overhearing either… so you heard, from a friend, who heard from a friend, who heard from a friend that so and so said such and such. Sigh… You make this way too easy. You know, it was recently overheard that you are very flatulent in restaurants. See how easy that was? A completely false statement made to seem reasonable just because “someone” overheard it somewhere…
Pssst… if you believe everything that you heard from Tommy, who heard from Billy, who heard from Susie, who overheard Wendy telling Johnny that he may have heard a man on a corner talking about free ice cream, then I’ve got a deal for you. I have $20,000,000 stashed away in a bank account in Nigeria and I need YOUR help to move the money to America before the deadline comes and the Nigerian government claims it. It was left to my by my long lost Uncle Mark who was a pipeline contractor for a major oil company. He tragically died in an automobile accident and left no next of kin. Or so I heard…
> setting up advertising sandwich boards on several corners of Salisbury and Hillsboro streets. (There is a
> Pittsboro Town ordinance against sandwich boards on streets) VISITORS to First Sunday had to listen to
That’s funny… I seem to remember seen more than a few sandwich boards around businesses on First Sundays in the past… Sadly I missed the December one, but the others I’ve been to have had a few sandwich boards out, and not one of them pointed me to tasty coffee and hot dogs. I must have missed out.
> that horrible propane generator racket for more than 3 hours. This whole thing was planned well in
> advance- Because she had bragged about it in a chatlist that somehow was not published before the fact
> but a week after.
If you think THEIR generator is loud, you should come hear the one I use during power outages. HooooWEEEE does it make a racket.
> (I am willing to bet that Mobile Espresso Van did not have written permission from the town of Pittsboro
> to set-up on the street)
Willing to bet. SO yet another supposition. DO you have ANYTHING that is not a supposition or an allegedly overheard conversation by parties unknown, or an outright fabrication? Anything at all. Just one fact?
> And now Mobile Espresso Van is bragging that they are converting to electric so they can remain longer
> in each location. JUST WHO is going to continue to provide them with FREE ELECTRICITY?
Well, now this is just supposition on my part, admittedly, but having actually TALKED to Tina and her Husband, you know, in person, not through a friend of a friend, but actually walked up to them and chatting them up, I would imagine that the electricity is being worked out among all the businesses there and the bill would be added to rent’s charged, or some other sort of deal. Again, at least I bothered to warn you that I was guessing, instead of just passing my guesses and hearsay off as factual.
> Fees and booth rental money collected from vendors at Pittsboro First Sunday is in return spent on
> advertising, musical guests and other entertainment (Such as the Belly Dancing Showcase)-
Good to know. So tell me, David, what happened when you went to the organizers of the First Sunday and made them aware of this grievous tragedy? I mean, you DID go and actually make your accusations in a place where they could be acted on, rather than just blindly throw them up on a public forum without any due diligence at all, correct? Oh… My bad…
> Pittsboro does not need these gypsy vendors- they have no interest in the town or making it a better
> place. Just what do they give back in return?
Well, Lynn works with Virlies. She buys her goods from local bread stores and grocery stores, sells her wares to local customers and travelling customers, pays the taxes, and I’d imagine that she takes her meager profits and puts them back into the community by shopping for her home in local stores as well.
What do YOU give back in return? I know, you don’t shop outside of Chatham’s borders, right?
Can someone, ANYONE please explain how this is supposed to work. So, I should start a local business and feed back into the local economy but I should NOT start a local business because I’d be stealing business from other local businesses? Does that about sum it up.
So again, now that the Don Quixotes have stepped forward to rid our blighted town of these evil dragons, I will certainly sleep better at night… or maybe not because your zeal for tearing down a local business in the name of local business is just so confusing it makes my brain hurt.
Again, can ANYONE prove that they are not licensed? Not inspected? Not paying rent? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Anyone?