Here Comes The Neighborhood.

I don’t know what it says about me that I’ve worked in the same building for most of my professional life. I’ve been through several jobs, moving more or less upward, but every time there’s been a plan to move me to another building it’s fallen through. So I’ve had a front row, or rather side window, seat to all the changes in the neighborhood. The building next door specifically has been through almost as many changes as I have. When I started working here it was a Pizza Hut and that’s what it was for more than ten years. This was surprisingly long because not only has the chain’s stock fallen but that specific Pizza Hut developed a reputation among everyone who worked in the surrounding area. It was known for charging higher prices than what was listed on the menu and if anyone complained the manager would come out and yell “It’s an old menu!” A couple of my coworkers complained enough on one occasion that he refused to give them their pizza or their money back. Also at one time I counted seven other pizza places—five of them entirely local—within a two mile radius so people who wanted pizza for lunch had other, better options, which just added to the mystery of why that Pizza Hut survived as long as it did.

Then it became a Qdoba and did well for a long time, standing out in an area that mostly had chicken and burger places, but competition and the decline of the chain nationally caught up to it. Next was a local casual dining place which seemed like a good idea—a lot of the fast food places in the area have been replaced by hotels, and even several restaurants have gone. Maybe the hotels want captive customers, although one hotel that’s where a beloved music store used to be left its restaurant space empty and unused for years.

The casual place didn’t last long either in spite of its prime location. Now it looks like the whole building, which has been the one constant, is about to be torn down.

Maybe they’re going to put in a pizza place.

I documented the decline and fall of the music store that is now a hotel, which still seems like a downgrade for the neighborhood.

 

 

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4 Comments

  1. M.L. James

    Wow! I love the montage you created along with the music, Chris. Of course, your stories are priceless. I speculate that why the Pizza Hut stayed in business as long as it did was because it laundered money for criminals. I’m probably wrong and maybe I’ve seen one too many Ozark episodes, but that’s my guess. When they re-build, you will show us what went up, right? My son, especially, hates when restaurants and brick and mortar stores shut down left and right. Everything must change, I know, but part of me dies a little when some place I used to take my kids when they were young goes away!
    M.L. James recently posted…What’s Up, Doc?My Profile

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    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      I don’t want to speculate and risk incurring the wrath of Pizza Hut but I can believe it was a money-laundering operation. But not one as sophisticated as what went on in Ozark, which I loved. Anyway I will show off whatever goes up next. I hope it’s a local business. I think local places are so much better than chains.

      Reply
  2. Ann Koplow

    More great slices of life, Chris.
    Ann Koplow recently posted…Day 4262: Hopes and DreamsMy Profile

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    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      I appreciate your slices of life, Ann.

      Reply

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