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Rout Orders Missing Flyer Racks ReplacedLast week we reported the mysterious disappearance of Flyer racks
from the Criminal Justice Center complex at 201 Poplar. Actually,
it’s probably not much of a mystery, considering our cover story
that week dealt with alleged misdeeds in the Sheriff’s Department,
which just happens to be headquartered in that building.
We complained to city and county law-enforcement officials, and
eventually the Shelby County Police, a special division that provides
security for county buildings, looked into the matter. The missing
racks were eventually found — empty, of course — beside a freight
elevator. Shelby County Mayor Jim Rout also posted a notice to
employees throughout the building.
“In recent weeks, The Memphis Flyer has been plagued by substantial
losses to their newspaper racks and supply of newspapers located
in the Criminal Justice Center,” the notice began. “While the
findings of an internal investigation are inconclusive as to whether
these losses are the result of an organized criminal initiative,
it is clear that a prima facie case can be made that efforts were
made to interfere with the Flyer’s ability to distribute its papers.
…”
After ordering that the racks be relocated “to an area of the
Criminal Justice Center where they can be monitored on a twenty-four
(24) hours, seven (7) days a week basis, by our surveillance system,”
Rout warned that “Shelby County in general, and the Mayor’s office
specifically, will not allow any employee or visitor to county
buildings to use unlawful activity to restrain lawful trade. Further,
Shelby County Government will prosecute to the fullest extent
of the law and [sic] anyone caught participating in such unlawful
activity.”
Last time we checked, the racks were still there. — Michael Finger
Fill the Sears Crosstown Building?The Memphis Flyer has heard rumors — which we have not yet been
able to confirm — that an out-of-town developer has expressed
interest in the Sears Crosstown building.
Back in the late 1920s, many thought the Sears, Roebuck company
was crazy to build such a huge store so far out in the suburbs,
but more than 47,000 shoppers jammed into the store on opening
day, August 8, 1927. The 11-story building quickly became one
of our city’s biggest retail centers. Big not just in terms of
sales either: More than a million bricks went into the construction
of the 650,000-square-foot Midtown landmark, and later expansions
almost doubled its size.
But Sears Crosstown has stood empty since 1993, and even the
mighty brainpower of the Flyer staff — enough energy to power
the city of Twin Falls, Idaho, for 25 days! — has failed to come
up with a good use for the behemoth.
So we turn to you, our readers. Think up a good use for the Sears
Crosstown building and send us your ideas by April 15th. We’ll
publish the best suggestions in an upcoming issue of the Flyer,
and even pass them along to the developer as a community service.
Mail your suggestions to “Sears Crosstown Contest,” The Memphis
Flyer, 460 Tennessee Street, Memphis, TN 38101. — M.F.
Board of Equalization Still Has VacancyWanted: Memphis resident, good knowledge of real estate, for overworked
appeals board.
The Shelby County Board of Equalization, a property-tax panel
to which residents can appeal the appraised value of a home or
building, has lacked one panelist since June.
Last year, the board received more than 36,000 appeals following
a countywide property reappraisal program. Its session was supposed
to end December 18th, but board administrator David Newsom says
the panel will not finish 1998 appeals before this year’s session
begins May 1st.
Last year, state law added two more panelists to the seven-member
board — one to be appointed by the county and one by the city.
Chairman Greta Thompson says the county commission quickly chose
another member, but the city slot remains open.
Newsom, responding to criticism the board does not reflect the
social makeup of Shelby County, says that “it’s just about as
diverse as you can get, except there’s no children on there.”
Members L.A. Westley and Lilly White are black, and White and
Thompson are the board’s only women. “Until I got on there [two
years ago], they didn’t have any women and they only had one black,”
Thompson says.
“I think it’s much better now ... I’m not saying I wouldn’t object
to more blacks and more women.”
In the 1990 census, Shelby County reported 55.1 percent white
citizens, 43.6 percent black citizens, and 1.3 percent other races.
Newsom says the board’s racial makeup doesn’t affect its decisions.
“I can tell you without any hesitancy that [county residents]
get good and fair shakes before this board,” he says.
— Eileen Loh-Harrist
Saluting the BluesSenate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Mississippi) introduced a band of adolescent bluesmen from Clarksdale — including a 6-year-old bass player who was outsized by his own instrument — at the Blues Foundation’s 19th Annual Blues Hall of Fame induction ceremony held Tuesday, March 16th, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. This year’s honorees included David “Honeyboy” Edwards (inducted for his autobiography The World Don’t Owe Me Nothing) and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, both of whom took the stage to jam with the likes of Isaac Hayes, host Rufus Thomas, Taj Mahal, and Bobby Rush.
Internet Increases Competition for Book Salesby L.S. JONES Got a new novel to hock? Joe might want it. Feel the need for
an old romance? Chances are Joe has it. And if he doesn’t have
it, he can probably get it.
Joe Hagan and his wife Martha have owned and operated their two
Book Rack stores, one in Bartlett and one in Midtown, for 28 years.
In that time, they’ve seen book prices — and profits — rise steadily.
Not bad for a used- book operation, if Joe does say so himself.
Especially since bigger chain stores around the city tend to help
the process rather than hinder it.
“We depend on the new bookstores because people turn new books
back in to us,” Joe says. “The bigger stores are not our competitors.”
But the relationship between conglomerates like Barnes & Noble
and more modest outfits is growing more complicated by the byte.
Internet sales are affecting how both kinds of outlets do business.
Chalk it up, of course, to online bookseller Amazon.com, which
has set the stage for breakneck competition the world over. And
this is indeed big business. According to U.S. Commerce Department
data, book sales might reach $24 billion in 1999.
Some of the smaller stores are in trouble. In Seattle, where
Amazon’s headquarters are located, independent booksellers have
been unable to keep up with diminishing market shares. Many have
closed their doors for good. Amazon, on the other hand, grows
fatter with each extinguished light.
But the Memphis marketplace appears to be a more complicated
animal, and it’s hard to determine what effect, if any, Internet
booksellers have had on local book dealers.
“We don’t fit the profiles because we’re such a weird store,”
says Burke’s Books manager Corey Mesler.
Burke’s sells new and used books. It even has a Web site (www.burkesbooks.com)
that has increased overall sales because of its exposure to international,
and not just Bluff City, demand.
Yet there’s a downside, as well.
“Because of the savviness of book collectors [on the Internet]
we’ve lost some online business,” Mesler admits. “We’ve been bypassed.”
Another phenomenon is worth mentioning here. Barnes & Noble has
been making eyes at Ingram Book Company, America’s largest book
wholesaler, which supplies independent stores like Burke’s Books.
“There’s a saying among members of American Booksellers: That’s
like Wendy’s having to go to McDonald’s to buy french fries,”
says Mesler.
But how are big boys like Barnes & Noble and Davis-Kidd faring
against electronic book-selling? Barnes & Noble claims it hasn’t
hurt them. “We have just as many people coming in to order because
it’s more convenient,” says Susan Parker, manager of the Winchester
location.
Parker would not comment any further, but another chain manager
agreed to give some insight.
He says that Web sites such as barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com
just don’t compare to the good old-fashioned art of physically
browsing — looking at, walking among, and touching books. Besides
that, many people will go to the Web sites, print off what interests
them, and show up at area Bookstars or other Barnes & Noble stores
expecting instant gratification. Who wants to wait for books to
be shipped when they’re sitting on a nearby shelf anyway?
Even so, local stores say they’re adapting to the new competition.
In the words of Burke’s manager, “The business is changing; we
need to change with it.”
NCCJ Presents Annual Humanitarian AwardsThe National Conference for Community and Justice will present
its 1999 Humanitarian Awards to four Memphians April 29th at The
Peabody. The awards recognize “outstanding individuals in the
community who by deed and action have made a difference in the
lives of all our community’s citizens.”
This year’s recipients are:
Josie Burson (upper left) — the daughter of Lithuanian immigrants,
and a lifelong proponent of diversity, who served as the state
commissioner of employment from 1967 to 1971, and has volunteered
for numerous organizations, including Senior Citizen Services
and Hadassah.
Charles M. Crump (upper right)— a practicing attorney since 1937,
actively involved in breaking down racial barriers in groups ranging
from the Rotary Club to the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce.
Harold Ford Sr. (lower left) — the first African American elected
to Congress from Tennessee, where he held office for 22 years,
and was an active member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Richard C. Hackett (lower right)— former Shelby County Clerk,
mayor of Memphis 1983-1992, and presently senior vice president
at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Tickets to the 38th annual awards presentation are $150 and $250.
For more information, call the NCCJ at 278-3551.
— Michael Finger
Museum Targets Churches for Fund-raising InitiativeThe National Civil Rights Museum is hoping to expand its audience
and membership — and fatten its coffers — through church congregations
across the Memphis area.
Spokesman Larry Brooks says the museum has sent more than 1,000
letters to local places of worship, asking them to participate
in its “Power of the Dream Commemoration.” That’s a series of
five Sundays (March 28th through April 25th) surrounding the April
4th assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in Memphis in 1968.
“We’re asking them to do several things,” says Brooks, the museum’s
director of development. “One is to take an offering for the museum.
The other is to make a platform acknowledgement of remembrance
of Dr. King and the importance of the Civil Rights Museum.
“We would like them to include some comment to that effect in
their bulletins ... and help us make membership forms available
to church attendees.”
Brooks says people who bring church bulletins to the museum on
April 4th — which falls on Easter Sunday this year — will get
into the museum for $1, instead of the regular $6 admission fee.
— Eileen Loh-Harrist |
