-Gila Region Community News, Calendar, Forum-

The Red Barn has been bought by Addison Street Investments LLC with main office in Spokane Washington and a DBA filed in New Mexico. Right-of-way for shared parking has been negotiated with the new owner of the Copper Manor Motel (Prabhuvilla Corp of Roswell, NM) and filed with the Assessors office.

A preliminary sketch was sent to the Community Development showing a Denny's built in the front corner of the lot with parking where the current Red Barn building is located. No permits for demolition nor building have been requested and the Community Development Department sent the inadequate sketch back with instructions on how to proceed properly.

Well, we lost Golden Corral; KFC; Long John Silver's. Denny's serves consistent food across the country. They also have food items that aren't traditional steak and prime rib ... for a national chain ... they're acceptable. People who come here might feel Silver City has caught something much of the country has. I doubt it will start a trend. But, it's not the end of the world. They serve Fish n Chips, I believe, as well as chicken ... who nows what else. It's always sad when an old establishment folds, but it happens. Things change.

Not too excited about Denny's. Used to be one in the smallish town I came from and I did go from time to time
for breakfast. When traveling, I avoid them and try to find a good local restaurant. However, SC does need restaurants.
The Red Barn used to be a place where you could count on good food and good service at a fair price. They were
always packed with diners. But the deteriorating booths were not replaced or fixed, the carpet had about 40 years
worth of spilled food in it, and other options to dine opened up so customers became fewer and fewer. I guess owners
wear out along with facilities. Good luck to whatever restaurant replaces Red Barn and Thank you, RED BARN, for many
years of enjoyable meals.

I was at the Denny's in T or C a few years ago. I was pleasantly surprised at the selection and quality. Not at all like what I remembered from the 80's. No, it won't replace the soon-to-close Curious Kumquat, but it will be a good fit for the median income of Grant County.

Twenty years ago, after a series of highly publicized incidents of racism, Denny's paid out $54 million dollars in lawsuit settlements. In the aftermath, Denny's made a serious and evidently successful effort to transform itself, even to the point of being named "Best Company in America for Minorities" for two years in a row following the lawsuits. See http://lubbockonline.com/stories/040602 ... nvx4korLcs

On the other hand, a google search on Denny's reveals at least scattered reports of racial discrimination at Denny's restaurants, including Islamophobia. Given that Denny's operates in a country in which nearly 40% of the members of a major political party love Donald Trump, I guess it is to be expected that a national chain restaurant would at least at times have employees who treat its customers badly.

I have no idea how Denny's as a chain now treats minority employees, suppliers, and customers. Given its history, though, perhaps inquiries about Denny's to the NAACP, LULAC, La Raza, Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, etc. might be in order. To me, the way Denny's treats its customers is at least as important as its menu, and perhaps the corporate headquarters ought to hear that message -- one way or the other -- from a community in which it is thinking about opening a restaurant.

AW

I long for a Trader Joe's. Looks likes a perfect property for them.

From the perspective of local economic development, the sale of the restaurant and the motel are both net losses, in that the owners will now be from somewhere else, so that portion of the revenues going to the owners (profit) will leave the area.

A national chain, Denny's, will be even worse for several reasons. One is that such restaurants purchase practically nothing locally. Another is that it is likely to be much busier than the establishments that are locally owned, siphoning away sales. National franchise businesses are like straws stuck into a community for the purpose of sucking money out. I'm not suggesting that there is anything to be done about it, just stating some facts about how economic development works.

The key to "doing" economic development is to evaluate what sorts of businesses and community actions are better at bringing outside money in, recirculating money, and keeping money from leaving the community - and focusing support on those opportunities.

Now that I've got started, I think I will move over to the business topic and talk about some examples of local economic development.

We won't be on the list of locations for Trader Joe's. I talked to their corporate office some years ago about using the Tyrone Mercantile property as a "small TJs". The person to whom I was speaking told me they only do one size store and that's 10,000 sq. ft., exactly the size of the Mercantile space. However, they also require 100,000 population within a 3-mile radius. That won't happen here in my lifetime. There is one exception and that's Santa Fe due to the economic level of the citizens. Again, not here in Grant County.

However, if anyone is interested in opening a store, restaurant, school, swap meet, etc., please keep the Tyrone Mercantile in mind. Or, let your friends (and enemies) know about it. It is For Sale or Lease at a reasonable price. Loads of parking space and opportunities for expansion.

There is also a Modular (like a double-wide) on the property available For Lease. This would be great for a Realtor, Accountant, Attorney and such, or even for two or three to share for office spaces.

If one is managing a business in the Mercantile they can live in the Modular. How convenient is that?

Tyrone is only about 3 to 4 miles south of Broadway and much faster to get to than WalMart once the bridge is opened up again.

For more information, contact me at 575-388-2826. Please, no solicitors unless you are a commercial real estate agent who can seriously help market this property.
Joe B

I agree with the idea that if Denny's comes to town -- council, zoning, whatever -- that they state in public, what they've done to remove the stigma of previous racist imagery and service from the past. It's difficult enough for me to get, but slowly, I have, what "white privilege" is. For many locally, that's a totally alien idea. The imagery and vibes that Denny's cast in that past go round, made me wonder seriously about ever stepping into another. When I used to go to Tucson for fun ... before the disastrous physical near death experiences I had in early 2012 ... followed by the diagnosis of my wife with Ovarian cancer, her suffering until she died 24 February, 2014 ... I went to a Denny's in Tucson. There were, as a I recall, African-American, Anglo, and Hispanic employees. I, too, and my wife, en route to ABQ for her chemo, stopped at the Denny's in T or C. I do not remember the staff composition, but it was a nice place.

We made several Denny's over the year and a half when her chemo was under way (including several times @ the Denny's in Deming); I had amputations; heart surgery; etc., until she died. I haven't been back to one since then ... but it is important to hold them accountable. If they pass the muster, then I think a Denny's would be great. It will cause local eateries, I'm sure, to have some stiff competition as Denny's has what is, I guess, a "national" menu that could attract visitors not sure of the local fare. But, the local businesses are for the most part, top notch. It will definitely cause everyone to "up their game" and for that, I think we should look at the possibilities.

Deming will become larger, and attract more business as it is on I-10; has a slightly wealthier snow bird and retiree group; has received federal funding for some infrastructure as part of a corridor essential for the Border Patrol and crossing @ Palomas; and what seems to be a location for more solar power facilities now and in the future. Silver City needs to work on more solar powered facilities. We get good sun. Not as good as Deming, but good enough to help us showcase more use of solar power than now. Likewise, we need to take a page from The Cosmic Campground, near Alma, which is now a draw for astronomers of amateur status. Silver City should look increasingly at lowering the night light skies so that we can capitalize on OUR location for drawing night sky viewers who aren't in camping experiences. With some infrastructural improvements to our nigh lighting, and at least one nationally known restaurant of Denny's nature, we can improve our chances at the money spent by amateur astronomers.

They probably have higher incomes; are eco-friendly; and are more likely mature and willing to drive north from I-10 or I-25 to get here. We're not Disney world, and it is a long drive to bring young folks along to say, the Cliff Dwellings as the main draw. Also, if we can find funding for enterprises like Stream Dynamics, et al, who can turn every option for water harvesting locally, we can begin to be a showcase for how towns in the Southwest can harvest water.

Think "Dune" even if you don't dig the movie. Harvesting water, as well as standing firm on saying "HELL NO!!" to diverting the Gila, we can present a solid stand for prudent use of water and saving the last free running river in New Mexico as "gems in the Crown." These things can fit and be finessed, but if Denny's wants to play here, they must show they've overcome their racist oriented past. Not a big thing to demand. If they balk, they can forget it. Local businesses, I'd guess, won't back their coming if Denny's can't show they are changed.

At least, those are my thoughts.

The last documented, public, racist incident involving Denny's was in 1997. That's 19 years ago.

You saw for yourself the divesity of their workforce in T or C.

After their $54 million dollar settlement from the 1997 incident, here's what has recently been said about them (from wikipedia):

Denny's created a racial sensitivity training program for all employees. Denny's has also made efforts at improving its public relations image by featuring African-Americans in their commercials, including one featuring Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford, both actors from the popular The Jeffersons television series.[26][27] In 2001, Denny's was chosen by Fortune magazine as the "Best Company for Minorities."[28][29] In 2006 and 2007, Denny's topped Black Enterprise's "Best 40 Companies for Diversity."[30]

What more would you want them to do to prove they are worthy of opening a restaurant in Silver City.

Without some proof that racism still exists within the company, you folks need to let go of what happened almost 20 years ago.

I don't see how Denny's not being racist in their hiring policies makes them suitable as a restaurant in Silver City. Sorry to say but is Silver City suitable for Denny's? To fill the needs of a franchise business a community must frequent the business and offer up their hard earned money. Does SC have the central demographic model to do this? Just asking, not criticizing. I wish them all the best. We need more good places to eat.

_________________
Joe Butts

I am in complete agreement with Gordon about the down side of non-locally owned businesses because of their impact on the local economy. I will likely eat very rarely or not at all at Denny's, since its bill of fare does't suit me much, being a vegan. However, i think it's important to remember that there are many people living in the Silver City area for whom Denny's food and prices suit them to a T. We are a very culturally diverse community, and what you, Joe, and I, and most of our friends like in a restaurant is probably not an opinion shared by a large percentage of the population here. Not a big Denny's fan, just sayin'.

_________________
Azima Lila Forest
www.zianet.com/azima
azima@zianet.com

Joe, what you describe about Trader Joes's criteria for store locations sounds plausible, even smart, but may be worth another look. In Santa Barbara there are three TJ's, and their total 2015 population was 88K. There are another two TJ's in Goleta whose populations is only 30K. I know one of those which is squeezed in between a CVS and Von's (I think Vons, maybe Albertsons) in any case I'd be surprised if that store meets the 10,000sqft benchmark. I can image TJ's not being so interested in the Tyrone Mercantile, not enough exposure or population within 3 miles, but the Red Barn property is in a whole different setting on both counts. That all said, Trader Joe's is great, but there's other similar retailers, Sprouts, Sunflower, that would fit the same bill. Or, maybe better yet, some ambitious young entrepreneur could apply that same business model (we know it works) come up with a new name, (maybe, Yucca stalk) and primarily stock it with locally grown produce (sort of a 7 day, 9-5 Farmers Market). Both market demand and local economic development interests would be met that way.

JE1947's Deming forecast seems provocative, not so sure about convincing though. The astronomy idea sounds like fun, but too much light here to really make a go of it. Alma makes a lot more sense, but I'm still finding myself drawn by the Space Port and the potential opportunities connected with it. Let's get past the problems and criticisms with that project and agree, it is going to be finished and put into operation. That facility will need a reliable base of ground personnel whose training is not well established. To date, launch facilities have been run by NASA and the Air Force with most of their civilian workers being ex-military, often in the same job, just retired from the service and no longer wearing a uniform. These new commercial space ports are market driven, not military, the mindset between the two is quite different, and the training to develop that mindset is different as well. It's a new day in this field and a new education curriculum will be needed to meet its new requirements. WNMU seems small and flexible enough to be responsive to the dynamic needs of this emerging new field as it evolves, while also geographically well suited being only 75 miles downrange of the Space Port America launch site. At the same time, the initiating motive behind the Space Port has been space tourism, and I'm not seeing any of the surrounding communities rushing to pick up the ball serving that market.

The passengers buying tickets for their trip into space will by definition be holding sizable amounts of recreational cash. The total time they'll be enjoying their space excursion will only last a few hours. What will they be doing and where will they be staying the rest of the time they're visiting Southwest New Mexico? They're not going to want to hang out in a palapa somewhere in the Jornada desert waiting for their turn to ride into the ionosphere. Silver City would be a great place to vacation for week bracketing their day the Spaceport. Which brings up a whole other rarely mentioned segment of the tourism market we enjoy here.

First some quick basics. Thanks to changes in public education funding and focus on core subjects, many of our country's K-12 schools have lost their elective programs, music being among those casualties. Consequently kids are no longer introduced to music theory or playing instruments. Run that forward and it only makes sense that we'd increasingly see live music vanish from our national landscape. My friends from Oahu tell me you can't find a club anywhere on the island now with a live band. Maybe you'll find one with a DJ, but live music you can dance to, is gone. Given the size of Silver City, it's truly amazing that we should have the amount and diversity of musical talent that we have here. On any given weekend you'll find live danceable music at Q's, Diane's, the Toad, or all three. Those of us who live here and are cued into it know what to look for and where to go. Otherwise, the music scene in Silver City is like a well kept secret. Visitors who bumble their way here and find themselves downtown listening to Rhythm Mystic or the Roadrunners are blown away at how amazing they are. If properly promoted our live music and dance scene here could draw far more people to Silver City than the Cliff Dwellings and Yankee Street galleries combined. So could the Red Barn be turned into a nightclub capable of holding 200 people drawn here to dance and buy a beer and a hamburger while they're at it? I have no doubt.

In regard to Trader Joe's in Silver City, I used to live 40 miles inland from San Diego and our town of 30,000 wanted a Trader Joe's. We were told then it was not a matter of town size so much as it was location. They kept distribution costs down by stringing locations and if a town grew they would add more stores so some towns had a cluster of TJs. That was one way they were able to have low prices for quality items. We were too far off the coastal highway to qualify. That was 15 years ago and that company now seems to have changed policy a bit by moving into Arizona's larger cites. I do notice when I go to Tucson to Trader Joe's their pricing is not quite the bargain it used to be, but still good enough that a trip to Tucson always requires a stop at TJs.

"Not too excited about Denny's. Used to be one in the smallish town I came from and I did go from time to time
for breakfast."

I actually quite like Denny's as I have cheap taste buds lol..

For me, the biggest question is what would be their hours. If they would have meals after 9 pm and even a short menu into the wee hours ... and Sunday & Mondays. I always thought they would come to the old restaurant space by the motel on the east side of 180, but I have to admit something closer to town would be useful for travelers and WNMU students.