South of Main Blockwatch

Response From Columbus Compact Executive Director

Response regardin Simply Fashions

-----Original Message-----
From: otena@yahoogroups.com [mailto:otena@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
thejbs@sbcglobal.net
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2006 4:52 PM
To: otena@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [OTENA] Re: SIMPLY FASHIONS

Wow ... its true. Sex sells ... see what passion a thong has
inspired! While I don't wear a thong myself, but after having spent
hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- of dollars on thongs, bustiers, g-
strings, t-strings, v-strings and various other undergarments that
my wife wears every now and then (actually, more then then now) ...
I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert on this subject. So
here goes a 10-point list of additional info:

1. The Compact has been negotiating a Letter of Intent with Simply
Fashions to occupy space in the Save A Lot building (rehab). This
is why/how this discussion has been raised.

2. Neither side (Compact or Simply Fashions) has made any binding
commitments to the other. In fact, when Margaret Cooley raised some
thoughtful objections to the potential lease with Simply Fashions
(Margaret had volunteered last year to serve as a member of a small
group of residents we had requested from NEAC Planning Committee to
review our redevelopment plans), we agreed to keep marketing the
site. Since Margaret (and subsequently Tom Crowe) expressed
different aspirations, we have pitched the site to more than 30
other prospective tenants. I committed that to Margaret and Tom in
an April 17th email, which in part reads: "Unlike a private
developer, we take the interests and perspectives of neighborhood
residents seriously. A private developer just wants a lease that
works for the project ... we want a lease that works for both the
project and the neighborhood, and will continue to pursue retailers
that are a good fit for as long as it is prudent to do so." We have
done that. Anyone who believes there has been no input or
consideration for the residents is simply wrong. We listen
actively, and where we can we respond. I would also remind people
that a couple months ago I posted to this forum requesting
information on what types of businesses people would like us to
recruit, and we made the same request to members of the advisory
group. We have followed up on the (very few) suggestions we
received. We still would like to hear suggestions, as we believe
there are another +/-40,000 square feet of space that could be
developed for retail here. We are happy to "pitch" the sites to
anybody ... but at some point they have to "catch" ... they won't
come just because we may want them.

3. In addition to its now 300+ stores in 21 states, Simply Fashions
is listed on Inc. Magazine's list of the 500 fastest growing
privately held companies in America. (I could only hope that a
business of mine could become so "ghetto".)

4. Simply Fashions, like every other retailer, has a market that it
serves. Its success as an establishment to date indicates that its
customers are happy with it. By being interested in our
neighborhood, SF must believe it can create happy customers here,
too. These would (hopefully) be our neighbors and friends ...
people very much like the woman interviewed on the newsclip I would
assume: thoughtful, intelligent, normal, everyday people. It
baffles me how people can look at a thong in a mainstream retail
store and assume a Main Street prostitute is its target market. In
making those connections, what are you saying about your perception,
or knowledge, of your neighbors? Have you bought into the
charicatures that we expect to hear from outsiders?

5. The company sells a full line of clothes generally priced at less
than $30, in Juniors, Misses, and Plus sizes, including shoes and
accessories (purses, jewelry, etc.). It is not a lingerie or thong
store, for Christ's sake! (That would be Victoria's Secret.)

6. In addition to visiting the Cleveland Avenue (Northern Lights
area) store and a store that was formerly in a shopping center at
161 just east of Cleveland, we called two of the four Cincinnati
Simply Fashions locations, both of which are in Kroger anchored
shopping centers. The first was between a Jersey Mike's Subs and an
AJ Wright. The second was next to a Radio Shack. Obviously, none
of these is "ghetto", "predatory" or anything else. Just ordinary
retail in ordinary neighborhoods.

7. Simply Fashions never presented to NEAC ... it looks like
Kathleen Bailey just went to Simply Fashions, bypassed their
clothing, and dug into the 99 cent thong bin to illustrate her
point. Whatever that is.

8. I appreciate the several listserve members who have posted
insights that redevelopment is a process, not an event. We have
almost nothing market-rate on Main Street right now (carryouts and
the Church's), and no space to put anything in if it did come. If a
Simply Fashions lease can help rehab a building, perhaps in 10 years
it would be replaced by a less-objectionable? and/or more upscale?
coffeehouse. That is how it works, there is a steady recycling of
businesses if/as the market evolves.

9. The taxpayer dollars at issue here (Empowerment Zone) were used
for the real estate purchase - the redevelopment of the building and
site requires over $1.1M in private debt. These taxpayer dollars
came to this community for the benefit of its low-income residents,
and certainly providing jobs and moderately priced clothing provides
some benefit. These taxpayer dollars have also financed (among many
other things) several Short North businesses, two art galleries in
the Lincoln Theater, the Creole Kitchen restaurant, and the newly-
opened Subway's Restaurand in the Mt. Vernon Plaza. To look at any
one project and say "this is it, and its no good" does a disservice
to the balanced approach to development we have undertaken, where we
are trying to bring a wide range of goods, services, and amenities
back to the neighborhoods. If $1 thongs aren't your style, Kibibi's
Art Gallery would be happy to sell you a $14,000 sculpture (or some
$15 earrings), Gallerie Les Beaux Arts would be happy to sell you a
$350 necklace or a $7,000 painting, Subway a $6.00 sandwich, and
Creole Kitchen some $6.00 blackened 'gator. This is the urban
tapestry we are working so hard, with so many other people and
organizations, to create ... but it happens one business at a time.
Everyone can have an opinion on any single item, but the opinions
are so much more informed when they also acknowledge the other
things happening.

10. I don't have a 10th point. That said, I'm going home. Maybe
my wife is wearing some scanty panties today ... a man can dream,
can't he?

-- Jon Beard
Columbus Compact Corp.
251-0926