Business news seems to be popping up all of a sudden. Maybe spring is the time to open a business or close one. Of the three businesses up for discussion today, only one has a clear and complete story line. We’ll talk about it first.
Crush, selling vintage clothing, accessories and art, opened in the old city at 121 N. Jackson in spring of 2011. After just shy of three years, Sarah Frankl has decided to move the store behind Four Seasons Vintage Decor & More at 5708 Kingston Pike. The store in the Old City is now completely closed and the new one is set to open this Friday. I thought Crush was a perfect fit for the Old City and from afar it seemed to be doing fine. I wondered why they would move. So I contacted Sarah.
She told me she agreed Crush was a perfect fit, but feared it would go out of business if it stayed in the Old City. Her fears were founded both on current circumstances and anticipated hardships. She cited concerns about, “the issue of booting in private parking lots, pan handling, my KUB bill (heating an historic building was costing me $800+ a month),” as current concerns.
The first two are familiar issues to downtown residents. The store is located next to a private lot and, apparently, Knoxville visitors from outside downtown assumed the lot must be free. I’m not sure how that is true, but I heard the same statement about that lot from at least one owner from another nearby store. I was told stories of people being booted before they could run to get cash and return.
She also mentioned a future concern related to the “impending street construction on Jackson Avenue.” That’s understandable, to me. If you look at the 100 block project, which was admittedly more complicated, delays and unexpected complications made that project a very difficult one for the effected businesses to endure. For her, it all added up to the need to make a move.
While she remains bullish on the Old City in coming years, saying, “it may be as nice as Market Square,” in the future, for her this was the time to move because the numbers just didn’t add up. She points out that her new location out west has ample parking and much lower overhead.
The new business is on Market Square. It isn’t open, yet, but Metro Pulse reported they take possession of the property today. Located at 15 Market Square, in place of Bella Luna, the business seems to be a response to downtown concerns that every new opening appears to be a bar or restaurant. So what is the new business? It’s called Local Motors. Beyond that, the information gets a bit murky.
The photographs on the store front seem to show adult males on three-wheelers. At least that’s what it looks like to me. Then there are photographs that appear to be adults on motorized bicycles. The website shows photographs of these, but also miniature motorized vehicles selling for several hundred dollars each, skateboard decks, video cameras, jumper cables, a desert racer (truck) for just under a hundred thousand dollars, arm chairs, tables, wine glasses, silverware and on it goes.
The spokesperson for the company told Metro Pulse reporter Paige Huntoon that there will also be a “mobile location” and that the company will produce “lots of jobs.” Well, did I mention that it isn’t a restaurant or bar? What exactly is it? I’m not sure my brain is able to wrap around it. And I didn’t even mention that the company is working with the Oak Ridge labs to produces a 3-D printer capable of printing a working automobile.
Finally, 2 Many Pixels, which I’ve promoted on this site as a great place to view excellent photographs on First Fridays in the past, may be about to cease operation. Photographer Patrice Argant, a New York City resident by way of France owns the space as a second residence and has opened up his home for photographic exhibitions each month since April 2011.
The last exhibition was mounted in October and when the next will happen – or if it will happen – is uncertain. Often drawing on his connections in New York and Paris, Argant was able to bring world-class photography into his home, which he then opened to the public at no charge. He told me, based on a conversation with Steven Wicks, curator of the KMA, that this is the only space in the state dedicated completely to photography. His monthly showings consistently set records despite the fact that he is a bit off the beaten path on the second floor at 130 West Jackson.
So what is the problem? It appears the city may feel that his project is a business which then changes the appraisal and taxes he would have to pay. The appraisal would roughly double while the taxes would roughly triple. He’s never made any money off the project and, in fact, loses several hundred dollars each month just to produce the exhibitions. Any money changing hands, he says, is between the artists and anyone who wishes to purchase a photograph.
It will be unfortunate if the issue can’t be resolved in a manner that preserves this excellent addition to our arts district. While some of the galleries include photography, none are all photography all the time. It will be a loss if some reconciliation isn’t forthcoming.
So, we lose Crush, gain a shop where you can buy a car and silverware and we are in peril of losing a cool art space. It’s hard to measure the balance to know if we come out ahead or behind on this round of news. In any case, it will be interesting to see precisely what kind of store we get on Market Square. I also hope we get to keep Knoxville’s only photographic exhibition space.