Jackson Jambalaya

Harvey admits in the C-L today that the Convention Center is drowning in red ink.

One after the other, this just breaks my heart. Havertys has been around quite a while, home grown business.

dont worry twitterwell will now be studying how to create a "vibrant zone" around the convention center. so hotels and Other great things are headed our way.

When is Haverty's closing? I've been meaning to complete a bedroom set we purchased from them.

April. That's when their lease expires.
Found it interesting in the article about the LOSER of a Convention Center that the only figures I could see were from 2009. Even they admitted that that was the best year they had, and still lost more than 1 million dollars. Also noticed that the woman that was the director of the Convention Center had been replaced by a man. One of Harv's "friends", no doubt.

Is there room for a Haverty's in Madison?

Red Tape....the city has taken to many direct hits. And Harvey and his city Council continue to steer this Titanic to the ocean floor. The city will continue to lay motionless, not a breath in it's body till someone can find a solution to bring it back from the hopeless demise.

"Downtown is dying"

- Ben Allen
- MS Business Journal
- January 28, 2013

Lets start a pool on who is next. County Line is dying on the vine. It's lost a ton of businesses over the past couple years. I haven't been to the Mall in forever, just not safe.

Did others of you notice the other night in Harvey's coverage, he said 'The name of the game is jobs'? What he means is his total mission is to get his friends, his friend-girls, his friends' chillun and his neighbors jobs in government one way or another. Paycheck, benefits, retirement. The name of the game. Wonder how many of those jobs amount to shovelin' shit on the Titanic.

Ben Allen.....what a joke. He can't even get T.V. time anymore. Here are some ideas how he can get on T.V.
The next time anybody talks about him, he should shout "yo mama, yo mama".
He should rent a bus and bring folks in for some sort of parade, then refuse to pay the bus bill, then 8 months later, declare his signature was forged.
Or, pass out "STOP THE CRIME" flyers at a local intersection. Like the intersection where his business was before he closed it up because of crime problems in Jackson.

Next on the chopping block: Toys R Us and Academy Sports.

Academy? You must be kidding. I hear they're adding a store in Madison as a result of the 'what's your zip code' program. Dick's is a joke.

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20130130/BIZ/301300038/Haverty-s-closing-Jackson-store-15-to-lose-jobs

hoo-ray! yet ANOTHER opportunity for a finger nail shop, a "hair" knot salon destination and a check cashing counter, ALL under one roof! I already hear the clink of coin rolling in!

"Downtown is dying"

- Ben Allen
- MS Business Journal
- January 28, 2013

It is certainly comical how last year Ben Allen, et al -- including Kingfish as well as other "anonymous" participants here @ JJ -- were hysterical as they hyperventilated that the state should purchase the Landmark building for $14.1m instead of continuing to lease the building in Clinton. They waxed long about the benefits of buying versus leasing, said the asking price for the Class A building was a steal, etc..

Recall that immediately after the legislation died, as if Jackson had some type of divine right over the placement of state jobs, Allen mad rushed to the TV Newsers to disparage Philip Gunn by name as some type of political evildoer who used the power of his office as Speaker to refuse the movement of jobs out of his district into downtown.

Well, lo and behold, this year the Landmark building is suddenly available for the dramatically reduced price of $7.6m -- a 46% drop in price only 10 months later. The building is now available for nearly half the price of what Allen readily told the media was a golden opportunity and a steal.

So this week from his all righteous perch as downtown's Grand Poobah Ben Allen posits his hope that "business acumen" will carry Blount's legislation this year versus "politics" though it is politics, plain and simple, that Allen is himself playing -- and not that well.

No surprise, of course, that Ben Allen has avoided mentioning his own lack of business acumen and failure of judgement that led him to push for the purchase of the Landmark building last April at a huge premium that was way out of whack relative to market.

It all started when Unfinished Furniture (next to Jason's) folded, it was a good concept and excellent people, too bad.

It started with Unfinished Furniture
(next to Jason's)...they had a great concept and good
people, SAD

My vote to exit ..... Best Buy

Not to worry. Jackson will survive as long as there are Krystals, Church's Chicken, service stations with large black grills on wheels, Dollar Generals, Burger Kings, people named Singh selling rolling papers and storefronts hawking hundred-dollar recliners and forty-dollar mattresses.

And Patels buying older hotels.

I don't know about Haverty's, but if Academy wants to move to Madison that will be fine with me. I haven't darkened Dick's doorway since they took the AR's off the shelves.

Dick's never did have ARs on the shelves, Goober. And who only visits a sporting goods store to salivate over an AR? Dick's is pretty sparsely populated with products in Madison. I usually head to Academy after finding out Dick's either is out of what I'm looking for or being told 'we don't stock that here at this store'. Academy has the best fishing tackle/supply aisles in the area and camping supplies as well as grilling stuff is a good draw too. And they've got five checkers instead of one.

Dennis Smith is retiring! Thank God. One less ahole on WLBT.

Goober? I must have dreamed that Dick's ordered all their stores to remove the AR-type rifles after Sandy Hook. They even stopped selling ammo for rifles they had already sold. I don't know if the Madison store had any or not - like you, I have found them lacking on a number of occasions and have gone to Academy. I can't imagine that you missed that story, though. You're usually so much better informed than the rest of us.

Queen Mary ROCKS. LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!

I have said it before and will keep saying it because SF and others feel the need to keep cheering for Jackson's demise.....what is in it for you? What sort of sicko celebrates bad things happening? Who insults people like Ben Allen and Leland Speed. I'll tell you who...guys who are not qualified to carry Leland's jock strap.

From the C-L article about the closing:

<<>>

So, no move to Madison. Haverty's is only interested in metropolitan areas that are GROWING. Imagine that... Cannibalizing from Jackson doesn't make the area any stronger.

And as the mayor of Oklahoma City said, "A strong core is necessary. You can't be a suburb of NOTHING." Take note, Madison...

And you speak about someone's jock strap from first hand experience?

By the way, Queen Mary's days on the throne may be soon over.
"Knock 'em out John!!!"

how does farish street fit into all this?

@ 2:22; Look dunce, I just got through saying I shop at Academy. In case you're too thick headed to realize it, that's in JACKSON. I shop there because Dick's in Flowood and Dick's in Madison and Bass Pro in Pearl don't compare. Find another tree to piss on.

"shadowfax" notwithstanding, Dick's did indeed sell AR15s

I'm not happy to see another business go under, nor am I rooting for Jackson's demise, but I see a lot of nastiness on both sides - an "Us Vs Them" mentality that isn't good for the metro.

Having said that, Jackson's leadership has a downright pathetic record on keeping businesses in town. Several years ago I visited Sutherland's on I-55 during their going out of business sale. I assumed the new Home Depot had forced them out of business and I asked the cashier if it was so. She replied that no, it was the city taxes that were driving them away. Sutherland's still has a place in Pearl. They didn't run because of black leadership or some other silly liberal excuse. They ran because the mayor and the council are amateurs and possess the most unsophisticated concept of economics in the region.

To Johnson, Stokes, et al, raising the tax rate equals more revenue (a mantra we hear repeated with a touch more polish by their big brother in DC). They look at a revenue stream and say if it's X at 5%, then it will be 2X at 10%. The problem here is that businesses aren't required to stay put, and can move two miles away, serve the same customer base, drop their CODB and increase their profitability. So when a pure business decision is made, people start cavalierly throwing about charges of "racism". It's pathetic. An appeal to the prejudices and ignorance of a certain demographic does not compensate for failure in city administration, period.

Don't talk to me about convention centers and Farish Street blues clubs when you can't even serve the needs of those who have committed to the city. Since Johnson was first elected mayor, the city's business community has become a mishmash of hair salons, payday loan parlors, liquor stores, and burger joints, with the odd Char or Parlor Market eking out a profit. It's not a recipe for growth in commerce.

Perhaps you can't be a suburb of nothing, but you can become self sufficient. I would say that Madison, Clinton, Flowood, Pearl, Ridgeland, and Byram have been suburbs of nothing for some time. I'd love to see that change, but it never will as long as those in charge refuse to review their attitude toward business or their understanding of basic economics.

"with the odd Char or Parlor Market". Or Babalu or Nicks or all of Fondren for that matter, new homes in NE Jackson, the South, yes Whole Foods, baptist expansion, UMMC expansion, St.D expansion, JA expansion, Pinnacle, King Edward, Standard Life, underground 119, Children's museum, River Hills

Now that I think about has anyone ever seen Queen Mary and Shadowfax at the same place at same time? Maybe they are the same person.

Thank you 9:28. Put it in perspective for the negative shitheads that don't live here.

Yes our Mayor and Council sucks but I do love Jackson.

Sam's left Jackson because of the renovation of Jackson Square.

Who could possibly compete with such a magnificent rebirth of Terry Road.

"Downtown is dying"

- Ben Allen
- MS Business Journal
- January 28, 2013

9:28 forgot to mention Jackson's wonderful surface based sewage system on display in Fondren. Shitheads like 9:52 should really be able to connect with, er, love such a high tech solution for moving shit.

Sales Tax Collection Diversions

Jackson
Dec 2002 = $2,852,148
Dec 2012 = $2,569,253
Change = -9.9%

Madison
Dec 2002 = $112,665
Dec 2012 = $492,892
Change = +337%

Adjust Jackustan's numbers for inflation and it gets even uglier.

-->>> January 31, 2013 at 9:52 PM: Yes our Mayor and Council sucks but I do love Jackson. <<<--

### Metro Ad Valoreum Millage Rates (2010-2011) ###

Jackson = 58.03 mils
Canton = 57.03 mils

Edwards = 47.0 mils

Clinton = 38.74 mils
---> AVERAGE = 30.9 mils <---
Flora = 30.5 mils
Byram = 30 mils

Madison = 28.8 mils
Terry = 27.85 mils
Brandon = 23.0 mils
Pearl = 21.5 mils
Raymond = 21.17 mils
Florence = 20.9 mils
Ridgeland = 20.03 mils
Flowood = 20.0 mils

Richland = 19.0 mils

*excludes County & School District

In 2012 Chicago had one murder for every 5277 citizens.

In 2012 Jackson had one murder for every 2786 citizens.

"Downtown is dying"

- Ben Allen
- MS Business Journal
- January 28, 2013

I've seen this quote several times in the comments. Would someone please provide a link to the article? I'd like to know the context.

Knock-em-out-John-Boy has got about as much chance of becoming mayor as a turd released from a sailboat in the rez has of negotiating the spillway and popping up whole on the other side. But apparently there are three to five people cheering for both to occur. There are also those who place bets on groundhogs, equally as meaningless.

SFax didn't say Dick's didn't sell Assault Rifles. He said they did not have them on the shelves in Madison. They did have two locked up in a rack behind a counter. Still, it's nuts to say one stops going to a store because they do not sell ARs as Bill claims he did.

I'm sure Bill is going to take your anonymous concerns very seriously February 1, 2013 at 9:24 AM. Very seriously.

excellent comment, January 31, 2013 at 8:02 PM.

*excludes County & School District

January 31, 2013 at 10:57 PM
What is the total millage rate for Jackson when you include the County & School District?

@Shadowfax, get a job. No one is impressed with anything you post on here.

Shadow is free to post whatever he wishes that KF allows. There is no requirement to impress any anonymous whiners. Either refute or leave his comments fallow or, better yet, start your own joint and show everyone how it is done.

@4:45; Shadow has a job, anon loser. In fact 2.5 at the moment. Judging by your harsh admonition, you sound like the one totin' Leland's Jock. Did you write his whiney letter in today's rag?

The small businesses of Clinton need to be asking David Blount how he intends to replace the revenue they will lose should the DOR employees be forced to move downtown.

Blount needs to explain why Clinton's sales tax base must be sacrificed for the sake of downtown Jackson.

@8:56 because it saves the State of Mississippi money. That's why.