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Not long ago, Carpe Vino received a letter
from the City of Auburn. Whenever one of these ominous missiles
lands in the mailbox, it is usually regarding something unpleasant—another
license fee or we’re being dunned for Drew’s unpaid
parking tickets.
At first I guessed this letter—delivered in a plain envelope—was
from the Building Department about an issue related to our restaurant
build out last year. After we installed the roof-top kitchen ventilation
system, compliant with the city-mandated location for the equipment,
we were instructed to move it because the Sputnik-like power vent
could be seen from the street (like every other restaurant in Auburn).
We offered to build a screen or paint the device any color the City
requested, but we were told basically, “No, it must be moved.”
My reaction was no problem. . .you guys cover the five grand it’s
gonna cost, and we’ll happily shut down our business and move
the vent where ever you say. . .again.
Well, that was roughly one year ago, and the City’s bureaucracy
has been silent as we’ve operated the restaurant—quite
successfully, I might add. Our permit is still open, however, and
if we ever decided to sell the building, we could not do so with
this defect unresolved.
So, I was a bit taken aback when the correspondence—prepared
on special letterhead—was a greeting from the entire Auburn
City Council saying, in effect, “You’ve got a great
business, and we’re glad you are here.” I was shocked
because, well. . .thanks to some of my expressions of personal opinion
over the past year, there is a dearth of Carpe Vino boosters at
City Hall these days.
The second time I read the letter, I noticed it was addressed to
“Dear Carpe Vino.” Actually, there is no Mr. Carpe Vino,
that’s a name we made up. Had the letter been addressed to
“Drew, Laura and Gary,” I guess I would have felt truly
warm and fuzzy.
Then as a marketing guy, I started thinking about why the City Council
felt compelled to send out such a letter to Mr. Carpe Vino and presumably
many other businesses in town. Such initiatives are typically triggered
when there is a PR problem to be overcome, I don’t know.
What I do know is that the City of Auburn, like most every other
community on the planet, wants to see new businesses established
and existing businesses thrive. For this to happen, it is incumbent
on the residents of the community to support their home-grown enterprises.
Shop locally is the mantra, one oft-espoused by our City Council
members.
This is a noble sentiment that would be even more powerful if it
were practiced in real life. Come June, our business will be five
years old, and the Mayor of our fair community has never been through
our doors flashing a Visa card. Not once, and neither has our Chief
of Police.
There is a duality here that is difficult for me to resolve. To
be charitable, perhaps the Mayor abstains from alcohol or simply
does not appreciate fine wine. I can accept those as valid reasons,
but I know for a fact that he eats, and we’ve had a restaurant
open for a year, offering a wide range of alternative, non-alcoholic
beverages.
Whether or not the Mayor avails himself of the joys of visiting
Carpe Vino is immaterial to me. It is our good fortune that so many
other people have discovered the place and the fine dining experience
we offer, paired with an incredible selection of wines that belies
the fact that Carpe Vino serves a community of just 12,500 people
located on the distant edge of civilization.
What we understood early on in developing Carpe Vino is that we
had to reach out beyond our municipal borders if we were to survive
even marginally. We’ve been blessed in that our business has
been recognized with accolades published in the Sacramento Bee,
Sacramento Magazine and Sunset, and as a result, our patrons come
from far and wide—even out of state. It is remarkable to me,
and it is rewarding to see people enjoy themselves so mightily in
the place.
Nothing brings me greater joy, however, than to welcome back my
friends and neighbors who frequent the joint. Recognizing people
by name and recommending a wine I know they will appreciate without
question is what the hospitality business is all about. After nearly
five years of doing this, we’ve got it dialed in, and we love
what we’re doing. . .bringing a modest level of civility to
Old Town Auburn.
So, Mr. Mayor, at the end of the day, the polite thing is to thank
you for your kind note. It is always nice to be appreciated, and
please know that you are welcome in Carpe Vino any time.
One of the characteristics of Auburn I truly
appreciate is the fact that the homogenization of America has thus
far failed to envelope this community and smother the features that
make it so unique and appealing—especially for those of us
whom have come over from the dark side of big-city life.
Sure, within Auburn or very nearby in the County we have four Starbucks,
all manner of fast-food franchises, Target, Kmart and someday soon
a Home Depot. It’s not exactly a perfect world, but balanced
against this blandness and sameness of the mainstream, we have so
many wonderful independent, one-of-a-kind businesses to patronize
and celebrate. These are establishments never to be replicated anywhere,
typically run by dedicated and passionate people committed to an
idea who know how to work hard to achieve a simple goal.
All you need do is cruise the streets to see our good fortune. There’s
Winston Smith, the little book store that could. Hey, there’s
Depoe Bay. . .gotta love Dion’s coffee and you have to appreciate
all of the knuckle-busting work his family put into their great
new addition. And that Brian Ford is going to change the face of
Old Town with his new Auburn Alehouse now under construction. A
zenith will rise from the ashes of the Shanghai only because a young
entrepreneur has the innate creative juice plus the stones to step
up and invest what it takes to bring an inspiration to fruition.
Everywhere you turn there are wonderful jewelry stores, flower shops,
specialty clothing boutiques and restaurants. Oh, the restaurants.
For a town our size, we are truly blessed with so many fine options.
“Idyllic” is not the exact word to describe what we
have here, but it comes damned close. Auburn is a special place
that needs to be embraced and preserved in harmony with the reality
of a changing world. Growth is inevitable, and with it comes many
new residents whose lifestyle expectations were defined in metropolitan
environments. They want what they want. . .both a cute, little Western
town and easy access to Costco, The Gap and now Trader Joe’s
through an overt initiative led by Auburn’s City Council.
I’m told Trader Joe’s is a fine store, but I don’t
know for sure. I’ve only been in the Roseville store once
to purchase Charles Shaw wine (aka “Two-Buck Chuck) when it
was introduced a couple of years ago. (I was predictably underwhelmed,
but for two bucks you get what you deserve.)
The relative worth of Trader Joe’s is immaterial to me. What
leaves me so puzzled is why is our City Council is so purposefully
stalking this national brand? Certainly promoting economic development
is a legitimate pursuit of our elected officials; picking winners
and losers, however, is not a function of any city government.
Yet that is exactly what Mayor Bob Snyder seeks to do through a
futile series of public relations stunts conceived to attract the
attention of the development people at Trader Joe’s. The City’s
campaign rolled out recently in local newspapers with a photo op
of four Council members decked out in Trader-Joe's inspired Hawaiian
shirts. Other events planned include sending a flotilla of inflatable
rafts down the American River flying banners urging TJ’s to
set up shop here.
All I can say is it’s a good thing Mayor Snyder isn’t
in the dating world because “no” means “no,”
and overtures from Auburn have been rebuked repeatedly. When a woman
says “no,” it is typically because of a lack of chemistry.
When a corporation says “no” it means the best-case
return is insufficient and/or there is no fit with the organization’s
business strategies.
Take a look at the Trader Joe’s web site, and you don’t
have to have an MBA to understand how this company operates: it
clusters stores in upscale, densely populated urban and suburban
areas. The closest TJ's to Auburn is located precisely 15.59 miles
distant in Roseville. Then a trail of stores located near freeways
extends from Folsom to Fair Oaks to Sacramento (two locations) and
ends in Elk Grove, 39.4 miles from Auburn’s front door.
That’s a spread of less than 24 miles between the five locations.
And there’s not another store to be found anywhere in our
general geographic region. My guess is Trader Joe’s will construct
a new store in Natomas before we get one in Auburn. I have not spoken
to anyone at the firm’s corporate headquarters (I don’t
want to waste any more of their time with this silliness), but I
expect we’ll see John Doolittle’s damn built in Auburn
before Trader Joe’s breaks ground in our little piece of paradise.
The City Council’s unilateral action to woo Trader Joe’s
offends me on three basic levels, raising these obvious questions:
--Who decided to pitch a single company rather than make broader
overtures to additional firms of the same ilk such as Whole Foods
and Nugget Market?
--What kinds of incentives were our City Elders prepared to extend
to lure Trader Joe’s? Were they willing to give away the store
in order to get immediate access to such staples as Irish soda bread
and fennel antiplaque toothpaste?
--Why didn’t the City Council pose the question to the people.
. .do we need a place like Trader Joe’s in Auburn? All I heard
was anecdotal babble—far short of a groundswell of demand.
To my knowledge, there have been no demonstrations in the street
at the Courthouse.
Something far more disturbing to me has resulted from this little
episode, and all I can do is shake my head in bewilderment: I am
in agreement with the editorial board of the Auburn Journal. General
Manager cum Editor Deric Rothe must have had the day off because
the Journal spanked the City Council in print on March 18. I was
astounded to read this:
“And, the city should not be promoting one business
over another, just because the council's friends and family like
to shop there. There are shopping centers within the city that deserve
more of the council's and city staff's attention.“A flurry
of recent letters to the editor contained complaints about the Auburn
Police Department. But rather than invite taxpaying residents to
air their complaints and seek possible solutions in a public forum,
the council donned Hawaiian shirts and have called themselves Trader
Bob, Trader Bridget, Trader Keith, Trader Kevin and Trader Mike.
“In a city in which a dog was once nominated for mayor by
a councilman, it should be no surprise that small-town shenanigans
are still the norm.”
The fact that I am in sync with the Auburn Journal on these issues
made me question my world as I understand it, and I sunk into a
deep, dark funk from which I am still attempting to recover. For
the full text of the editorial, go to: http://www.auburnjournal.com/articles/2007/03/18/opinion/editorials/01traderjoe18.txt
The way I see it, we’ve got everything we need in Auburn without
a Trader Who. If you want great cuts of beef, pork and more, may
I suggest you visit Longhorn Meats out on Lincoln Way? Absolutely
fabulous and I shop there frequently.
Are you in the market for organic fruits and vegetables or specialty
food items? Then go to Newcastle Produce, or better yet, hit the
Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings. I go every week if I
am in town and shop till I drop. The Farmer’s Market has it
all and much more than simply great vegetables and fruits. The world’s
freshest seafood is brought in by the Little Fish Company. Ophir
Winery and Green Family Winery are there, too, as are booths selling
fresh breads, coffee and wonderful olive oils. Check it out, and
perhaps you'll agree that we don't need no Trade Who.
One of the compelling reasons I moved to Auburn was specifically
because of the limited number of chain and box stores and all they
imply. I appreciated the lack of stand-up concrete structures surrounded
by acres of pavement. Does that make me anti-growth and mired in
what was instead of what is? Hardly.
I’ve lived here for more than seven years now, and I feel
comfortable expressing my opinions. So I have this suggestion for
the chain-store and box-store lovers of Auburn: If you absolutely
have to have access to all of the amenities of the industrialized
world, consider moving down the hill. You’d be much more comfortable
in a place like Roseville or Rocklin (great towns, to be sure).
Or, just plan your trips wisely. You can hit Sam’s Club, BevMo
and Trader Joe’s all in one fell swoop.
Auburn is what it is, and that’s what I love about it. What's
the point in destroying the treasure we call "home?"
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