Four Baggers and Foreclosures

Gentrification is happening everywhere. It’s a simple fact of life these days. Wherever a long existing business operates, it can quickly go away as soon as the revelation of higher profits that would come from a newer re-purpose of the property, enters the picture. Leaving character, atmosphere and culture of a neighborhood as the ultimate victims.  But with the money involved, you can't expect anything else. So one business leaves as soon as a plan is developed for a new business that would make more money for the investors. The American Dream. Just over three years ago, in November 2019, I drove down to the endangered Lake Street Kmart, in South Minneapolis. Recently, it had been announced that particular Kmart would close in the Summer of 2020, for an as yet unknown re-purpose. (That store’s closure was sped up by riot, after those four Minneapolis policemen murdered George Floyd, in the same neighborhood.) Likely the building would ultimately be demolished, and I wanted to see...

A few months before Laura and I moved away from Colorado, one of my favorite retail shops permanently closed. Meaning I lost another of my favorite hang outs and places to waste several hours of time. Second Spin finished their 20+ year run on South Colorado Blvd. in Denver, in January 2018. Here’s a brief history/summary of Second Spin (established in 1996), from their defunct page on Yelp: SecondSpin.com has been online since August, 1996. The corporate offices and warehouse are located at 2230 E. Carson St. in Carson, California. In June, 1998, the first SecondSpin.com retail store opened in Sherman Oaks, California. Since then, stores have opened in Costa Mesa, California, Santa Monica, California, and the 12,000 sq. ft. superstore in Denver, Colorado.  That former “superstore”, at 1485 S Colorado Blvd. Ste 100, Denver, CO 80222 Products on the SecondSpin.com site come from three sources: the internet, the retail stores and from brokers around the country. This gives SecondSpin...