Daily Archives: August 17, 2005

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Clark overtaken by Marathon

The Clark gas station at the corner of Knoxville and Forrest Hill is changing to a Marathon gas station, finally. They had a banner advertising the change last fall, but today — roughly a year later — they are finally changing the paint and signage.

Maybe their luck will change with the new moniker. You may remember that this is the station that gets robbed on a regular basis, although thankfully no one has been seriously injured there.

Unfortunately, the one thing that won’t change is the price of gas. High prices, high prices. Wherefore art there high prices? A gas station by any other name will gouge just as bitterly.

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Truant and Consequences

There was a lot of discussion at last night’s city council meeting about the intergovernmental agreement District 150 wants to enter into with the city regarding truancy.  The big argument centered around the fines that would be imposed for multiple violations.  Starting with the second time a child is delivered to a “truancy assessment center,” apparently the parents are fined $50, with each subsequent violation increasing the fine another $50. 
 
The argument is that there are higher truancy rates among the lower socio-economic population, and they are the least able to afford hefty fines.  As one council person put it, some families would have to choose between paying the fine or putting food on the table.  An alternative to the fine — community service for a couple hours on a Saturday — was also scoffed at.  Single parents who are working two or three jobs could lose one of those jobs if they have to take time off to perform community service, one council person argued. 
 
Other council members essentially asked, “you got any better ideas?”  While truancy apparently is more prevalent statistically among the “lower class,” it still exists across all socio-economic classes.  Are we going to fine the upper class families, but not the lower class?  That sets up two sets of laws and is inherently unfair.  Should we dump the whole idea because hypothetically some families might not be able to pay the fines?  And, bottom line, is truancy a violation of the law or isn’t it?  If it is, then there should be no question about the fines.  We don’t have different fines for different people when it comes to any other violation — parking, speeding, loitering, etc.  Why should this one be any different?  The school board went out of their way to try to avoid fines (first time is a warning, subsequent violations can be satisfied with community service).  If not this policy, then what?  What is the alternative? 
 
No one had an alternative, so it passed by a wide majority.  I believe that was the right decision.  It’s not anyone’s goal to fine poor families.  The goal is to get kids to stay in school.  We can’t make two sets of laws.  Nor can we put in a policy that has no consequences or it will be meaningless.  Kudos to the city and school district for working together!  May they continue to find ways to collaborate and improve our school system.

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Heights not alone in Ben Franklin loss

Peoria Heights isn’t the only city to lose a Ben Franklin store this year.  Folks in Adel, Iowa, will be losing their store in December, and residents of Derry, New Hampshire, just lost their store in April.  Their stories are almost identical to the Ben Franklin here in town — mom and pop owners who want to retire and can’t sell the place, or increased competition from big box stores eating into profits.  The Heights store had both pressures.
 
One former Ben Franklin store owner has had a big impact on the chain’s demise:  Sam Walton.  He got his start in business by opening a Ben Franklin Store in Newport, Arkansas in 1945.  By 1962, Walton had abandoned Ben Franklin and opened his first “Wal-Mart Discount City.”  Gaylon Spinney, owner of the Derry Ben Franklin store, blamed his store’s closure on the “escalating cost of business, along with a sagging customer base and increased competition from big-box stores, as making it impossible to stay profitable.  ‘With major stores like Wal-Mart, HomeGoods and Staples moving in, our piece of the pie is just that much smaller.'”
 
According to the Derry (NH) article, “Ben Franklin Retail Stores Inc. was once an international chain with more than 300 craft stores and 530 variety stores, [but] the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1996. Since 1997, the stores have been licensed and independently owned.”  Some of those stores have managed to stay profitable even with the big box stores’ encroachment, but it’s a labor of love on the part of the stores’ owners.
 
Chick and Betty Schwarzkopf own the Adel (IA) Ben Franklin store.  “A business like Ben Franklin’s isn’t the kind of thing you can run as a hands-off investment, [Chick] Schwarzkopf says.  ‘This type of business is very labor-intensive.’  It would be a good venture for a husband and wife team, he says, but not so good for somebody trying to make a profit by hiring a manager because the money isn’t there.  Just like on a family farm, ‘you have to be involved, ‘he says. ‘You have to be part of the payroll.'”
 
I’m sure Marie and Jerry Hoerr, owners of the Peoria Heights Ben Franklin, would agree.  They’ve poured themselves into the little variety store, and no one begrudges them their much-deserved retirement.  Still, it’s too bad that some enterprising young couple couldn’t take over the store and keep it going for another generation.  But I suppose that’s just wishful thinking in today’s retail climate.  It’s funny that Schwarzkopf would liken his small variety store to the family farm — another enterprise that’s disappearing, unfortunately.
According to this website, which looks to be a little out of date, there are 211 Ben Franklin variety stores in the United States, including 11 in Illinois.  After September 30, there will be just 10, and it looks like the nearest one to Peoria will be either in Decatur (unable to confirm whether this one is still open) or Gilman (definitely open), which is on US-24 (just off I-57) between Champaign and Kankakee.  Too far to drive just to pick up some penny candy, but if you’re passing that way anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to stop in and enjoy a little nostalgia.