Pazzo's Blog that is on the internet

There goes one theory – piececounts are down 22.9% (sales 14.2%) in the last quarter according to americandrycleaner.com (yeah, that’s a real website. Additional pressure on the industry is apparently coming from higher hanger prices (this is sort of interesting in an extremely uninteresting way. Apparently China has been dumping wire hangers on the market in order to put everyone else out of business and own the wire hanger business in the U.S. I kid you not. The US commerce department is threatening tariffs etc. etc. This makes it possibly a good time to start a wire hanger business).

We’ll sort this out for you.

Has anyone noticed (how couldn’t you) the boom in dry cleaning business in Roslindale? I count at least three that have opened in the past year or two (two on Belgrade and the new one where we used to be on Washington St.) making at least 6 in Roslindale by my count. It’s madness but the cause is unclear. Some possibilities:

People have taken up eating messy foods (Italian, tacos, grape juice) and aren’t very good at it yet.

Similarly, residents have become suddenly clumsy.

Residents are attending more cocktail parties and/or yacht clubs.

A number of entrepreneurs simultaneously purchased the same business report indicating that Roslindale was ripe for a new dry cleaner.

West Roxbury has outsourced their dry cleaning to Roslindale (the Zoots on Centre St, recently shuttered).

In the UK, the ban on smoking in pubs was linked to a decline in dry cleaning business (less need for removing that stale cigarette smell – I guess we could probably trace a decline in suit sales back to this as well) – perhaps they’re smoking on the sly in Rozzie? I have noticed a marked decline in people milling around on the sidewalk outside – let’s say BK’s.

A recent poll suggests that 34% of New Yorkers have taken second jobs (or worked overtime) to combat the slowing economy. This means more suits and shirts and less time to clean them. Perhaps dry cleaning is one of those counter-cyclical businesses in certain markets?

Interesting article in the globe today about the down economy hitting Roslindale. We were concerned when it didn’t even mention that we were leaving, until we noticed that they’d already taken our move into account by removing our building from the map.

I love the idea that butchers and thrift stores are counter cyclical – I used to tell anyone who would listen that this was one of the great things about a used bookstore as well. I’m not really sure it’s true in any of the three cases (certainly not for used bookstores), but it’s a good story.

Nice little article in the Bulletin about our move – you’ll notice I successfully looked as wretched as possible so that our new customers will be pleasantly surprised when they see me in person.

It’s true – Pazzo Books, Roslindale’s award winning bookstore is moving in May to 1898 Centre Street, West Roxbury. We’ve had a ball here in Roslindale, and we’ll miss everyone terribly (but we’ll miss you all less if you truck on over to our new location), but our business never quite developed as we’d hoped, as far as walk in traffic, and our repeated attempts to find something more central in the Square never quite panned out, for a variety of reasons.

We’ll be having a sale in May and will be looking for a home for the skee-ball (which, tragically, won’t be making the trip). Hopefully you’ll all continue to patronize Pazzo (oh, great idea Pazzo, you’re the tops, really) – we’ll be ever so conveniently located between the CVS and Roche Brothers on Centre Street (and just a block from that somewhat tragic looking Blockbuster). Why, just wander out the Roche Brothers parking lot and you’re practically there.

For all of you Rozzites who do errands in West Roxbury, we’re working on an online errand optimizer – just plug in your errands and it will show you when the optimum time to stop at Pazzo is.

We’re very excited to meet all you West Roxburians, and we hope you’ll come by early and often – we’re right next door to The Irish Cottage and the next block down from Sugar and The New Deal.

Ciao!

Updated to note that this is not an April Fool’s joke – I’m afraid we really are on the move. Also to note that the train station is right behind where the shop will be – can you imagine anything more romantic than a train journey to your local used book store? Take a loved one, take a stranger, pack a lunch.

All week the a city bus going up and down Washington St. has been backfiring aggressively every time it slows down (which typically means every time it’s outside the store) – and it’s loud, more akin to a shotgun blast than a normal car backfire. People are visibly shaken when unprepared – children cry, women swoon, men grit their teeth or howl at the heavens. It’s not pretty. What’s shocking is that this has been going on all week and either no one has complained (impossible) or no one is interested.

It was the 50 Bus last time I saw, but they change at Forest Hills. Maybe they can’t keep track of which one is backfiring so they can’t fix it. Seems like a Kafka or Gogol story with some beleaguered bus inspector always one step behind, feverishly trying to do his job which seems increasingly impossible and pointless. Poor guy.

Whitey Mclaughlin, the cobbler next door to the shop died Monday the 28th. He’d been hospitalized for pneumonia for some time, but somehow it seemed like he’d beat it back – grind it down with his impossible stamina, and be back at work. We’ll miss you Whitey – he was a true son of Roslindale, cobbler for over 60 years on Washington St., and it won’t be the same without him, not at Pazzo, not in the Square, and a little bit of Boston has gone out of the world.

But I’m sure he’s back at work, cobbler to angels, and if they don’t wear shoes in heaven, I’m sure a few words from Whitey will set them straight on that point.

The wake will be at F.J. Higgins from 4-8 P.M. on Thursday and the funeral mass will be held at Sacred Heart on Friday at 10 A.M.

I should really just knock in there and see what’s going on, but the puzzle seems more entertaining, for now. Current guesses, as furniture continues to go in, are either an office (if it’s real estate, someone’s got some splainin’ to do) or a reseller of IKEA furniture. The black, apparently retailesque shelving, with the addition of the modular desks has taken on a more foreboding aspect. Hope reigns supreme though.

Update: It turns out it’s a design firm that designs strollers – so it all makes sense, more or less.

In other news, Rick points outpp that a new cafe is going in at the old Ranchero spot at the north end of Adam’s park.

Looks like something is happening at the old Sandpaper homestead on Birch St. – workers, some black retail looking shelving, lights – anyone have an inkling what’s up?

In other news, we’ve gone from being conspicuously absent (well, conspicuous to us, anyway) from the 2007 Not for Tourists, Boston, to being mentioned in passing in the 2008 edition We like to keep our victories bite sized around here:

What Rozzie lacks in hip bars, it makes up for in restaurants like Delfino, shopping like Joanne Rossman and Pazzo, and a surprisingly large amount of bakeries like Fornax Bread Baking Company. If you wanna get your drink on, you’ll have to hightail it for JP.

I’ve made a flickr set of images from Roslindale taken via google streetview. If anyone can find someone doing something really interesting, outlandish or illegal in streetview in the Roslindale area, I’ll put it up and give you a free and genuine Pazzo T-Shirt and maybe some other fine gifts.

Sadly, the pictures seem to have been taken on a Monday afternoon, so action is at a minimum but this is Roslindale unvarnished, unpreposessing and unprepared; the truth of the place as seen by a guy in a car with an automatic camera.

Oh, if you can find definitive evidence of what the photo car looked like (e.g. reflected in a window), you’ll win a signed photo of Brian along with a certificate of authenticity.

Thanks for the heads up to Mr. Josh Glenn.

Google Streetview has meandered down to Rozzie and now shows all of the Square save, interestingly, Birch St (it’s not actually interesting; they only did the major roads). Sadly, it was sort of cloudy that day, so Roslindale will forever look a little blah and missing the nice views of downtown from Metropolitan.

100 Starlings introduced in Central Park in 1890’s by Eugene Schieffelin (it is said, with apparently little evidence, that he wanted to introduce all birds mentioned in Shakespeare for the edification of New Yorkers. His attempts to introduce bullfinches, chaffinches, nightingales, and skylarks were not successful.) have become a swarm of 200 million blanketing North America. Every afternoon they descend on Washington Street, chattering noisily, eating locust seeds (or whatever they are – the worst choice for a sidewalk tree imaginable; they bloom for three days then litter the area with tiny yellow flowers only to months later grow sticky seed pods that then drop everywhere and attract the Starlings), and befouling the sidewalk and any cars in the vicinity with their strange red/brown droppings. There must be something different in those seed pods – I have never seen bird droppings of such troubling size and consistency. Early estimates suggest yearly clean up costs in the tens of thousands not to mention the emotional costs which may be incalculable.

Thanks Eugene.

Here shown on the tree outside Pazzo, eying me hungrily.

Interesting article in the latest JP Gazette talking about high rates on Centre Street.

Laurie McKeown, a lawyer with an office on Centre Street who regularly advises business owners and landlords regarding commercial leases, said some of the rents discussed at the meetings resemble “Newbury Street prices,”…Business owners in prime locations, according to McKeown, report paying more than $40 per square foot

Not quite Newbury Street, as they mention, but definitely getting there. A few of the tenants, past and current, mention “rent…increasing six percent per year” which sounds familiar.

BAPA member Bob Franklin, another Centre Street-based attorney familiar with commercial real estate issues, said leases normally include triple-net or an annual percentage increase to cover utilities and taxes, but not both.

“It’s an irrational argument [for a landlord] to say they are entitled to both,” he said.

Perhaps if a few of us wander around town muttering this under our breaths it will spread.
» Read the rest of this entry «

Looks like a cell phone shop is moving in where Loda Shoes used to be on Corinth. Looks pretty nice, I guess, though I’ve long had a theory that the desirability of a neighborhood is inversely proportional to the number of cell phone joints. Maybe not what everyone had been waiting with bated breath to see materialize in one of the long vacant spots in the square.

On the other hand, maybe I’ll wander over and see what all this cell phone “buzz” is all about.

Sam Yoon wins again, but there’s interesting results and a startling lack of interest in this years elections. This lack of interest apparently hurt Felix Arroyo the most as he loses his seat – turnout in West Roxbury and Southie carries WeRo’s John Connolly onto the City Council.

Rozzies Matt O’Malley has a nice analysis and here are the unofficial returns. Looks like the more things change, the more Irish people still vote.

In appreciation of Mayor Menino’s near ubiquitous ribbon cutting skills, we’ve put together a flickr set of his exploits. After going through and picking the highlights (have one we missed? Email us and we’ll add it!), we started to feel bad for businesses that didn’t get to have the Mayor cut their ribbon, so we’re working on a prototype of a cardboard Menino cut-out that anyone, anywhere can enjoy. Have the Mayor cut the ribbon every morning before you open – enjoy him at birthday parties, bat mitzvahs, christenings, losing your virginity; the possibilities are virtually limitless. Just slide your ribbon between the genuine stainless steel scissors (included at no charge – gold or giant scissors available at an extra charge) and have him cut away.

Two years ago, Pazzo threw its 11th hour support behind Sam Yoon and tipped a hard fought election in his favor – Brian characterizes it as 12th hour – but this time we’re coming out early for Sam. I think you get 4 votes so consider casting at least 2 or 3 for Mr. Yoon.

For those keeping track, Marty Hogan and David James Wyatt are the only two to stop by the bookstore, so they get points…

My wife picked up Greek food from Newton last night (yet another reason why we need a Greek place in Rozzie) and the results were pretty funny. The pitas were from Bob’s Pita, the stuffed grape leaves were the ones you can buy in cans at Droubi’s or the fish market, and I have no doubt that if we’d gotten baklava it would have come from Vouros. It’s like a little micro-economy with Rozzie playing both Mexico and the U.S. We produce the raw materials, send them away for assembly and then re-import the finished product. I think this makes Newton China – they sure would be mad if they found out.

By the by, though I forget the name of the place, don’t go there. The gyro lamb was more like lamb chicharones – strangely hard and translucent with fat. I can’t even quite imagine how they got it to come out like that.

Speaking of being run out of business by the back Adam Smith’s invisible hand, Pazzo has heard (from an unnamed source quoting an unnamed source) that Jax is turning into a Border’s Books. We also have it on shaky authority that everything we’ve heard about Jax is a lie. We’re keeping our ears peeled and our eyes to the ground to bring you the latest, so not to worry.

We spoke to a number of local business owners and they were all excited about a bowling alley – it’s just a question of biding our time and swooping in once the box stores don’t work out.

Brian continues his lonely push to turn the whole store into the world’s biggest ball pit/day care center – you could insert your children up top at the beginning of the day and pick them up from the exit chute down below at the end.

Next weekend, October 6th and 7th is Roslindale Open Studios – paintings by H.D. Reynolds will be on display at Pazzo that weekend and throughout October.

On Sunday, October 21st, we’ll be at the Pioneer Book and Ephemera Show in Northampton (we’ll be closed that weekend). If you’re out in the area, come check it out.