Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

"Open, Open, Open ..."

Do you remember those inane Mervyn's ads from a decade ago? (Note: I don't watch TV, and haven't in about a decade. So I'm going on memory here. Who knows? Maybe those inane ads are still running. I wouldn't doubt it a bit.) Let me refresh your memory.

Some crazed suburban woman stands in front of a Mervyn's store, her hands splayed widely at the window, her nose pressed to it. She's saying, eyes wide with consumptican lunacy: "Open, open, open ..."

Uh huh.

Guess it's now, "Closed, closed, closed ..."

What a darn shame.

Some apathetic little teenager holding one of those arrow signs at the intersection of 16th and Palm announced the news to me yesterday as I was on my way to the trolley station. The sign announced, in addition to Mervyn's going out of business, that merchandise was "80% OFF!!!!!" Yippeee!

As the corporate-surburban bubble of unbridled greed continues deflating, we'll see a lot more of this. Big box stores folding, airlines going under, banks closing their doors. And so on. The problem with Imperial Beach has been--and probably always will be--its utter shortsightedness. For years and years and years the powers-that-be here have catered almost exclusively to the corporates--and now those corporates are dying.

Imperial Beach hates its local businesses, as evidenced by the endless shenanigans and paperwork and ridiculous license fees and foot-dragging local businessmen and -women have to go through to just open their doors here. Local businesses fail here at a clip that surprises even this cynical soul. In the time I've lived here--seven years--I've seen no fewer than three dozen businesses open and close along Seacoast and Palm--which means that the actual number of failures is probably three times that. I'm just noting those businesses I've seen. There must be many, many more.

So let's do the math. IB gives a pass to the corporates--and makes life hell for the locals. But the corporates are going under. (And rightfully so in most cases.) The locals are still getting hosed. Hmm. Quiz question, Dorothy. What do you think is gonna happen to the local economy?

A couple of years ago I and a business associate tried starting a farmer's market. We wanted to have it at the utterly unused parking lot at Palm and Seacoast once a week. Bring in the locals, maybe get some local musicians to pop in, do it up right. The City of IB, of course, was havin' none of it. Worried that their corporate "partners" (Albertson's, Von's) would feel left out, they killed the idea before it even grew hands and feet.

And so it goes.

Imperial Beach is known for its apathy, for its utter indifference to community (see: film festival [gone]; fireworks [gone]; yearly parade [gone]; advertising community events on its webpage [laugh]; updating its webpage on a regular and timely basis [double laugh]; giving local stores and businesses prime placement for the Sandcastle Competition [snort!]; the ridiculous and pathetic "Taste of IB" [bet you didn't even know there was such a thing]; and on and on and on). With the return to sanity that this recession actually represents, one wonders just how much more apathy the City can afford. Like Mervyn's, it too may be going out of business. And soon.

~~*~~

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again
Next Article

Trophy truck crushes four at Baja 1000

"Two other racers on quads died too,"

Do you remember those inane Mervyn's ads from a decade ago? (Note: I don't watch TV, and haven't in about a decade. So I'm going on memory here. Who knows? Maybe those inane ads are still running. I wouldn't doubt it a bit.) Let me refresh your memory.

Some crazed suburban woman stands in front of a Mervyn's store, her hands splayed widely at the window, her nose pressed to it. She's saying, eyes wide with consumptican lunacy: "Open, open, open ..."

Uh huh.

Guess it's now, "Closed, closed, closed ..."

What a darn shame.

Some apathetic little teenager holding one of those arrow signs at the intersection of 16th and Palm announced the news to me yesterday as I was on my way to the trolley station. The sign announced, in addition to Mervyn's going out of business, that merchandise was "80% OFF!!!!!" Yippeee!

As the corporate-surburban bubble of unbridled greed continues deflating, we'll see a lot more of this. Big box stores folding, airlines going under, banks closing their doors. And so on. The problem with Imperial Beach has been--and probably always will be--its utter shortsightedness. For years and years and years the powers-that-be here have catered almost exclusively to the corporates--and now those corporates are dying.

Imperial Beach hates its local businesses, as evidenced by the endless shenanigans and paperwork and ridiculous license fees and foot-dragging local businessmen and -women have to go through to just open their doors here. Local businesses fail here at a clip that surprises even this cynical soul. In the time I've lived here--seven years--I've seen no fewer than three dozen businesses open and close along Seacoast and Palm--which means that the actual number of failures is probably three times that. I'm just noting those businesses I've seen. There must be many, many more.

So let's do the math. IB gives a pass to the corporates--and makes life hell for the locals. But the corporates are going under. (And rightfully so in most cases.) The locals are still getting hosed. Hmm. Quiz question, Dorothy. What do you think is gonna happen to the local economy?

A couple of years ago I and a business associate tried starting a farmer's market. We wanted to have it at the utterly unused parking lot at Palm and Seacoast once a week. Bring in the locals, maybe get some local musicians to pop in, do it up right. The City of IB, of course, was havin' none of it. Worried that their corporate "partners" (Albertson's, Von's) would feel left out, they killed the idea before it even grew hands and feet.

And so it goes.

Imperial Beach is known for its apathy, for its utter indifference to community (see: film festival [gone]; fireworks [gone]; yearly parade [gone]; advertising community events on its webpage [laugh]; updating its webpage on a regular and timely basis [double laugh]; giving local stores and businesses prime placement for the Sandcastle Competition [snort!]; the ridiculous and pathetic "Taste of IB" [bet you didn't even know there was such a thing]; and on and on and on). With the return to sanity that this recession actually represents, one wonders just how much more apathy the City can afford. Like Mervyn's, it too may be going out of business. And soon.

~~*~~

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Two Tales of Customer Service

Next Article

It's Not 2004 Anymore, Dorothy; and Your Little IB Shack Ain't Worth a Plug Nickel

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader