Regarding the Big M…..first of all, you should never go on “gossip” Is your source reliable? What facts do you have to support your suggestion? I hate heresay! Perhaps you should first try to consider reality…at least as I’ve seen it happen….what was right in front of our eyes…correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I’ve seen, the store has had to deal with many hard blows since it opened just 2 years ago ….from the closing of the bridges nearby the first year of operation… redirecting hundreds of potential shoppers to the “other” store, as you state, leaving your village”….and, please keep that thought in mind….the “other” store does not contribute any tax money to the “Village” of Trumansburg….but it surely likes to talk about being locally owned and hometown operated….it’s a fallacy….lures you to believe that they are there for the community in some way… Truth-be-told…The Big M was all about “what can I do for you”….For the Shur-save, it’s all about “what can you do for me?” Oh, and what about this spring/summer and fall?…the infamous “sidewalk project” that crushed so many merchants…I’m sure that hundreds of thousands of potential dollars were lost for most all of the stores in downtown. It’s a wonder that other facilities haven’t shut their doors, as well. The sidewalk project was a poorly managed project and no consideration was given to local vendors and how it would impact them, given the way it was run….Shame on those involved in this so-called “beautification”…..It was very “ugly” in the way that it didn’t work in partnership with the shopowners….Just ask them….any of them!! I did a little of my own walk-around the community during the project and believe me, the feedback was not positive!

So…before you go and start creating your own thoughts on what is happening with any of the economic shut down on Main Street…take a look at the recent history of the village…Perhaps if you had had a shop on Main Street you could empathize. I’m not physically disabled and thus I can’t speak of what it’s like to live in a wheelchair, to have someone feed and dress me, to be looked down upon by the general population because of being different….I’m not deaf and so I can’t really feel how badly it would be to not hear the sound of a bird singing, a baby laughing, a river flowing…In other words, if you haven’t walked a mile in their shoes, then you can’t know what it felt like for them!

“Simply Reality”:
The Truth About Selling 53 East Main Street
by
Tom Callaghan, the previous owner of
53 East Main Street provides
details missing from or
distorted on the
Simply Red Bistro website.

In January 2006, Ms. Izzo, of Simply Red Bistro asked if I wanted to buy her restaurant business. Apparently, the roles of new mother and proprietor were hard to reconcile.
Simply Understandable.

Already a gainfully employed professional, I declined.
Simply No Thanks.

History: After I bought the building in 2003, I continued to provide Ms. Izzo with rent that was 35% below market. I thought that this would facilitate her getting the business off the ground and keep me from having to scout for a new tenant.
Simply Wrong.

Even though I declined to buy the business, I honored the clause to convey the lease term to another buyer who passed credit scrutiny. Maybe someone wanted a foundering restaurant named after an eighties alt band.
Simply Whatever.

Regardless, I worried about Mz. Izzo’s perpetual ambivalence (she’ll stay open, she’ll close, she’ll stay open, she’ll close, stay open,, close, open, close, AAAAHH!!!..). I thought, “Perhaps it’s not smart to wait and see if Ms. Izzo will renew her lease in November.” I decided to sell the building instead.
Simply Prudent.

I contacted a local real estate agency to discuss options. The agent calculated the price that the building was offered and eventually sold.
Simply Market.

Following the lease terms, I gave the Izzos right of first refusal to buy the building. They declined, making no counter offer, let alone two, as the Simply Red Bistro website claims. Simply Bogus.

Even though she was supposedly closing, Ms. Izzo surmised she might exercise the option in her lease to renew, regardless of sale, 60 days before the original lease expired. Then she decided not to renew.
Simply Enough Already.

The building was listed in the Ithaca Journal Classifieds. Within a week, five parties showed interest at the what the Simply Red Bistro website complains was an “inflated” price., Within another week, two parties were bidding!!
Simply Hot.

The next week, a contract was signed. The sale closed in September. Simply Fabulous.

Apparently, the new owners offered Ms. Izzo the opportunity to remain, and to raise the rent to the $1 per square foot that everyone else in T’burg pays for commercial space.. Simply Free Ride’s Over.

The Simply Red Bistro website reads like Ms. Izzo was driven out of business by a conspiracy to make her fail. Simply Not.

Long and short, Ms. Izzo initiated the building’s sale by saying she wanted to close. After three years of paying the cheapest rent in town, what’s left is…
Simply Dead.