 
Detroitrise
Member
Username: Detroitrise
Post Number: 3615
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008 - 8:05 pm: |    |
The other day when venturing to Bel-Air to go inside their Secretary of State, I decided to enter where National Wholesale Liquidators was located. This was on a Tuesday & I'm wondering to myself why is everything so condemned & the parking lot is empty.
Well after visiting their site, I discovered the only Michigan location listed was at Northland Mall, so the only other assumption is they closed the Bel-Air location. 
Many of you won't care, but it's just the fact that even wholesale chains can't survive in city limits.
This was the former Builders Square complex & NWL was only there for 1 year (if that). |
Mortalman
Member
Username: Mortalman
Post Number: 283
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008 - 9:08 pm: | |
You know why? I'll tell you why! I recently went to Burlington Coat Factory where I was horrified by the security precautions necessary to prevent the store from being stolen and walked out the front, back or side doors. When you park in their lot there are signs everywhere telling you to lock your vehicle because they are not responsible for lost or stolen items. To get into the store there is a security guard that buzzes you in, when you walk through the store to look at merchandise there are security guards everywhere scrutinizing and watching the customers every move, if you have to use the rest room you have to go and tell the clerk whose job it is to let people in, then she/he buzzes you in and no packages of any kind can go into the rest room with you. When you leave the rest room there is a security guard that scrutinizes everyone on the way in or out of the rest room. There is one way glass all over the store where store management and security guards are watching everyone, there are security guards that sit at a bank of cameras inside and outside of the store monitoring all activity, the only checks they accept is debit checks, debit cards or cash. After you have paid for your merchandise you have to get in line to exit where a security guard checks your receipt and your merchandise to make sure it all balances out. Once you leave the store and go to the parking lot there are security guards monitoring all the activity to make sure there are no robberies or whatever kinds of other crime that can be perpetrated on the customers. First of all who pays for all that extra security? You know who pays it’s the customers that pay with higher prices. But, more than who wants to go through that terribly stressful and invasive experience? Such is life in the BIG D |
Ordinary
Member
Username: Ordinary
Post Number: 280
Registered: 06-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008 - 9:27 pm: | |
My brother came in from out of town and we were going to go golfing at Chandler Park. It was Sunday morning and I called for a tee time and couldn't get through. We decided to just go down there. I told the guy at the counter that I couldn't get through and he shrugged his shoulders and said, "They stole the copper from our phone service again." It's another example of how hard it is to do business in the city. |
Digitalvision
Member
Username: Digitalvision
Post Number: 1302
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008 - 9:35 pm: | |
And this is why I'm so heartened by the reports I already hear from friends about the "new" police.
I hope it isn't just "washed car" syndrome - you wash your car, and somehow, you think it runs better.
Security is the foundational stumbling block to the city of Detroit. Improved security helps education, investment, neighborhood building - it's so foundational, as without security, you cannot have much business. |
Mortalman
Member
Username: Mortalman
Post Number: 285
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008 - 9:47 pm: | |
Have one of our bright young business minded Forumers develop a soliloquy leading to a business plan that can be presented to the DetroitYes Forum in the Abbey of the Detroit Athletic Club after a vigorous game of bowling on their fine alleys! |
Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Member
Username: Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Post Number: 365
Registered: 07-2008
| | Posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008 - 9:53 pm: | |
I nominate Mortalman to buy the manhattans haha
Let's see if I can break 100....
(Message edited by youngprofessionaldetroiter on September 21, 2008) |
Mortalman
Member
Username: Mortalman
Post Number: 287
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008 - 11:03 pm: | |
I accept your nomination and promise to be the finest Dictator of Detroit you have ever had the pleasure of following. I will institute the death penalty for scrappers even suspected of scrapping and those caught in the process will be executed on the spot by hanging from the copper gutters of the best Catholic Churches in the city. Drug dealers will be keel-hauled from the refurbished Bob-Lo boats on the Detroit River. Robbers and perpetrators of violent street crime will be transported to Dr. Jack Kevorkian so their organs can be harvested for sale to the highest bidder and the funds procured will be used to re-open the Belle Isle Aquarium. Oh and by the way the celebration for the re-opening of said Aquarium will be featured with a fish fry and all the Country Club you can eat and drink! Rapists and sexual predators will find out just how good the Jeffery Dahmer Cook Book is when they become the objects of this book. Murderers will suffer death by "la cale mouillee", also on the Detroit River. Business leaders will be wowed by the business skills and acumen of our distinguished MBA business consultant and lecturer, Youngprofessionaldetroiter! KK will provide leadership by counseling mayors across the country on the pitfalls of public service with the fees accrued deposited into the coffers of the City of Detroit to help defray the funds he misused and pissed away during his tenure as mayor of the City of Detroit. Hey, how did I do Ypd? I know I don't have lots of experience in writing these high minded insights and suggestions but I'm willing to learn. So, lead the way and I'll follow! :-) |
Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Member
Username: Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Post Number: 370
Registered: 07-2008
| | Posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008 - 11:14 pm: | |
Pretty close, Mortalman. Minus the MBA...still on my todo list :P If you're looking for a spokesman, though...I could give Canning a run for his money haha. |
Greatlakes
Member
Username: Greatlakes
Post Number: 247
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008 - 11:17 pm: | |
Delta City, here we come. |
Kathinozarks
Member
Username: Kathinozarks
Post Number: 1509
Registered: 11-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008 - 11:23 pm: | |
Bwaaaaaahhhhhh ha ha ha ha!
Yay you guys!
That store sounded like a prison store. Almost unbelievable. |
1kielsondrive
Member
Username: 1kielsondrive
Post Number: 180
Registered: 08-2008
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 1:12 am: | |
I luuuvvv youuu mannnnn! Mortal, you're a dictator next to my heart. Funny comment about the DAC. It was facetious, was it not? Being an outsider to the DAC, who visits the exalted place on rare occasions, I'm repulsed by the sheer yuppiness and self-importance of the club and it's members. Some insiders(employees)at the DAC that I speak to periodically, have mockingly referred to the DAC as the DIK. They complain of the treatment they receive from the 'upper crust' and, of course, the lack of gratuities from people who fancy their titles, social status, wealth and apparent (only obvious to themselves and fellow members) importance. Too bad such a gorgeous building contains so many hideous people. |
Chrissy_snow
Member
Username: Chrissy_snow
Post Number: 275
Registered: 07-2008
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 8:00 am: | |
I HATE Burlington. The one at 13/Gratiot is the same way, I guess that's part of their business model. I refuse to shop anywhere you're presumed a criminal upfront and you have to prove your innocence. I understand they have high crime and theft, but there's gotta be a better way to deal with it. If it means they close up and don't do business because people won't conduct themselves properly, then the problem needs to be addressed by higher levels of administration. I can't fault a business for not putting up with that kind of constant combat - I know I wouldn't either.
Maybe now that the leech is gone, money can go towards eliminating the widespread poverty, thus reducing the crime, and businesses can thrive. |
Eric_c
Member
Username: Eric_c
Post Number: 1284
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 8:07 am: | |
Went to Starbucks at Jefferson and the Boulevard yesterday. A sign was posted that said they will be closing on September 24 or there abouts. "Please visit Woodward/Mack or Kercheval locations".
Looks like the Buhl Building location is done for, too.
My first thought was, "Well, lots of good copper and window frames to harvest, anyway." |
Gannon
Member
Username: Gannon
Post Number: 14051
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 8:37 am: | |
Hey, could you grab the espresso machine while you're scrapping the place?
I'm going to need one soon, and it is worth way more than the raw metal.
Cheers |
Mortalman
Member
Username: Mortalman
Post Number: 288
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 9:29 am: | |
1kielsondrive, you said, “They complain of the treatment they receive from the 'upper crust' and, of course, the lack of gratuities from people who fancy their titles, social status, wealth and apparent (only obvious to themselves and fellow members) importance.”
Well, let me tell you about the ‘upper crust’ of GP. They were the cheapest, stingiest bunch of self-important people you can ever imagine. And, they are so out of touch with the rest of the population that, I’m not kidding you, they never even think of them but if they do they deal with them in their totally stereotypical manner of thinking which is so out of touch with reality. I worked as a photographer for Fox Studios some years ago and once I got some experience I knew which assignments to take and which ones to say, “I have a bad cold I can’t make that one.” I always took the weddings for black Jamaicans, ethnics and some rich as long as they weren’t in GP. The reason being was that we relied a lot on tips to make it worthwhile and these groups I mentioned were generous. The GP crowd was tight fisted to the point of being cheap and then thought you should be grateful for what they did give you. They also would never deviate from what they paid for and another way we made it worthwhile was to upgrade the photo albums and include other people that wanted photos. It did work with the other groups but the GP bunch didn’t deviate. Furthermore, the women in those groups were hell to deal with. Their husbands might have run their businesses but the wives ruled the roost with an iron fist and they were worse than anyone else we had to deal with. There was another group that was just as bad to deal with but I won’t say who they are because I’d probably never be heard from again on the Forums!
This reminds me of some really interesting restaurant experiences I had many years ago as a college student and other nearly as useless life experiences such as that. Intelligence is so revered and I think it is highly overrated. I had an Economics prof that was a farmer from Iowa that use to say the A students think about and ruin the world and the B students run it! With some significant life experiences I think he was right on the mark! Well, I'll shut up and go and start another thread!! |
Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Member
Username: Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Post Number: 372
Registered: 07-2008
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 9:41 am: | |
quote:They complain of the treatment they receive from the 'upper crust' and, of course, the lack of gratuities from people who fancy their titles, social status, wealth and apparent (only obvious to themselves and fellow members) importance.
Wow. I'll try not to take offense at this highly over-generalized statement. As for gratuities, there is a mandatory 20% gratuity on every service in the club. So your statement on poor tipping is somewhat dubious.
Now I think I might've gotten some push-back on the anti-rich sentiment in Detroit on another thread somewhere.... |
Mortalman
Member
Username: Mortalman
Post Number: 291
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 10:11 am: | |
There's no wiggling out of it now, Ypd! You've branded yourself for life on the DY Forums. We have your fingerprint, so to speak. |
Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Member
Username: Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Post Number: 374
Registered: 07-2008
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 10:35 am: | |
Well in that case, let me go back to my Monday morning massage followed by a couple of long islands. Then I will go be a dick to the service class and yell at poor people. I will live on independent wealth and be blamed for the troubles of the masses. I will then reply, "Let them eat cake."
A revolution will soon follow, and 200 years from now they'll make a broadway musical about it.
Ha.
Branded for life on DYes...YPD |
Mortalman
Member
Username: Mortalman
Post Number: 294
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 10:46 am: | |
I'm glad you've got a good sense of humor, Ypd. Ha ha!! None of any of this is that serious and it is that serious at the same time. |
Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Member
Username: Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Post Number: 375
Registered: 07-2008
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 10:56 am: | |
 ^I know...such is the great paradox of life. I've lived on both sides of the ivory tower, and have yet to resolve that conflict inside myself. I guess that's part of what keeps pulling me back to the city.
Now how to get that bowling score above a hundred.... |
Mortalman
Member
Username: Mortalman
Post Number: 295
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 11:02 am: | |
Ypd, you have a great attitude about things and I believe attitude takes people farther along to a successful life than any other human quality, even intelligence. That's my insight for this week and maybe this year! |
1kielsondrive
Member
Username: 1kielsondrive
Post Number: 183
Registered: 08-2008
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 2:18 pm: | |
YPD, something as obvious as this might never have appeared to you as you were luxuriating in the dining or locker room at the DAC, Pine Lake CC or Lochmoor. The employee NEVER gets 20%. The house (that's the club) gives about one to four % to the employees, depending upon their position. The rest is captured by the club to be used as a service fee and to pay club expenses, including, though you may never hear this, the employee's wages. You see an automatic 20% and don't bother to investigate, thinking this waiter is making out like a raped ape. That's exactly what the clubs want you to think. I'm not saying these employees are starving, but it's hypocritical for clubs to automatically charge a fee and call it a gratuity. It's not! Some restaurants have similar policies. Many years ago, I had friends who insisted in negotiations that the fee imposed be prominently labeled as a business service fee and not as a gratuity. They've not been successful to this day. The DAC is a huge proponent of this tactic and doesn't allow it to be discussed in negotiations. Sorry for the tone and sarcasm. I get cranked by these spoiled wealthy people's lies and distortions. They know the truth but prefer to maintain their delusions. It's easier and cheaper for them. |
Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Member
Username: Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Post Number: 376
Registered: 07-2008
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 2:31 pm: | |
Can't say much about Pine Lake or Lochmoor since they've never invited me to spend any time there.. As for ape raping, I never thought the waiters were making out like bandits. I do have friends that work at the DAC and wish I had their paycheck in comparison to the one I had bussing tables at the old Red Lobster on Mack and Vernier. Not to mention Albert Kahn designed a prettier building.
Of course, those Red Lobster butter rolls were deeee-licious.
Can't speak for the rest of the club, but I try to treat everyone with respect and would say the same for everyone else in my direct observation. 3000 members in the club, though. I'm sure not everyone is sunshine and roses.
(Message edited by youngprofessionaldetroiter on September 22, 2008) |
Danindc
Member
Username: Danindc
Post Number: 4860
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 2:34 pm: | |
quote:The other day when venturing to Bel-Air to go inside their Secretary of State, I decided to enter where National Wholesale Liquidators was located. This was on a Tuesday & I'm wondering to myself why is everything so condemned & the parking lot is empty.
They were so good, they liquidated themselves! |
Digitalvision
Member
Username: Digitalvision
Post Number: 1303
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 2:45 pm: | |
I'd like to make the argument that "making out like a raped ape" is, in fact, negative.
I don't know any apes personally. However, I'm going to guess said ape doesn't like rape.
:-) |
1kielsondrive
Member
Username: 1kielsondrive
Post Number: 184
Registered: 08-2008
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 4:10 pm: | |
YPD, I'd hope you'd prefer a waiters check at the DAC to what you received bussing at the Lobster. It's a quantum leap from one to the next in terms of knowledge, training and experience. Whatever checks they receive they well deserve and they also have to contend with seasonal differences in income. I give you credit for having enough experience and knowledge to know a bit about the business and that there's a difference. The main point here is the difference between the automatic 20% you contend they receive from checks and the actual 1 - 4% they do get. It's a deliberate hypocrisy that persists because members want it to. Most members prefer to think they're very generous and the respect they offer pays the bills of the employee. That's a delusion. Just because the employees treat you well doesn't mean they approve of how you treat them or that they respect you in return. The club will see to it that they treat you well, regardless, or they're gone. As well it should be. The situation certainly doesn't promote honesty. Don't think for a minute that because an employee is pleasant with you that they don't have your number, an occasional acquaintance with an employee, notwithstanding. I'm not trying to beat you up here, I'm just trying to enlighten the posters a bit. Having worked in this business while in college, I'd take any of the auto, steel, factory, ditch digging, jobs to a club or service position, anyday. Research has continually shown, over many years, that service positions are among the most stressful. My friends in the business have frequently said that if they had a dollar for each time members praised their service and left next to nothing, they'd be well off today. Add in clueless members and guess what you have? |
Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Member
Username: Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Post Number: 377
Registered: 07-2008
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 5:34 pm: | |
quote:Research has continually shown, over many years, that service positions are among the most stressful.
Well we can agree on that. I'm in the service industry. My brain's gonna explode these days. |
Mortalman
Member
Username: Mortalman
Post Number: 302
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 6:25 pm: | |
Ypd, go to Eagle Tobacco Wks. thread and answer the question there? |
1kielsondrive
Member
Username: 1kielsondrive
Post Number: 188
Registered: 08-2008
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 9:58 pm: | |
So, YPD, being in the service industry, you can relate to the points I'm making, even if I colour them a bit much? Forgive me if I get carried away on occasion - the service industry has increased my passions. |
Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Member
Username: Youngprofessionaldetroiter
Post Number: 382
Registered: 07-2008
| | Posted on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 11:46 pm: | |
^Of course, 1k. Forgiveness granted.
Just know that we're not all bad guys down at the DIK. I "graduated" from Red Lobster and waited tables at Travis Pointe Country Club in Ann Arbor. I had my favorite customers, and my not so favorite customers. "Ugly" personalities come in all socioeconomic stratospheres and usually are a reflection of the pains they're dealing with in their own world. (i.e. Happy people are usually pretty good to deal with, no matter where they are financially).
My life hasn't changed much, other than that society values the service I provide as worth significantly more in my current position than it was waiting tables. Still the same thing, though. Customers I like...customers that treat me like hell.
Cheers - YPD |
Huggybear
Member
Username: Huggybear
Post Number: 335
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - 12:22 am: | |
Jobs have a lot of financial dimensions other than tips - base pay, benefits, and bonuses figure in, too. Unless you can compare every aspect of compensation (including intangibles like relative job security), it is hard to say with any certainty that anyone is getting any more of a short end working in a country club than they would be working in a restaurant. Something has to attract people to country club jobs; it's not like they are kidnapping people and forcing them to work there. |
1kielsondrive
Member
Username: 1kielsondrive
Post Number: 190
Registered: 08-2008
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - 12:56 am: | |
Huggybear, you should be Huffybear. Your last sentence indicates how much of a Huggybear you are not. Your silly comments like, 'it's not like they are kidnapping people and forcing them to work there' that indicate you have no experience, empathy or intelligence. People take, stay at, and leave jobs for a myriad of reasons other than pay, benefits, bonuses and working conditions. Have you ever thought about families? Children? Illness? Education? I've worked with people who have little education and they're smarter than you and I put together. They don't have a resume. I had a guy work for me that hadn't gone beyond junior high. He was one of the most creative, hard working people I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Who'd hire him if they either didn't know him or only saw his limited education? I know a person who has a seriously ill family member. They're loath to change jobs at the time because of lapse in medical coverage and the unknown of a different position. You put a demeaning and simplistic spin on this discussion. Your comments fit exactly, the arrogant attitude of the type of people I began this discussion about. The 'don't give s*#t about anyone but me people'. |
Ordinary
Member
Username: Ordinary
Post Number: 281
Registered: 06-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - 9:50 am: | |
"There was another group that was just as bad to deal with but I won’t say who they are because I’d probably never be heard from again on the Forums!"
Mortalman,
Who is this other group of which you speak ? Enquiring minds want to know! |
Sumas
Member
Username: Sumas
Post Number: 287
Registered: 01-2008
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - 7:40 pm: | |
A friend works at a private club in GP. He has been there for years and concurs that the elite are cheap. Usually he is very discreet but once in a blue moon he will tell stories about the patrons. The stories have us rolling on the floor and howling with laughter |
Genesyxx
Member
Username: Genesyxx
Post Number: 919
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - 3:55 pm: | |
That sucks about NWL, but I figured they weren't long without proper management and marketing. I think Forman Mills has a few more years in it as well before it goes belly up.
As for Starbucks, a manager from Tim Horton's came up here yesterday and mentioned they were buying the locations at the Buhl & Millender. |