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'I'm Lost Now': Can Ferguson's Businesses Ever Rise From Rubble?
NBC News ^ | 11/28/2014 | BILL BRIGGS

Posted on 11/28/2014 1:17:57 PM PST by SeekAndFind

It will be a quiet Black Friday on Ferguson's West Florissant Avenue. The modest commercial strip that runs through the heart of the embattled city has been devastated by rioting and looting. Now, a haze of doubt hangs over many workers and merchants there who wonder whether their businesses can survive the terrible toll — and the fear of possible uprisings to come.

Some retailers, like Mohamad Yaacoub, have been slammed twice by violence. His store, Sam's Meat Market, was looted in August after unarmed, 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. On Monday night, arsonists nearly burned that market to the ground.

"To be honest with you, I'm lost now," Yaacoub told NBC News after touring the charred shell that once was Sam's. The exterior brick walls are the only salvageable chunks. The roof is gone. "I'm not sure money-wise. Money-wise, it's just too hard.

"I had to borrow $700 to buy some wood, just to put the boards together to close up where (the rioters) came in from, to close the building. It's just too much, you know," added Yaacoub, who carries insurance coverage for fire damage but isn't certain when or how much he might be paid to begin a rebuild. A friend launched a fund to help pay for the market's restoration.

At a strip mall two doors down from the remnants of Sam's, looters smashed the glass at the Clip Appeal salon then hurled a Molotov cocktail inside. Two local men grabbed plastic water bottles and dashed inside the shop to try to douse the flames, said Leeanna Moore, a 22-year employee.

While Moore cheered those heroics, she admitted she hasn't decided if she will ever return to work at the salon, which also carries insurance.

(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Missouri
KEYWORDS: ferguson; michaelbrown; riots
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To: caww

It’s a wholly separate city from St. Louis - unlike many cities, St. Louis is limited by permanently fixed boundaries, it cannot incorporate more and more territory at will and expand its tax base. So no, it has not absorbed Ferguson, and Ferguson is no more “St. Louis” than East St. Louis, IL or Arnold, MO is, it has its own Mayor, etc. Contrast that with St. Louis’s Italian neighborhood, The Hill- that is a physical part of St. Louis.

Om the other hand, if you grew up listening to KMOX radio to hear the Cards you have a tendency to think you are St. Louisan even if you live many miles away from its boundary.


121 posted on 11/29/2014 12:27:48 AM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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To: caww

St. Louis is just the leaf-shaped area with the black line around it. Everything outside of that is a different political entity.


122 posted on 11/29/2014 12:30:15 AM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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To: catnipman

“YP lists 880 stores in their “grocery store” listing with Detroit city addresses.”

My address is “Tallahassee.” I live 25 miles from Tallahassee. I have houses in “Woodville” and “Crawfordville.” But those houses are ten and twelve miles from those places. The article I’m quoting from probably referred to the actual area of Detroit, which is bounded by interstate highways separating it from the surrounding areas.


123 posted on 11/29/2014 2:20:18 AM PST by Gen.Blather
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To: wintertime

They did just this in Miami by lowering its hiring standards.
Formerly convicted of “minor crimes”, that was ok.
Ever been busted for drugs? that’s ok.

Then some of those hired got caught shaking down drug dealers, and killing some.
But hey, the police dept more aptly represented their city peers.
What ever happened to the best person for the job?
IF that were the case today, then this quota boy pres. would still be in Chicago.


124 posted on 11/29/2014 2:45:11 AM PST by Joe Boucher (The F.B.I. Is a division of holders Justice Dept. (Nuff said))
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To: Gen.Blather

Well, here’s the map of the City of Detroit:

http://www.maptechnica.com/us-city-boundary-map/city/Detroit/state/MI/cityid/2622000

Here’s the list of 880 stores listed with YP as “grocery stores” with Detroit, MI addresses:

http://www.yellowpages.com/detroit-mi/grocery-stores?page=1

It’s pretty easy to see whether they’re in the City of Detroit or not.


125 posted on 11/29/2014 9:24:54 AM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: caww

Go south?

I don’t want it to go northeast!


126 posted on 11/29/2014 10:31:17 AM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: wintertime

Oakland PD has been strongly majority black for a long time.


127 posted on 11/29/2014 10:36:39 AM PST by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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To: piasa

My point is that regardless of the boundary lines Ferguson is not some distant city from St. Louis. We have three cities in Pa. often called the Triple Cities as one runs right into the other...people go from one to the other as if one area.

Ferguson is a “Hood” of St. Louis...regardless of the boundaries.


128 posted on 11/29/2014 1:10:46 PM PST by caww
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To: maine-iac7

The business owners didn’t defend their property and the citizens with cooler heads stood back and did nothing. Really smells like Holders people were very clear in their threats to ferguson residents.


129 posted on 11/29/2014 1:18:23 PM PST by uncitizen (I weep for my country)
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To: catnipman

Apparently, there’s some truth to both viewpoints. The article I recall, unlike the one below, was concentrating on chains that had moved out of Detroit, including a long list of companies that had started there. The article talked about the tax issue, which figures in the article below as “abatements” in exchange for being there. The entire debacle of companies and jobs leaving was started by the excessive taxation. Add the general lawlessness and gang nature of the remaining inhabitants and it’s an unpleasant environment. I worked for a company based in Sterling Heights, which is up the road a few miles from Detroit. We were instructed to stay out of Detroit proper and to leave maneuver distance in front of you at stoplights in case somebody tried to car jack you.

I did drive through the city and the main streets feature boarded up building after building. There was a spectacular cathedral all boarded up. In places the city resembles photos of Berlin after the war.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/22/smallbusiness/detroit_grocery_stores.smb/


130 posted on 11/29/2014 3:14:10 PM PST by Gen.Blather
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To: Sybeck1

Some people were collecting for a bakery that was damaged. I hope the owner is smart enough to relocate elsewhere and not fall prey to the community garbage. The community trashed her business.


131 posted on 11/29/2014 3:21:44 PM PST by Chickensoup (Leftist totalitarian fascism is on the move.)
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