Gone were the days…
Its been over a month since I decided to move ShopDevious.com out of the Lower Grand Avenue area in Phoenix, Arizona (the brick and mortar boutique was closed around 1/16/12 but continues to strive online-and soon via mobile boutique). The fast moving roller coaster of our move never ceases to amaze people, who heard it from the grape vine. Shock and dismay primarily take over the facial expressions of the inquirers of “the reason for our silent closure”, but those perplexed expressions quickly turn to smiles and praise once they’ve heard my reasoning.
Birth of a new space…
Location, location, location is a mantra heard over and over when it comes to business placement. I took this into consideration in 2007, as the former tenant of 1229 NW Grand Avenue was preparing for the closure of her business, and I was approached as a potential new tenant. After having been associated with her at that location for the previous 2 years, she thought it would be a perfect marriage. I agreed and 3 weeks later began the clean up and reshaping project of the space that would soon be unveiled to the world as ShopDevious.com Beauty Lounge & Boutique on October 5, 2007.
In the begining…
In the previous 2 years of moving into the space, there was a screen of filth that blanketed the street & surrounding area with prostitutes, home invasions, burglaries and assaults…which had almost entirely been lifted by the infiltration of new Galleries and Small Businesses on Lower Grand Avenue by 2007. Our block was safe again. It was getting a make-over. Grand Avenue was beginning to look appealling to new business, big and small alike.
New businesses beware…
With the filth cleaned up, the only publicly known downfall of opening a new business in the area was the fact that the area was controlled by a power weilding landowner-who re-established a merchants association, which is ran & filled with her tenants-most of them too affraid to speak their minds and do what was right for the community, who gladly voted her way on all the issues, no matter what the cost to the community was.
After the smoke settled, It became perfectly clear that those with agendas to create a successful community that thrives and imporoves the area, would be shot down by the clout weilding leader. As it was so when the “people pulling business”, the now defunct “PHiX Gallery”, applied for a permit to open a vegan restaraunt, they were halted due to complaints from that landowner about parking, & finally forced to close down, this happened just a few short seasons after the area’s most prominent small bussiness “The Paper Heart Gallery” closed its doors, and after the newly relocated “Chez Nous” Blues Bar’s closure in 2009; which moved onto Grand Avenue and celebrated its Grand Opening on New Years Eve in 2007.
Zoe Gallery had turned into Zoe Tattoo Studio in 2007 and shared a parking lot with Chez Nous, but it also closed its doors quickly thereafter. Not even the new Beauty Salon that took over the defunct Zao space would claim success over the street, and it closed shortly after it opened. With the closure of so many people pulling businesses came more closures, gone were the Cone Gallery, the empanada bakery, Jordre Studio & Gallery, Sapna Cafe, Beats ‘n Sweets, plus more galleries.
No eyewitnesses…
With the rash of sudden business closures, came a lack of people, which helped propell the streets to conditions worse than those prevelant in 2004-2005, when we thought crime was at its peak. We were all shocked to learn that vicious crime once again claimed its place on Grand Avenue in 2011, begining with the looting and break-in’s at the Paisely Violin and Paisley Town businesses. They were targeted 2 times in less than 2 months, and the last one was the straw that broke the camel’s back; as they closed their doors in an attempt to relocated to the old Zao Building in what was latter labelled as a partnership/ownership quarrel. Unbeknownst to the then managers/owners of Paisly Violin, they would not be able to secure permits to reopen in its new location (as of January 2012-hopefully they received permits by now). So gone were the days of Paisley Violin too!
Left alone…
Suddenly, in September of 2011 ShopDevious.com was the only established business left on Grand Avenue (other than those businesses being spoon feed media attention by the non-profit which controlled the area, and was controlled by the landowner who housed them) and the streets became scarier and less appealling to new business. Despite the recent rennovation of the 15th Avenue & Grand Avenue hotel into artists apartments & studios, the area was feeling the devastation caused by the flailing economy and the sudden closures of so many businesses.
Crime ridden streets once again claim Grand Avenue…
In the news small tidbits of the current happenings on Grand Avenue would highlight the crime, but others would simply sweep it under the rug. When a pair of sisters were walking near the corner of 15th Avenue & Grand Avenue just recently in 2011, one was shot to death. Then, if that wasn’t enough, shortly there after a boy and girl were abducted in the area; resulting in a door to door combing of the neighborhood (which was sealled off and locked down) that turned up the children in the perpetrators house, which was not very far from their own home. Not only were the children at risk, but suddenly another drop house, which hid and imprisioned illegal aliens, was uncovered near Grand Avenue and 13th Avenue; and this was the second drop house discovered off Grand Avenue. Bikes had been stolen from our boutique door, we have witnessed people riding down Grand Avenue with big screen TV’s and other stolen property too, but It definitely hit closer to home after the 2nd shooting of our front window at the boutique, and that made me re-think our location. It wasn’t until after hearing about the most recent horrendous crime, that I realized I did the right thing by closing ShopDevious.com’s doors, because just a few blocks up the way from 1229 NW Grand Avenue, a ladies throat was recently slit from ear to ear, over $3 and a bus ticket in January 2012. These are just a few of the crimes, there are too many to list; against the community surrounding 13th Avenue, Grand Avenue & McKinley Avenue.
Why did we open on Grand Avenue?
When I first open the doors of ShopDevious.com I did so because many of our customers, who suffered from hairloss due to stress, chemotherapy or radiation treatments; needed a place to try on wigs. I opened it because it was a place that one in need could gain their self confidence back, without breaking the bank. I opened it because I thought we could clean up the street and help turn the flailing neighborhood back into a vibrant area, filled with business and people who wanted to see their community strive. I had promoted it so much to small businesses, that I believed it would only get better; and was sad to see it worsen in the recent months.
What I didn’t open ShopDevious.com for was to endanger the lives of my clients, or to put them in harms way. I didn’t open it to take on control freaks (the landowner’s who violated laws to keep their agenda protected) either. Ultimately that was why I closed our doors, because the new dangerous element put my customers at risk, and the area’s controllers unrelenting behavior was out of control. After a witness shared the fact that one of them landowners allowed there dog to take a poop in front of our boutique and failed to clean it up (violating city orninances) I realized that they would stop at nothing to intimidate people. It took me back to a time when my neighbor on Grand Avenue also noticed dog poop collecting on his rocks everyday, going uncleaned-and It seemed to me that they were sabotaging the street on purpose. I also learned that the area was getting worse and worse by the minute, by witnessing the badgering of the Science and Sustainability Museums Fashion show fundraiser Co-ordinator, by one of the many homeless gentlemen on Grand Avenue in November 2011.
After witnessing that badgering of the long blonde haired lady, I was reminded of my horrendous attack on the train platform off Roosevelt and Central Avenue after the P.A.P.A. parade in 2010. I was knocked off my bike held by my hair for what felt like hours. Then when the police came to answer my 911 call, the police officer acted very condescending towards me and made me feel horrible about reporting the attack. This was the first thing that popped into my mind when I heard that lady getting badgered, as she walked into my boutique. But it wasn’t until that last shooting of my window that I realized that i was endangering my clients, not helping them. So I decided to close up shop and go mobile.
Stacked up…
Over the last 6 months of ShopDevious.com’s tenure on Grand Avenue we had seen a rise in burglaries, assaults, fatalities, theft, graffiti and home invasions; so much that it was worse than ever before. So it was a no brainer after our front window was shot out for the second time, that we should close our doors and create a safer place to help those in need. After all, I got into this business 14 years ago to help those in need; but I never actually wanted a brick and mortar shop – I just wanted to help create a safe, fun and friendly environment to help restore faith to those who have all but lost it – due to uncontrollable circumstances.
With the bad, comes the good!
This closure of our brick and mortar was due to circumstances beyond our control. However it was the right thing to do, because I can once again reduce our prices to the same prices we sold our products for when I first began Devious Wigs & Things 14yrs ago. Our wig that recently sold for $45 has been reduced to $29; and that has been the best part of the entire situation. I love the fact that I can help those in need, keep prices down and help brighten someones darkest time with a little beauty.
Beware of the false pretense of Lower Grand Avenue
The area has continued to worsen, the media is not highlighting the dangers; and the community is in dire need. Because the Central Arizona Shelter Services and many other homeless shelter service areas are a stones throw away from lower Grand Avenue, the area has been one of the hardest hit with crime, murder and neglect in the past 6 months. Be careful of your surrounding if your in the area, and make sure your safe at all times.
This entire situation has been a sad tale, many of us tried to clean up the area and bring in new business, but alas nothing has helped to rid the area of crime, assaults, prostitution, fatalities and drugs. Hopefully one day the area will prevail, not just get bandaged up to look prettier.
