posted by Mike Madison at 11:41 AM /
Reading through the comments on the ULTRA Party, it's clear that the organizers earned some well-deserved congratulations. It's also clear that one local business - Molly Brannigans on Washington Road - has metaphorical egg on its face.
The latter point raises the following discussion topic: What do local businesses, and especially local retailers, owe the community? Molly Brannigans isn't the only business on Washington Road that sells food; was it the only business that was open during the ULTRA Party? If not, why is everyone down on Molly Brannigans for taking advantage of the evening's crowd -- and not down on other businesses that also sold them food and drink, or other things?
I want to be clear that I agree with the critics of Molly B.s, and I'm not trying to invite criticism of other businesses. One anonymous comment suggested that Molly B.s voluntarily set aside a portion of its ULTRA evening proceeds for the Autism Center, since the point of the evening was to raise money for charity. That strikes me as a good idea. Why not extend it to other Washington Road businesses that were open (or, for future events, will be open) at the same time?
The latter point raises the following discussion topic: What do local businesses, and especially local retailers, owe the community? Molly Brannigans isn't the only business on Washington Road that sells food; was it the only business that was open during the ULTRA Party? If not, why is everyone down on Molly Brannigans for taking advantage of the evening's crowd -- and not down on other businesses that also sold them food and drink, or other things?
I want to be clear that I agree with the critics of Molly B.s, and I'm not trying to invite criticism of other businesses. One anonymous comment suggested that Molly B.s voluntarily set aside a portion of its ULTRA evening proceeds for the Autism Center, since the point of the evening was to raise money for charity. That strikes me as a good idea. Why not extend it to other Washington Road businesses that were open (or, for future events, will be open) at the same time?
Labels: ultra party, washington road
20 Comments:
It is my opinion that the shops/stores/restaurants in Mt Lebanon benefited from the Ultraparty as much as the Ultraparty benefitted from them.
If this Ultraparty was held in Bird Park, is there any chance we would have seen that number of people show up? Doubtful. Because it was held downtown, with lots of places to eat, hang out, and enjoy, it attracted more people than it otherwise would have.
As for what these businesses 'owe' the community, well, the great thing about our economy is that it is market based. Each individual owner of the shops on Washington is free to decide what they 'owe' to the community. While the Ultraparty undoubtedly added profits to many of the restaurants, it is not for me to decide how that restaurant want to invest those extra profits.
They may very well choose to invest that money in the Autism Center. Or they could paint their storefront, or give a bonus to employees. We can choose to visit or not visit these restaurants based on what they do. But we should not assume that they 'owe' us any more than they are already giving.
*CitizenA*
Business' owe jack squat to the community. They already pay outrageous taxes and provide a service to the people who go there.
With that said, if a business gives the perception that they are taking advantage of a charity (especially one as important as Autism), they have made a big mistake and it probably won't be worth it in the long run....
People can decide not to go there. This is how we can do our speaking in America.
Good luck trying to get anything from the ownership group at MB's. It is no secret that they are trying to sell the building and lease back the restaurant/bar. They also go through a new manager every other month or so. Though I am glad it is there and would be extremely sorry to see another karate studio take it's place, it wouldn't surprise me if that happened in the future.
First, before I am labeled as being less than charitable or anti-children with autism, let me state for the record that the organizers of this event are to be praised and thanked for pulling together a great event, and for supporting such a wonderful cause. They will have my full support at any events in the future.
However, as far as I could tell, the only thing Molly B's did wrong was allow people to buy drinks and take them outside. In fact, they sold beer outside long before the Miller trucks were set up. Heck, I bought one. I don't think this was wrong from a competition standpoint, I just think it is against the law.
With that said, if someone chose to pay a cover charge to listen to a band inside of Molly's instead of the wildly entertaining band outside, that's their prerogative. I don't think it detracted from the event one bit. Personally, I never thought to go into Molly's (or anywhere else) because I was having a good time outside.
To call Molly's actions "reprehensible" is a bit over the top. Were Bistro 19 and Il Piz similarly reprehensible for charging full price for their food and alcohol last Friday night? Do we know if they contributed a portion of their Friday night profits to the charity? I bought a glass of milk and cookie for my son in one of the coffee shops and paid almost $4.00 - highway robbery by anyone's standards. However, I don't think $2.75 went to the charity.
Frankly, unless someone bought a wristband and then a beer, they pretty much enjoyed the entire event for free and didn't donate any money to the charity either.
Personally, I have no problem with other merchants benefiting from the crowd on Washington Road. After all, the actual fundraiser did not start until 8. The traditional First Friday event ran from 6 until 8. Is Molly's supposed to shut its doors at 8:01? One commenter suggested that "Mt. Lebanon handed them 4,000 potential customers and they took advantage of us." I'm not sure what that means. Why shouldn't Molly's be permitted to profit from this sort of event? The bars and restaurants in Market Square certainly do on St. Patrick's Days, and the bars and restaurants in Shadyside certainly do during the Arts Festival or the Walnut Street Jam.
Let's face it, we won't be able to enjoy events like this in the future if they don't have the full support of the merchants on Washington Rd. If we tell Il Piz, Bistro 19 and Molly B's that they can't serve alcohol (or perhaps food) on nights when there are competing street parties, why would those merchants support them?
Also, please consider the potential negative impact that this sort of event may have on the merchants of Washington Rd. Do they lose traffic because of events like these? How many potential customers chose to go elsewhere because the streets were blocked off.
As for whether or not Molly's or the other businesses have a duty to support the selected charity, that's a tough call. I'm sure Molly's has hosted its share of charitable events, both in Mt. Lebanon and at its other locations around Pennsylvania and the U.S. Much like individuals, every business must make decisions about which charitable events or organizations to support. There's only so much one business or one person can donate. Sure, it would it be nice if the businesses on Washington Road all shared a portion of their profits with a charity if the overall event was designed to benefit one. However, I don't think we can impose our will upon them in that regard or deem them to be anti-social if they don't.
Not to belabor this, but I think it bears noting that the ULTRA Party was the brainchild of the group, Lifestyles Enriched by Opportunity ("LEBO").
LEBO's "mission" according to one article is to "spotlight social and business opportunities in Mt. Lebanon for people ages 21 to 35." In other words, LEBO is trying to encourage young people to try Mt. Lebanon over other areas like Shadyside or Walnut Street (It's about time somebody did!)
This event was billed as their premiere, if you will. Certainly it was noble for the LEBO group to have the event also benefit a charity, but let's not forget that the parallel goal was to show off Mt. Lebanon to our region's young people. You can't do that without the Molly Bs and other spots getting in on the action.
Excellent comments all.
There seemed to be a tinge of anti-Molly's sentiment in the Ultraparty comments. Maybe these are Saloon or Bado's die-hards? In any case I find it surprising that Molly's is still open; the place has been virtually dead the past several times I've been there (albeit during the afternoon for lunch). Are they attracting strong enough crowds at night to support the business?
Speaking as owner of one of the Washington Road businesses, I wanted to say that I don’t think I owe the community anything more than a store with quality products and great service. I want to mention that MANY of us on the street provide little treats and drinks inside our stores during First Friday’s which this month happened to lead into the UltraParty. My store served cookies and chocolate covered pretzels this time and we often serve wine too. (Although I figured it'd be a waste of money for me this time with beer being sold on the street)
Truth be told, most of my sales that night happened during the First Friday portion –and while I stayed open until 11:30 most people were outside listening to the music and just popping in to look after 9:30. (which is fine by me!) Overall, I thought it was a fabulous night, and I hope we can do it again many more times. Everyone seemed to be having a blast.
It's great to see so many in the community get together and also great exposure for my store and the road as a whole. I was super impressed with the diverse age range of participants and I loved that everyone acted with class.
I was afraid I'd have a bunch of drunks in my store and that was NOT the case at all.
But to address the many posts here-I can’t understand why Molly’s would have a competing band and charge a cover—seems silly to me and a bit rude to the LEBO group—but I don’t pretend to know how a restaurant works! I do know that it's not the most popluar on the street, and well I've actually never had a good meal there, so hmmmm maybe they needed to???
Great comments, everyone, and especially great comments from local business owners (though I wish I knew who you are!).
Thanks for reading and writing.
I'll be brief. I agree completely with Dave, Dave F., and CitizenA.
I'd add that the comment about Molly Brannigan's reprehensible behavior was added by a representative of the Autism Center. Unless she's talking solely about violating open container laws, I'd say she's not exactly unbiased about how Molly's actions reflected upon the event.
Regardless - however you feel about the matter, speak with your dollars.
I should have also mentioned in my previous post that I sent out over 1,000 email newsletters to my customers hyping up the First Friday and UltraParty event (and a reminder email that morning too)--which was FREE publicity for the LEBO/Autism group. I never expected a thank you--it's just a smart business move to let my customers know that there is something exciting/fun taking place and I was happy to do it.
I saw many of my customers there that night who came because I spread the word. So I guess in a sense I don't feel I need to donate any of my profits from the night since I gave them a great bit of free publicity drawing people in to the event.
Owner of ONA
I agree with Matt C. Wilson, Dave, Dave A., CitizenA, and Owner of Ona, and I can also see right through the comments made by Cindy W. on previous post. You can tell by the tone of her response that she likely has some bias toward Molly's that compelled her to jump all over their "reprehensible" behavior.
I repeat my sentiments (previous post, August 08, 2007 11:41 PM by Anonymous) here again...give me a break . As for the 3 or 4 citations, I'll look to the MLPD blotter and follow up on that. I'm pretty sure that the LCB acts in cooperation with law enforcement in these matters, so mention of such occurances should show up here.
I commend the LEBO group for taking First Fridays a step further, but don't sprain your arm patting yourselves on the back. I'm intimately involved with the Washington Road BPA, and they've put a lot of sweat and tears into bringing people to the area. You're going to have to accept that not everybody is going to participate in the manner you've established. Rather than bash them, try to keep your emotions in check. Enjoy the successful event that it still was, try to build relationships with the businesses there, and improve on them.
Young people living directly on or within a block of the area is what has made Shadyside what it is. I suggest that the LEBO group look to do something to encourage residence of Uptown much like the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership did with groups such as NoWall and other loft style developers. Having residential traffic there is what makes the area appealing. Think about it, when you take a stroll on Walnut and see people just naturally milling about, not necessarily shopping, you get a sense of 'this is the place to be'. That's what Washington Road needs.
FWIW,
We think events like the Ultra Party are great for the community, especially if they help realize the ambitions of the LEBO group in attracting professionals. We'd like to see more such events.
That said, as a business owner located at ground zero of this first event, we played it by ear, staying open until about 11pm and we did not benefit from any additional business from 10-11pm on that night (although we could have made money charging admission to our bathrooms or renting our tables for quieter socializing).
If you want a charity I guess you could keep trying to run Molly B's out of town and put a Goodwill in there instead, but that doesn't seem to fit in with the Lebo vibe if you ask me. For all we know, MB could have had this band lined up long ago (when, even if they knew of First Friday, they may not have known of the LEBO sponsored after party), so maybe someone should ask them for a statement before we drive them out of town and leave a nice big hole on Washington.
In addition, back to what I thought the whole theme of the night was supposed to be (which is to bring young people to Mt. Lebo to drink beer & listen to music), I actually know young, non-Mt.Lebonites who come here specifically to do just that at Molly's on a regular basis, so I think it would be bad for the community for it to leave. It's one of the few unique things we have to offer (I can think of one 2 other Irish inspired places in the city - Petters Pub in the SS & Monterreys in the Mexican War Streets being the others).
No way. Let's do all we can to rip on Molly Brannigans so we can create another vacant storefront just waiting for another martial artist to set up shop in. Maybe in the short term MB's could rent out space in the back room to a karate studio so that they can put on exhibitions on Friday and Saturday nights while an Irish band is playing. Now that'd be something unique...
I am bothered that the representative of the autism group is out here bashing a local business. Business owners also got a thank you letter from the organizaion that also called out one the particular "pub" for not cooperating. Seems quite unprofessional to me and certainly not pro-Mt. Lebanon.
I am sure most of you remember the eyesore that was in the Molly's space, and how welcomed they were on the street. How nice of the autism folks to show up and dis a local business who did not do things their way.
First of all, I will tell you that Molly's actions *were* reprehensible (definition: bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure). As Director of the Autism Center, I have absolutely no relationship with Molly's. You can stop the speculation about that right now. Don't know a thing about them. I'm a little busy with my own two autistic children, and running 2 autism centers to really get into this kind of pettiness.
I'm sorry if you don't like what I had to say about MB's, but pretty much the majority of folks who were at the ULTRAparty noticed their attempts to thwart our efforts. Even the police were annoyed. The volunteers from the Autism Center *and* LEBO worked tirelessly on this event.
Second, I don't expect any of the businesses along Washington Rd. to contribute to the autism center. I never asked any of the businesses for a donation other than maybe something for the Chinese auction. In fact, I was thrilled that the business owners allowed us to hold the event. I thought that was participation was thanks enough. We don't, nor did we ever, expect anything from you.
Most of the businesses benefited from the party -- and I'm happy for that. I heard Caruso's ran out of things to sell and that there were waits for tables in every establishment. GREAT!! I love Mt. Lebanon and I think a lot of people were able to see its charm and what you have to offer.
I would guess that this entire conversation thread is rather a moot point, since Molly's was put up for Sheriff sale on August 7th.
http://www.pittsburghlegaljournal.org/subscribe/pn_sheriffsale.php
As for those of you who are "disturbed" by my characterizations of MB's, may I remind you that (a) my opinion seems to be in the majority and (b) I signed my name to this and didn't sign as "anonymous," and (3) I'm entitled to an opinion.
Please remember that the Autism Center is looking for property to rent and will likely choose somewhere near Washington Rd. for that location. Future BPA member...
When businesses are thoughtful and pleasant to their customers, have good service and a good reputation, they do well. When they don't, well...people stop going there.
The point is -- I didn't expect the LEBO businesses to give us anything. I also didn't expect what we got from Molly's, but so be it. Not everyone was thrilled about the event. Obviously everyone has the right to their own opinion, as do I.
Those businesses who did profit and who did do well -- WE ARE ALL HAPPY FOR YOU. The majority of the event was to showcase Mt. Lebanon.
I've been shopping all over the place on Washington Rd. Found a new fabulous restaurant which is now one of my favorites (Il Piz), bought a guitar at Empire Music, ate twice at Sesame Inn, etc. We brought people from as far away as Washington, PA. There were many, many people there from the North Hills who had NO idea what an fabulous and quaint shopping district you have there. Now they do.
Wasn't that the point?
Cindy W.
Cindy W.,
I applaud your efforts on the behalf of autistic children. I hope the event raised both awareness and funds to help support your cause. I hope you consider working with the LEBO group in the future if they choose to have another event, because it sounds like overall it was a great benefit to everyone involved.
I'm not sure I understand your disapproval of Molly's at all. What exactly are the actions Molly's took that you disagree with?
I'm not Cindy, but I live in Mt. Lebanon and am on the board of the Autism Center.
I was involved with the ULTRAparty, and my frustration with Molly Brannigan's is based on the fact that they decided to try to "compete" with the event, selling alcohol outside before the event started even though they should clearly have known that their liquor license did not permit this. They could have applied for an extension from the LCB if they really wanted to sell outside. They knew about the event months in advance.
I have no prior bias against Molly Brannigan's...in fact, my husband loved eating there so we probably went to dinner there a few times a month since they opened!
I'm glad the event was a success, and I'm so grateful that many business owners were supportive. The restaurants and bars clearly benefitted, and the others, while they may not have seen an increase in sales the night of the event, may have increased visibility and hopefully this will lead to more customer traffic and future sales. And that was the point...not just to raise money for the Autism Center, but also to spotlight our community.
I brought 4 people to Molly's on the night of the event to eat dinner. They refused to serve us. We were wearing "ULTRAparty" tshirts.
Let's just let it go.... the event was successful and one jerk tried to ruin it. There's always one sour grape on the vine.
Cindy
My name is Colm McWilliams. I am one of the owners and the CEO of Molly Brannigans. I have posted a response from Mollys to the many comments about the Ultra Party under the Ultra Party heading.
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