BY MICHAEL BURKE
Journal Times | Posted: Saturday, July 5, 2008 12:00 am
Have you stimulated your economy lately? Shown it a little extra love, as your president and Congress wish you to do?
By now most of you red-blooded, tax-paying readers have likely received your economic stimulus check. You know, the one written with genuine federal red ink.
Is my cynical attitude showing? My theory is that this extra borrowing will do precious little to get us out of recession - while simply heaping more debt upon the federal pile that is approximately up to Neptune by now.
So I conducted a little survey of my newsroom colleagues about this $63.8 billion so far in "free" money. I asked them, How are you using your stimulus check - and did it stimulate you to buy something you'd not otherwise have bought?
Their responses included: pay off a credit card; buy clothes for work; rectify a yard drainage problem; buy a dryer and fix a roof; buy Amtrak tickets to Montana; and furnish a new apartment.
Oh, yeah, and buy gasoline.
One colleague literally sent the money overseas, giving it to her daughter for spending money while in France.
Another socked it away in a savings account.
Me, I put the money in an account so it's there when I need it for a previously planned vacation.
Only one co-worker said the money will be used for something that would not have happened otherwise, an approximately $200 weekend fling in Chicago with her husband.
To sum up, this small slice of the population will be a little more flush with ready cash - perhaps feel a bit less guilty about buying something already destined to be bought.
So, we're just going to have to ride out this recession, because in my opinion, the Economic Stimulus Act just is not very stimulating.
Last Tango? Not yet.
During its brief existence, Downtown's Tango Bar was known for its hookahs and flavored (like pistachio, for example) tobaccos.
Water pipe devotees will be pleased to hear that Tango Bar has not had its last dance. And when it reopens in a couple of months, Downtown will have another type of ethnic food. Owner Alejandro Horbatenko is bringing the food of his native country, Argentina, to the Tango Bar. He and his wife, Gloria, are hard at work renovating and installing a kitchen inside 509 Sixth St.
The Tango Bar experienced some problems when their son ran it, but the owners have taken over and will run it themselves, Alejandro said.
"Already (the bar) is famous, believe me," he said.
According to Wikipedia (yes, we do use that handy reference), "The cuisine of Argentina is distinctive in South America because of its strong resemblance to Italian, Spanish, French and other European cuisines rather than the other Latin American cuisines."
Horbatenko said they'll serve dishes such as parrillada, or grilled meats, and many kinds of empanadas (turnovers).
So, whether you have taste for exotic foods or flavored tobaccos, the Tango Bar will have something to check out.
Bark if you love your boss!
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of doing a story about the new Doggy Happy Hour at the Friki Tiki Bar, the Chancery Pub & Restaurant's outdoor area.
It got me thinking: How many dog-friendly businesses do we have in this county?
I know of a couple of Downtown Racine retailers that allow dogs in, but I'd love to hear from any others out there. Obviously, restaurants are not going to make this list.
But perhaps other retailers are dog-friendly. Or, there may be other kinds of work places where the owner brings his or her pooch to work and allows the workers to do the same.
I welcome your responses and will use them in a future column - or perhaps even an article, depending upon the response.
Closing soon near you: Starbucks?
Anyone care to bet a cup of coffee on which Starbucks stores, if any, might be closed in our area? This past week the company announced it will close about 600 U.S. stores - instead of the previously announced 100.
The Starbucks to be closed have not been publicly identified - and that, of course, is what we'd like to know here. When we asked, the company - understandably - said it wants to inform the affected employees first.
"Out of respect and dignity for our partners, and our desire to share this information with impacted partners first, we are not disclosing the list of stores scheduled to close," said Starbucks Regional Marketing Manager Kelly Mattran.
She said the individual stores will be notified about 30 days before the closure date.
And the 6,600 remaining U.S. company-operated stores will be notified that they are not affected. Store closures will begin this month and continue through next March.
So, anybody think they know of a Starbucks that's slated to be decaffeinated and decommissioned?
Stylists really needed
If you're a self-employed hairstylist and want to take your clientele to Downtown Racine, Shear Madness is keeping a chair warm for you.
Earlier this year the salon at 232 Main St. had two stylists renting chairs there. But one of them left to start her own shop, and because they were friends, the other went also, to join her.
So co-owners Richard Worrell and Pam Brefka are now looking for up to three stylists, with their own clientele, to rent a chair at Shear Madness. Call the shop at (262) 633-3000 if interested.
Business reporter Michael Burke can be reached at (262)631-1716 or by e-mail at mburke@journaltimes.com
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