Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 11, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B5 BUSINESS EDITOR: SHANE MINKIN 204 697- 7308 business@ freepress. mb. ca I MARKET DETAILS B6 I winnipegfreepress. com TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014 B 5 T HANKS to a recent questionable police crackdown, another long- standing head shop is going up in smoke, vaporizing a handful of jobs with it. Matthew Frost, owner of City Haul, said he has reluctantly decided to close his business after police officers visited him and advised " you need to find something else to sell." Frost, who has run the Corydon Avenue novelty shop for 15 years, said after the police encounter he decided not to renew his lease, which is up at the end of this month. " This is a hard marketplace," Frost said. " It's hard for the little guy to survive. But I don't want to talk about the negativity. People in Winnipeg are very kind. They are coming in here in tears. I have supported them over the years and they have supported me by coming in and buying all my inventory." Frost said his neighbours on Corydon have never expressed any concerns in the past. On the contrary, he said he has brought customers to the area from across the province. Roman Panchyshyn, owner of Wild Planet, is also planning to exit the market after more than 30 years in business in Winnipeg. He has recently listed the Osborne Village building for sale. " I don't want to go," Panchyshyn said. " I've put in my time. I have been working seven days a week for a long time. I pay $ 17,000 in property tax and $ 7,000 business tax, not to mention all the GST and PST I have collected." It may be too late for Frost, Panchyshyn and Jeremy Loewen from Hemp Haven, who now faces charges laid by Winnipeg police, but efforts are underway to come up with clearer rules of engagement for these kinds of stores. Randy Caine, a longtime activist and business owner from Vancouver, is flying to Winnipeg to speak today to local business owners about options. Among other things, Caine said forming a trade association is being discussed. " I was asked to come in and be a facilitator and provide a voice of reason," Caine said. " I'm at arm's length from the situation in Winnipeg, and it's easier for me to navigate through some of the emotions." He said if there was a trade association and members operated by certain standards, it could be very useful for any city. " If everyone understands the parameters, it could act as a great guidance," he said. " If there are considerations we need to look at, like being near a school, we could make corrections for the future. None of us is opposed to that." Although these long- standing business owners don't necessarily get support from business organizations - a spokesman from the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses said the organization does not have a position on the matter - they have operated for many years, paying taxes and employing staff without opposition from their commercial neighbours. Frost said he believed his store provided a lively alternative for the street- level retail scene. Notwithstanding the profitable bongs and head- shop paraphernalia he sells, Panchyshyn said he's always thought of Wild Planet as more of a rock- music store, with more than 8,000 T- shirts for sale. Stephanie Meilleur, the executive director of the Osborne Village BIZ, agrees stores such as Wild Planet and City Haul add to the vibrancy of their neighbourhoods. " From the BIZ point of view, we have a unique one- of- a- kind atmosphere here, with shopping and restaurants and live- music venues," she said. " Lots of people go to Wild Planet because they have one- of- a- kind items you can only buy there. I think they are an asset to Osborne Village." martin. cash@ freepress. mb. ca Besieged shops gain B. C. ally City Haul proprietor to fold after police visit By Martin Cash JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ABOVE: City Haul's Matthew Frost: closing Corydon shop. LEFT: Hemp Haven's Jeremy Loewen: facing charges. BELOW: Wild Planet's Roman Panchyshyn: ' I don't want to go.' PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES ' This is a hard marketplace. It's hard for the little guy to survive' - Matthew Frost, owner of City Haul, a Corydon Avenue head shop closing after a police crackdown MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES LOS ANGELES - It was a caffeinecharged Hollywood whodunit: Just whose bright idea was the " Dumb Starbucks" coffee shop that popped up and started serving free drinks from the corner of an otherwise uncelebrated strip mall. And as with most mysteries in Hollywood, it appears the solution to this one is found in the filmmaking industry. On Monday morning, a line from the store wound alongside the parking lot and up the block, with some patrons stepping out to snap pictures in front of a green awning and mermaid logo that is familiar - except that the word " Dumb" is prominently featured. They weren't coming for gourmet fare: Their descriptions of the coffee ranged from " horrible" to " bitter," and one parent said his daughter complained the hot chocolate was like water. Instead, they are just coming to say they came and to score a white paper cup with a sticker bearing the curious logo. " It was a pretty dumb idea to come out in the cold" and wait for nearly two hours to get a coffee, joked Anthony Solis, who lives in nearby Hollywood. Film permits that show the buzzgenerating shop is tied to a comedy duo with a cult following might provide a clue. Filming was authorized at the location three times in the weeks before the store opened Friday, according to permits taken out with Film LA, a private non- profit that issues the licences. The permits were billed to Abso Lutely Productions, run by comedy duo Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. Heidecker and Wareheim, commonly referred to as Tim & Eric, are known for their surrealistic brand of sketch comedy. The duo's free- form shows on the Cartoon Network and the lowbudget 2012 feature film Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie have won them a following. The store's decor is reminiscent of a real Starbucks, complete with a huge menu on which most of the drinks were prefaced by " dumb" (" dumb iced coffee," " dumb white chocolate mocha"). One exception was the " Wuppy Duppy Latte," which the menu said would have sold for $ 6 had the store been charging anything. The cash register was dark, though the tip jar was bulging. Dumb Starbucks opened Friday, and the buzz it generated grew over the weekend with a boost from posts on Twitter and Facebook. That caught the attention of the real Starbucks. In a statement Monday, the Seattle- based coffee giant said it has no affiliation with Dumb Starbucks. " While we appreciate the humour, they cannot use our name, which is a protected trademark," spokeswoman Laurel Harper said in an email. At the front counter, a frequently asked questions sheet said the store was shielded by " parody law." " By adding the word ' dumb,' we are technically ' making fun' of Starbucks, which allows us to use their trademarks under a law known as '' air use,"' the sheet said. It continued: " In the eyes of the law, our ' coffee shop' is actually an art gallery and the ' coffee' you're buying is considered art. But that's for our lawyers to worry about." One law professor suggested Dumb Starbucks needed to sharpen up its legal theory. " Fair use" can protect parodies of copyright material, but a trademark such as the logo has different protections that Dumb Starbucks may well be violating, said Mark Mc- Kenna, a trademark- law expert at the University of Notre Dame. - The Associated Press Stupid to buy there, customers discover Long lineups wait for ' horrible' coffee By Justin Pritchard PHOTOS BY DAMIAN DOVARGANES / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ABOVE: Anthony Solis ( left) and Tony Gonzales prepare to drink some Dumb Starbucks coffee. ABOVE LEFT: The Dumb Starbucks sign parodies the real thing. LEFT: The Dumb Starbucks menu features the word Dumb in front of every offering. SCAN PAGE TO SEE LINEUP TO GET INTO DUMB STARBUCKS B_ 05_ Feb- 11- 14_ FP_ 01. indd B5 2/ 10/ 14 10: 02: 19 PM ;