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Sou <br />Aug <br />i Bend Redevelopment Commission <br />ar Meeting <br />A 19, 1977 <br />7. IFLOOR DISCUSSION (Continued) <br />ne lady heard of the petition and as she was going out of town and <br />ould be unable to sign a copy of the petition sent me the following <br />etter to submit: <br />"August 11, 1977 - -- I would like to voice my opinion concerning <br />the possible demolition of the Odd Fellows Building. As long <br />as this building serves a useful purpose in this community and <br />as long as it is kept in good condition, I can see no advantage <br />to be gained by tearing it down. It's a fine structure and <br />should be saved." -- Signed: Annette Leszcynski of 56860 <br />Hollywood Blvd., South Bend, Indiana 46619. <br />would like to make three pertinent points regarding Century Mall: <br />firstly, I was aghast at the comments made at a meeting last week by <br />Redevelopment Commissioner. I refer to a comment that chain stores <br />re the trend with the definite inference that what South Bend needs <br />o be concerned with is big business and chain stores and not our <br />mall merchants. I hold a BS in Marketing from Indiana University/ <br />loomington and have done work on my MBA at Notre Dame. I am <br />ualified to give a professional response to this attitude: not <br />nl y is there still room for the small businessman, but there is a <br />rowing strength in small retailing. Retailers who offer service and <br />pecialization are a very important retailing institution today. <br />his type of retail establishment is securing gains as a type of <br />etail operation. The small businessman is vulnerable. Competition is <br />een. Innovation is his key to success. With some vigor, aggressiveness, <br />lexibility, and imagination, the small businessman can have a very <br />right future. <br />take exception, also, with the prejudicial and unsubstantiated remark <br />f another Commissioner who stated at the August 5th Redevelopment <br />eeting that "most outcomes are dependent on the efforts of the <br />erson in business. Business owners are still going to have to do <br />ome hustling on their own, and further, the idea of doing three or <br />our times the business didn't appeal to some, some didn't want to <br />ork that hard... this is what happens when you increase traffic." <br />et us remember: of the 120 businesses moved, only 20 exist today. <br />his 83% failure rate is NOT due to merchants not working hard enough. <br />suggest you look into the real cause of these failures. <br />7 <br />