Th gang bangers don't close it down...but their presence and the presence of other undesireables, makes the place one to avoid, rather than visit. The owner stopped putting money into the park because he knew he was gonna close it. He saw the receipts going down and knew attenndence was going to continue to drop. Why throw good money after bad, trying to keep a business open thats destined to close? When this park closes within 2 years, we will know the call was an accurate one.

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Go Cubs!!!!

At least the we have finally uncovered the reason that so many theme parks have been going bankrupt over the last 5 years.

Mexicans...

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It stopped making money, thats why. The economny tanked and people had to stop spending money on things like this. Is Gurnee filled with "undesireables" too? Because Great America is losing money as well.

If you stopped getting painting jobs in Glencoe and Oak Brook, would you go bankrupt or take the jobs that might be offered to you in Maywood? If you answer anything other than "yes, I would take whatever jobs are out there," you are stupid, stupid businessman.

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It stopped making money BEFORE the economy got bad. He stopped the upkeep on the place because it stopped making money and he knew he was gonna close it down. The economy has had an effect on places like 6 Flags, as well as many (if not all) amusement parks actually open in the past few years.

Don't be concerned about my business ever having to look to Maywood for work . I cultivated business in more upscale communities because clients there look for VALUE and not just the lowest prices. They don't mind paying more for great work and those towns are not as affected by the turn in the economy. I don't even do estimates in Maywood. The contractors I would be bidding against would likely use inferior products, not do near as much prep work and have inferior craftsmen doing the work. Yet the customer would still be looking for the lowest price. Not interested.

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Go Cubs!!!!

So the answer is you would let your business tank. Good work.

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Steve, you're making an assumption that people in Maywood would be less likely to look for quality over pricing. I know a lot of black homeowners in Maywood (and Bellwood) with nice properties who sink a lot of coin into their investment. That's kinda....shitty of you.

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

You would expect what else out of him?

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Maybe I was just blinding myself to it. I'm the kind of guy that tries to look for the good in everyone, even to a fault. His post really rubbed me the wrong way though.

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

No, my answer is that I will not allow business to fail in more desireable communities.

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Go Cubs!!!!

We've been telling you this forever....so now since he says something about your precious Maywood you want to come to our side of thinking....boy oh boy...

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Thats good, Kid. Steve has proven time and time again what an asshat he really is. If there is any good in the man, its not much.



Steve, it was a hypothetical question. Either the business tanks or you must take jobs in areas full of "undesireables." You side stepped that question, which clearly must mean you would let your business fail.

Good for you, to each their own. I'm just glad I don't work for a piece of shit like you.

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That's not true. He could've said that about any similar neighborhood and I would've responded the same way.

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

Dude, I made a public effort to "turn a new leaf" with Steve. I thought maybe I should pity him for his mental deficiencies, and tried to go with the theory that he was just joking, lonely, and in need of attention to the extent that negative attention would be sufficient.
Since then, I've realized what a putz I was thinking Steve deserved another chance. I made nice with him, exchanged a couple nice words, even invited him to a B51 event.
But he still says crazy shit like that Santa's Village was overrun with gang warfare and the lack of safety is what drove away enough clients to force the owner to close.
Looking back, it turns out that the decline of Santa's Village was due in large part to an inventment of capital into a ride called "Typhoon". SV had to cut back on other park asthetics in order to create, and maintain that ride, which contributed to a decline in sales receipts. Add on the fact that the place, in my opinion, went from kinda gross in the mid 90's to nasty as fuck by 2005 or so and was in LARGE part to the puke, garbage and scary as fuck creaky ass rides that looked like they were about to fall apart.
Went about 10 times between 95 and 2005, about once a year, and never saw a gang problem, not once did I see any "rappin" kids (the rappin kids is a tribute to my friend Yog, and I wager only tmurf might get this joke but I'll explain it if y'all want cause it is kind of funny).

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

It's not just Maywood. I don't do estimates in Addison, Villa Park, or lots of other towns either. It has more to do with the socio-economic status of the community than the racial make-up of the town. I try to stay away from towns where the median income is not very high and focus on more upscale communities. it's just better business.

KC-you say that you know people in Maywood and Bellwood that sink a lot of money into their homes. First of all, unless they are gonna stay in those homes for a long time thats a mistake. Sinking "A LOT" of money into a home in those those towns will likely see the owner failing to get the money out they put into it. The return on investment will probably be a poor one. I digress....the other factor is this: for those homeowners willing to spend a lot on quality work, why would they be likely to spend MORE on a job I would estimate, when I have ZERO customers in that area, from which they would get a referral? The only way many people will spend more on a job, is if they are familiar with your work and have positive references from friends/family. So running around doing estimates in those areas would be a waste of my time. I did advertizing about 10 years ago in the newspapers and yellow pages and spent countless hours doing estimates. I learned that if customers don't know your work, they almost always are looking for the lowest price.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Wow!!

No, its not. Its incredibly stupid. Really fucking stupid
Why would you cut your potential customer base like that? People that live in Villa Park, Addison, Maywood, etc etc have money that is just as green as people that live in the north suburbs.

Not to say that you have to do umpteen estimates in Addison, but again HYPOTHETICALLY, say you take a job in Maywood. The guy likes what you do and refers you out to 4 other people that use you. So now you have 5 new jobs as opposed to none because of you being a dumbass.

Also, if your shop is either in or near Elmhurst, you are saving time and money (overhead) if you only have to drive to Addison for a job as opposed to Glencoe.

ALSO, because of you acting like a dickfor on the board here, nobody here would even think to use your company. So there's more potential customers that you have lopped off. Its a wonder that you are still in business.
Holy fuck are you an idiot!

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Here's a review of SV from 2002, near the height of the gang warfare openly waged there.
There's a bunch of great reasons explaining why no one went anymore. None are related to Hispanics or gangs.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Because people in Glencoe will pay about double for the same work, as people in Villa Park. I've done thousands of estimates over the years and I learned what people in various towns are willing to pay. Rather than wasting my time on lower profit jobs, I concentrate on the better paying ones. I acually do have a few jobs in communities I normally do not contract work in, but they are friends/relatives or co-workers of customers I have elsewhere that referred me to them. They are also willing to pay a higher rate for better work.
Elmhurst is a great spot to work from. The transportation on 290, 294 as well as North Ave and Rt.83 takes you just about anywhere easily. Don't think that you know my business even a little. Maximizing profit is not just about getting the most work, its about getting the most profitable work. Wallpapering, Faux Finishing, all kinds of things that most people don't do, or do well in this line of work, that kind of stuff is gold. You can charge a lot and they will gladly pay, as long as the quality of work is high. But in towns where people don't have much money, they want a low price and it's usually just basic painting. The profit margin just isn't great enough. You just worry about selling light bulbs...

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Go Cubs!!!!

Don't worry, stevie boy. I'm doing just fine without your help.


Thats true to an extent. But I would rather have a profit of 15% from a job in Maywood than a profit of 0% because you aren't working

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In this thread: Frank C struggles with the concept of opportunity costs, while the Brand leaves an electronic paper trail three miles wide for the inevitable future equal opportunity investigation.

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Fire Phil Emery

I've often wondered if Elmhurst Steve realizes just how easy it is to link his full name to his posts here. There are companies that have created whole businesses around doing that and he would clearly be on there. The fact that geographical information is included makes it even easier.

I would recommend that anyone google their own board name with quotes around it and verify that none of the links go to a page with their full name on it. If it does, find a way to remove it.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

IB, kindly STFU.

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So addison is bad, I have family that live there, live way below their means, have a nice house, and make a decent honest living (probably about 3x what you make)....so you wouldn't paint their house just because of their zip?

Just because a town as a whole has a rep for being middle to lower you wouldn't try to make money there even if you were offered a job to paint a upscale house of decent folk?


And it's the rich who aren't spending the money now on improvement it's the middle class. My aunt is a artist and has had jobs in houses in Barrington, Lake Bluff, Deer Park, etc and she said they aren't having people like her come in to paint rooms & artwork for them as they are holding onto the money. She is making ends meet by doing smaller jobs where it is costing her more to do the write up and portfolio for the job then it is worth. Go into any of your approved 'hoods and see how many work trucks are there...zilch. Come into my hollar and you will always see a truck of sorts be it for siding, window's, furnace, etc .

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the receipts went down because they focused on one ride and not the whole park. Who wants to ride something that is falling down or wants to go to a park where only one ride/bldg is kept up?

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I agree where Frank is concerned. But please show me where I have ever opened myself to possible litigation. When asked about hiring practices, I have always maintained that there were many considerations that go into hiring and that I have never had an occassion where a quality candidate for a job was ever passed over for one less qualified. Please show me where there is any vulnerability...There isn't any law concerning any obligation to work in towns I don't feel I want to develop business in, so this thread is obviously not a factor. But by all means, show me where I have ever left myself vulnerable. If you are going back to hiring practices, it would have to be shown that a quality candidate for employment was ever passed over for a lesser candidate. Of course, that has never happened. It's not enough to say you have not hired a green person because you think green people might be bad for business. It must be shown that a qualified green person applied for a job and was passed over for someone who was not more qualified.

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Go Cubs!!!!

In this thread IB struggles with "equal opportunity " legislation and where it applies.

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The A in Addison should be a capital letter first off. No, I would not do work at their home if they called, unless they were given my name/number by an existing customer that recommended me. I wouldn't even do an estimate for them. It's not a town where maximum profits can be extracted. It's more of a town where contractors have to really compete hard for work and make far smaller profits. Not interested.

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Go Cubs!!!!

it's called racisim and openly admitting it. What if a person called and said I have 20K to spend on some interior work as I just bought a house in ____ town, you never met them, and never been to the house? You say sure give me your address and phone and i will get back to you. You look up the number/address and see it is in ___town, you call them back and say i don't go there due to reason xyz. Said person can then turn around and sue you because you said i don't go to maywood because reason xyz, for (wait for it....wait for it) racism/discrimination based on where they live. It is against the law to tell a person you won't work for them for reason xyz. Is their money not good or affraid it might be filled with creepy crawly germs?

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It's not racism...a persons race has nothing to do with profit margins. Some towns are just better to do business in because they are more willing (and able) to pay top dollar for high quality work. I am never under any obligation to do work for anyone in any town, unless I have entered into a contractual agreement to do said work. I don't avoid Addison because of any racial issues. Anyone familiar with Addison knows Addison is predominantly white, with a fair Hispanic population (and quite a few Italians). The racial make-up has nothing to so with not seeking to develop business there. It's the median income of families there that is the biggest factor in not wishing to cultivate business there. I know there are sections in that town that are quite nice. I have 1 customer in the Friars Cove section of that town. But they are related to a family I do work for in Hinsdale. If they had called without a referral, I probably would have said that it's not an area we service. Nothing racial involved at all. It's all about where profits are higher.

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Go Cubs!!!!

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Fire Phil Emery

well, at least Santa's Village is back