Iron Bay Restaurant Tempest, Westwood Mall Woes, New Food Options--Peace Pie, Sandos and Texas Roadhouse, Marquette Mountain (thankfully) Looks Ahead, and Mansplaining the Taylor Swift Phenomenon

The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell

CONTROVERSY, CREATED BY good intentions, at Iron Bay Restaurant and Drinkery…The restaurant just imposed what it calls a 4% “transparency fund” fee on all of its customers’ checks. The added fee, the restaurant explains, will go directly to raise the wages of its employees—not a cent to the owners. The reason for the 4% tax is posted, in a lengthy explanation, at a few places in the restaurant and on the menu.

Admirable, but…

The obvious question is, Why not just raise the prices of the menu items, and ensure that the additional revenue goes directly to the employees? Seems much simpler and more transparent. Assistant GM Shannon Johnson says that the 4% tax is actually a better deal for diners than increasing menu prices. Maybe, maybe not…But generally, simpler is better.

“We know the fee is controversial (it’s ignited a firestorm on social media) but we’re taking it in stride,” Johnson says. “Our people are behind it and we all believe it’s for the betterment of the staff and the business.”

Again, the intent behind the “transparency fund” fee is praiseworthy. Unlike many in the restaurant industry, Iron Bay is truly trying to create livable wages for its wait staff, its hosts, and its cooks, and thus, reduce turnover…40% of Iron Bay’s wait staff (the more senior employees who work year-round) already make $10.33 an hour, plus tips, according to Johnson…Not bad at all. But for the sake of clarity and “transparency,” it sure seems that simply raising menu prices—and wages—is the better, less controversial way to go.

BACK TO NORMAL, more or less, at least for now…The beleaguered Westwood Mall, after shutting down for almost a week because of an unpaid electric bill, is thankfully open for business again…The Kohan Retail Investment Group and its owner, Michael Kohan, were responsible for the delinquent bill and the shutdown. No surprise, he’s not answering phone calls from Marquette.

The utility payment is just part of the problem…As of the last count, Kohan owes the Township more than $268,000 in back taxes. On March 26th, he finally paid his taxes for 2021! Just in time, because on April 1, the mall was scheduled for foreclosure if the bill remained unpaid. Michigan law allows a three year grace period for unpaid back taxes.

But Kohan’s hardly out of the woods. “The property is in forfeiture for its unpaid 2022 taxes,” explains Deputy County Treasurer Matt Barnhart, “and fees and interest will be added.”…That means the bill will keep increasing, and the “forfeiture” could lead to “foreclosure” next March 31st, if the 2022 back taxes aren’t paid…To say nothing of the 2023 taxes which are also currently unpaid.

We wrote about it five years ago when Kohan bought the mall—red flags for Kohan properties everywhere, problems with neglected malls in Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, and Minnesota. And twice in the last two months, the lights have been turned off at another Kohan mall in Wichita, Kansas because the utility bill hadn’t been paid.

The 15 remaining merchants in Westwood Mall deserve better, much better. They’ve invested their time, money, and energy into their stores—and the stores look great!—but they’re saddled with a mall owner who doesn’t seem to care…Is there anybody out there (a consortium of locals maybe?) willing and able to make an offer that Kohan just can’t refuse?

“WE’RE MOVING IN the right direction,” says Jim Conlin, the lead partner in the planned Rolling Meadows apartment development on 553, out toward Marquette Mountain. “Financing has been approved, contractors are lined up.”…A few more matters to deal with, but Conlin is hoping to break ground in June…It’ll be “workforce” housing, with the potential eventually for as many as 160 units on the 17-acre property.

IT WAS A challenging winter for Marquette Mountain, to say the least. “Considering what we had to deal with (the lack of snowfall), we did great,” says GM Kaet Johnson. “We worked doubly hard, we made a lot of snow, we had great skiing conditions.”…Actually, that’s exactly what we heard from several skiers who made it to the Mountain, but the general feeling around town was that it was too warm, there wasn’t enough snow, and there were even some folks in town who thought the Mountain was closed.

Day passes were down 50% this year, ski rentals as well. Food, beverage, and retail were off about 30%, while season passes fortunately held steady at last year’s levels. But it’s tough to fight Mother Nature.

Up next for Marquette Mountain—the bike park, volleyball, disc golf, along with Cinco de Drinko (a margarita contest), and the UP Wife-Carrying Championship…Hey, when your skiing season is only three months long, you need to use your imagination and have a little fun.

NEW FOOD OPTIONS around town…Peace Pie in south Marquette opened up—offering pies and soups. Tasty food, a pleasant atmosphere, and friendly service. Wondering: how about some crackers or bread with the soup?…Sandos, the little sandwich shop next to Remie’s, also opened…Great reviews, apparently very busy. We were told that at 1:30 one afternoon, the wait for a sandwich would be 45 minutes. Yikes. That’s both good and bad.

Incidentally, their sandwiches come in at $14. $14!!! “Gosh, I can remember back in my day, you could get a sandwich for only—” Okay, Boomer, we get it.

AND THEN THERE’S the Texas Roadhouse. Truly a dream come true for some Yoopers—tasty steaks ranging from only $15 to $30, along with sides. And with free peanuts and mouth-watering rolls before you even glance at the menu! It truly is a good deal, as long as you’re not counting calories or suffering from a heart condition…Nice atmosphere as well, rustic but in a clean, wholesome way…And friendly servers who occasionally break out in song and dance…All in all, it’s a nice addition to the dining scene here, but one that will probably not be welcomed by other restaurants serving steaks.

WE’RE LOSING OUR religion…26% of us now identify as “religiously unaffiliated”—that’s an increase of 5% in the last decade. This, according to PRRI, which does polling and research on religion, culture, and politics…Catholics are suffering the biggest loss, while mainline Protestant denominations are also down….Black Protestants and Jewish Americans have the highest retention rates…Why are we leaving organized religion? According to PRRI, it’s partially because of the treatment of the LGBTQ community, and also abuse by clerics. But most simply, it’s because Americans have stopped believing their church’s teachings.

“I WORKED IN the hospital ER, and I saw the long lines, mostly for relatively minor illnesses, and we just thought there was a need for another option.” That’s Dr. Shawn Brown who, with Dr. Scott Hagle, has opened up Marquette Medical Urgent Care at 1025 West Washington Street…Two months in business so far, a steady stream of patients, good reviews, 20 employees (mostly part-time), open seven days a week…So far, so good. And meeting a need in Marquette.

REMEMBER WHEN “BILLIONAIRE” was just a word, a silly exaggeration that only children used? Well, the world now has 2781 of them, and 813 of these billionaires are Americans. 813! How ordinary, how commonplace it now seems…Bernard Arnault (who???), of the luxury goods empire LVMH, is the richest with $233 billion..Elon Musk, with $195 billion, and Jeff Bezos, with $194 billion, follow him…Among the newest billionaires are Magic Johnson, at $1.2 billion, and…(drumroll, please)…Taylor Swift, at $1.1 billion.

MANSPLAINING (at considerable risk to the trembling author): For those of us, mostly male, who don’t quite get the Taylor Swift phenomenon, a few things come to mind…1) She writes and sings catchy, clever, singable songs. 2) She is smart, tough, and assertive, yet also vulnerable. 3) She takes pride in her femininity, while also celebrating her toughness. 4) She seems to be a genuinely good, generous, and authentic person. 5) She’s truly a liberated woman—she doesn’t need a man, or help from anyone else. She’s achieved her greatness all on her own.

WHY DO WE love the Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce love affair? Because it’s a modern day fairy tale that’s come to life. Beautiful, talented, lovable pop star meets handsome, Super Bowl-winning football star. They fall in love. And live happily ever after (we hope).

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The woman who can create her own job is the woman who will win fame and fortune.”

—Amelia Earhart