Denton County Up Close 2010

Denton County

UP CLOSE

Challenging Times: An in-depth look at how the region and its residents are coping with the economy

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Feb. 28, 2010

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Denton Record-Chronicle

February 28, 2010

Denton Up Close

5

Downtown Denton fares well in economy

By Lori Lee For the Denton Record-Chronicle

Downtown Denton lights sparkle on the old courthouse Square as the city buzzes around it like a carnival.

On Locust Street, which borders one side of the Square, customers flood onto the walkway outside Jupiter House Coffee, gathering on the steps of the old former bank on the corner. On the coffee shop patio, an artist hustles paintings. And across the street, a band of teenagers hang out on the courthouse steps.

Long-time patrons like to say downtown Denton evokes a warm, cozy feeling — like an old worn couch or a favorite pillow. The collage of colorful retail shops, restaurants, offices and apartments on the Square, they say, seem to beckon people to park their cars and stroll from coffee house to restaurant to jazz bar.

Next door to Rooster’s Barbeque, at Dan’s Silver Leaf, a bearded blonde bartender leans across the dimly lit bar to hand his customer a drink. A musician walks in with a pillow in one hand, a dog’s leash in the other. A cocker spaniel follows close behind. In the lull between the happy hour and the late-night crowd, the Square is getting ready for the night – a time when shopping and office crowds give way to couples meeting for dinner, students gathering for studies over cups of coffee and those lingering for an evening musical or play.

The Square seems almost recession proof. Only a handful of businesses are facing a slight downturn in sales, says Julie Glover, program administrator for downtown Denton development. But most merFile photo

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Denton Up Close

February 28, 2010

Denton Record-Chronicle

From Page 5

Downtown chants are bustling, and some are even expanding. Beth Marie’s ice cream shop recently opened a second store, and Jupiter House Coffee is about to open one. Starbucks, however, isn’t on the Square’s blueprint for new development.

“We’d kind of like to…have only mom and pops here in the city,” says Joel North, manager at Jupiter House Coffee.

Some merchants say they’ve been surprised that their businesses haven’t been clobbered by the economic downturn. “I was a little anxious about this one being worse,” says Virginia McNeil, owner of McNeil’s Appliances on the Square. “But I think it’s going to work out all right.”

According to Dr. Ard Anjomani, an urban planning specialist of the University of Texas at Arlington, Squares like Denton’s predate World War II — before huge highway-building projects spurred shopping-center development away from downtowns.

Today, the chain stores and shopping centers on the outskirts of downtown have fallen into the dumps.

In the past year, Little Brother’s Pizza, Heavenly Body and Scents and Circuit City have closed, along with several restaurants in the Denton Crossing Shopping Center off Loop 288.

Merchants attribute part of the downtown Square’s appeal to the diversity and uniqueness of experiences offered within a short walking distance.

Patrons can choose between pubs and pizza places, hamburger joints and coffee houses, and shop for everything from clothes — new and vintage — to antiques, appliances, trinkets, dusty old books and vinyl recordings of bands no one’s thought of in twenty years.

Teenagers drink soda balls, twentysomething music diehards strum restless fingers, bearded professors sift through their texts at Jupiter House Coffee and the septuagenarians plays cards at Ruby’s Diner.

Some patrons say they flock to the Square to escape the one-in-the-same malls and big-box retail establishments.

“The malls are too commercial,” says Pamela Holloway, On the Square, she adds, “There’s not a Target or a Kmart or a WalMart or a Great Klips. We’re tired of the corporate mentality.”

“Denton does not do faux,” says Bob Montgomery, president of Downtown Main Street Association.” Everything

around here is reality based.

Southlake has built some great structures, but it’s like either going to Paris or Vegas to see the Eifel Tower.”

Merchants on the Square say they operate on a simple formula: providing unique products and personal service at affordable prices.

In selecting merchandise for Elements of Design Boutique, Joanne Moses says her store carefully chooses “one-of-a-kind items or things we think our customers will enjoy.” And the store offers complementary gift wrap – whether it’s a $1 or $100 purchase. “We give them equal attention,” says Moses.

Unlike other shopping centers, Moses says “every budget can find something on the Square, our shop included.”

Leah Wood, part owner of 2nd Street on the Square, a vintage and resale store, says most of the merchants also let local artists and musicians use their stores as sales outlets for their work. “We want the locals to feel like it’s their store,” says Wood.

The “locals” include the local universities, Texas Women’s University and the University of North Texas. Jimmy Meridith, part owner of Sweetwater Grill & Tavern, says Sweetwater hosts a patio jazz night every Tuesday where the performers are students from UNT’s renowned School of Music. “There’s a constant dynamic with the two colleges,” says Joshua Baker, a Denton resident.

“They keep the city alive.”

The Downtown Main Street Association maintains close ties with the “locals” by sponsoring everything from local art and antique shows to Twilight Tunes, where crowds gather on the Courthouse lawn during the summer for live music. And they work nonstop to keep the Square sparkling, squeaky clean and safe at all hours of the day and night.

“We light it up at night, we keep it clean, and the police department is very active at night, not in an oppressive way, but they oversee it,” says Montgomery.

John Maple’s hands are swollen and dry from washing windows in the frigid air for downtown businesses.

Not the sort of labor you’d expect from someone who holds two music degrees from UNT. His window-cleaning business occupies most of his time. But he doesn’t mind the work at all.

Above, crews work on the exterior of a building off Hickory Creek, which was restored to its original look. At left, the lights on trees surrounding the Courthouse on the Square are part of the downtown charm.

File photos

Doing his part to make sure the historic Square continues to sparkle, he says, stems from his family’s connection to the centerpiece on the Square: Denton County’s courthouse.

In the late 1800s, his wife’s great grandfather owned a wagon with Clydesdale

horses, and he hauled quarried stones from the railroad to town to build what is one of the grandest courthouses in Texas.

Today, maintaining the courthouse’s luster is important to all the merchants on the Square. “We take care of our stuff, and I think it shows,” says Montgomery.

Denton Record-Chronicle

February 28, 2010

Denton Up Close

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Denton Up Close

February 28, 2010

Economy strikes some in midst of retirement

One Look and You’ll See the Difference; One Visit and You’ll Experience the Difference.

A beautiful rehabilitation center with the feel of home.

Residents return to work; others delay plans for travel, new homes or similar pursuits

By Elizabeth Langton For the Denton Record-Chronicle

Kay Hull holds up a tile sample meant for the new backsplash in her Lewisville kitchen, showing her husband how their original design has been reconfigured to fit a small slip of wall underneath the bar.

Ken Hull pretends to think hard about the suggestion before quickly agreeing with his wife’s plan.

The new backsplashes and countertops constitute the final phase of a kitchen makeover in the couple’s three-bedroom Lewisville home, to which they downsized in 1997 anticipating their retirement years.

The renovations included replacing the sink, adding new appliances and converting to a gas range so the couple can “practice our gourmet cooking skills,” Hull says while mimicking sautéing food in a frying pan.

The kitchen updates pose no financial strain for the couple. Though Hull retired in 2007 after a career selling radiators and then insurance, he works several days each month bookkeeping for the radiator business. His wife remains employed fulltime as an airline ticket agent.

But Hull remains less sure about their financial status in three years when his wife retires at 66, the age she can collect full Social Security benefits.

The Hulls started planning their retirement 15 years ago, envisioning trips to Alaska, Europe and the Orient. These days Hull wonders if his investments will yield enough to merely pay the bills.

“We expected a cruise or two in the future, but that’s if there’s money left when we’re ready to go,” he says.

Along with Social Security, the couple’s post-employment income would also rely on his small pension, her 401k and joint IRA investments and savings. While that once seemed like plenty to pay their expenses and fund world travel, Hull worries about lingering effects of the economic downturn such as inflation and the dollar’s falling value.

“The way things are headed, we won’t

have enough money to buy a basket full of groceries,” he says.

The worldwide economic meltdown that started in 2008, considered the worst recession since the Great Depression, has battered stock prices and pummeled investment returns, including 401k retirement accounts and pension plans.

More than half of American households are “at risk” of not having enough to maintain their living standards in retirement, up from 44 percent in 2007 and 30 percent in 1989, according to the National Retirement Risk Index, a project of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

As a result, workers are postponing retirement and retirees are cutting their spending.

“People are holding onto their jobs for dear life,” says Jean Setzfand, director of financial security at AARP. According to a national survey by AARP released in October 2008, 69 percent of workers age 45 and older plan to delay retirement and spend less once they retire if the economy fails to improve significantly.

Thirteen percent admitted tapping into their retirement accounts or other investments to cover day-to-day expenses, the survey found, and 20 percent had stopped retirement account contributions during the previous 12 months.

In a survey by global consulting firm Watson Wyatt, workers between age 50 and 64 cited declining 401k values as the most important reason for delaying retirement.

Phillip Young, a Denton-based retirement and estate planning specialist, says he advises his clients to remain diligent in their planning and, for now, keep working unless forced to leave for health reasons.

“The meltdown we’ve had over the past few years is as significant as the Great Depression,” he says. “The economy is too unstable now.”

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Denton Record-Chronicle

February 28, 2010

Denton Up Close

9

From Page 8

Retirement

The number of Americans planning to work at least one year past retirement age has jumped 11 percent since the end of 2008, according to the latest Unretirement Index, a survey by Sun Life Financial released in October. The index reported that 27 percent expect to work five extra years because of current economic conditions.

Sun Life Financial U.S. president Wes Thompson says a majority of Americans now consider working in their later years as a necessity – a defining change in how society views work and retirement.

“This idea that the retirement was a 15to 20-year period where you get to have fun is a relatively recent cultural phenomenon,” says Andrew Eschtruth, communications director for the Center for Retirement Research. “We’re not saying your dreams aren’t attainable, but you need to adjust your expectations to reality.”

The first adjustment – more years in the workforce.

“We’re not saying people have to work forever or die at their desks,” Eschtruth says. But “we do think strongly that working longer is part of the solution.”

Joe Lyons always planned to work well into his retirement years.

Two years ago, he enjoyed a successful career supervising 20-member crews as they constructed houses from “dirt to finish.”

Even as home sales crashed and his last employer shut down projects, cut wages and laid off workers, Lyons felt secure in his job because he remained busy and worked long hours.

He was laid off in 2008.

“I didn’t see it coming. I was devastated,” he says. “I always identified myself with my job; I think that’s where I messed up.”

The Choice Homes 1998 Builder of the Year now relies on odd jobs such as house painting, fence construction and bathroom remodeling to make a living. His wife, Patty, works part-time as a department store sales clerk.

“I get up in the morning some days and I think, ‘I have to do something or we won’t be able to pay the bills,’ ” the 55year-old Lewisville resident says. “We don’t buy anything we don’t need.”

The Lyonses have no retirement savings and cannot afford to start now.

“He’ll likely have to work for the rest of

his life,” says Paul Foutch, Lyons’ friend who works as a financial advisor for Edward Jones.

But Tony Boudreau hopes that careful planning keeps him on track to retire in nine years – just as soon as he reaches the threshold for full Social Security benefits.

“If for some reason my investments do well, I’ll retire even sooner,” the 57-yearold Flower Mound resident said. “The quicker I can retire, the happier I’ll be.”

Boudreau, an accountant and vice president of business affairs for Parker College of Chiropractic in Dallas, pulled his retirement investments from the stock market in January 2008 – before stock values plummeted. Some co-workers lost half the money in their retirement accounts, he says.

“When the market really tanked, I didn’t get hurt like a lot of people did,” he says. “I was lucky this time around but something else could come along. It’s very scary.”

Ken Kendall, a financial planner of 41 years who works with Boudreau and Hull, said retirees relying on every penny of their investment income to cover expenses were the hardest hit.

“It gets even worse if they dip into their principle,” he says. “There are a lot of people retired who have to spend that money from day one.”

Financial advisors say dedicated planners can weather the economic storm with their future finances intact.

“The first thing is to not panic,” says the AARP’s Setzfand.

Experts say devise a plan and stick to it.

Phillips, the Denton-based financial planner, recommends people set aside 10-15 percent of their income for retirement.

Savings should begin as soon as people establish their careers, he says.

“The most important thing is to develop the habit of saving very early on,” he says.

Hull, the Lewisville retiree, said he and his wife lost significant savings when the market collapsed but regained ground by shuffling their investments.

While confident he can now protect his money, he worries that overall economic conditions will hurt his bottom line when his wife retires in three years.

“I’m generally an optimistic person but I’m not this time around,” he says.

“Hopefully there will be something left to play with.”

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Denton Up Close

February 28, 2010

Denton Record-Chronicle

The show will go on

By Tyler Cochran For the Denton Record-Chronicle

A vintage neon sign and old fashioned ticket booth from its grand old days as a glitzy movie house welcome patrons into one of Denton’s cultural treasures.

The Campus Theater, with its art deco design and vibrant terrazzo color scheme of reds, greens and whites in the interior, offers the sort of edge-of-your-seat drama that few community theaters around the country can match.

During its 12-month-season, the Denton Community Theatre will perform three plays, three musicals and several special events. For a local, non-profit organization, this is no small feat. Providing high-end theater in a community the size of Denton is an expensive undertaking. And at a time when growing legions of Dentonites are facing economic hardship, even actors and actresses wonder whether the community has the will and the wherewithal to support it’s theater.

Shane Strawbridge certainly hopes so. Like

other actors, he believes theaters like the DCT are essential to a community’s health and wellbeing. “Without art, life is empty,” he says.

Actors who perform with DCT are volunteers who are not compensated for their services. But the actors say making money isn’t why they spend countless hours in rehearsals and performances. It’s about creating art for art’s sake. “For me it is necessary,” says Strawbridge, who appeared in last season’s production of Carousel. “It gives me an outlet and an extended family.”

After spending hundreds of hours in exhaustive rehearsals, Justin Harmon and Buster Maloney are excited about stepping onto the stage at the DCT to perform the comedy, A Tuna Christmas. Each actor will don a variety of costumes and wigs to play 11 different characters — ranging from young to old, male to female and pretentious to down-right rude.

And all this comically gifted duo wants in return for their efforts are a few belly laughs See SHOW on Page11

A central part of Denton’s downtown, the Campus Theater continues to thrive despite the economic downturn. Above, the lighted sign lures passersby to the gamut of shows. At left, the upstairs dressing room awaits the next round of actors to prepare for their roles.

File photos

Denton Record-Chronicle

February 28, 2010

11

Do it right the first time

From Page 10

Show from a packed house.

But while making money is of little concern to the actors, it is to Mike Barrow, the DCT’s managing director. With just 25% of the theatre’s funding coming from ticket sales, he says he has to find ways to raise money from outside sources.

The Greater Denton Arts Council is one of those sources. It has helped to support the theater and other artistic, cultural, and educational institutions.

In the early 90s, a $1.8 million grant from the GDAC was used to renovate the Campus Theatre, providing the Denton Community Theatre a permanent home.

But in a job-squashing economy, providing top quality theater is a constant challenge.

That’s why Borrow spends a great deal of his time seeking grants from local, state, and national organizations that sponsor the arts – hoping to maintain DCT’s main stage season that has already been cut to six productions from eight. .

Under Borrow, another theatrical venue began to take shape in the form of a black box performance located in the east wing of the Denton RecordChronicle building.

Unfortunately, the plans for this new space were put into place before the economy began to implode.

“It’s a risk to continue the project but we have the support of the people of Denton,” says Barrow. “Typically, all we have to do is ask.”

The DCT’s black box –which will be used for rehearsals, theater classes and to offer more experimental pieces in contrast to more costly productions like My Fair Lady — is being leased to DCT for a mere $1 per month.

“Our leases are the envy of everyone,” says Borrow.

To help secure the company’s future, the Barrow Society was formed.

Named in honor of Barrow’s parents, this contingency fund allows the theatre to pay off royalties for its various productions and place aside a portion of ticket sales that will in turn assist with the financial planning for future seasons.

Barrow’s parents, Frank and Betty Ann, were involved in the theater almost from the beginning, when silent moments onstage were offset by the noisy fire station directly downstairs from the makeshift theater.

His father’s philosophy was to present

Denton Up Close

with complimentary help from Ethan Allen “As long as we have actors and an audience then there will always be a place for us.”

OPEN EVENINGS

BY APPOINTMENT

— Joshua Hancock

family-friendly productions, and that philosophy remains in place today.

By providing family faire such as The Producers, Cinderella and A Tuna Christmas, the younger Barrow says he’s confident Campus Theater will remain a vital part of the Denton community.

Fight Boy Theater Fight Boy Theatre is a more unorthodox theatrical organization now vying for attention from local patrons. This young start-up theater offers an alternative to traditional fare using unorthodox artistic choices such as performing classical pieces and original works written by local playwrights in the backyard of a coffee house.

The group is overseen by Joshua Hancock, a recent Texas Woman’s University graduate who sports spiky hair and striped button-down shirts. He says the five year old theater company operates with a survival school mentality.

“Everything is found, borrowed, or stolen,” he jokes.

Yet Fight Boy, unlike DCT, is a for profit company. Productions are funded out of Hancock’s own pocket, or with help from two or three producers working with the company. Fight Boy’s actors perform at the Art Six Coffee House on Bryan Street, which takes 30% of the proceeds for each performance. Fight Boy gets the rest.

Barrow and Hancock agree that rising gas prices and a sour economy may even benefit their Denton theater companies.

“More locals are deciding to stay home instead of making the trek out to Dallas or Fort Worth,” says Barrow.

“They are simply rediscovering the city and the culture that has always been there,” he adds.

Hancock concurs: “As long as we have actors and an audience then there will always be a place for us.”

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Denton Up Close

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Faded black and white prints of Mexico’s beloved border bandit Poncho Villa and sepia magazine reprints of 1930-era Mexican family portraits adorn orange marigold colored walls. Mexican flags stick out of nail holes, and a serape frames a 4-foot-tall painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The co-owner of Taqueria Guanajuato, Guadalupe Nunez, serves freshly steamed tortillas and spicy barbacoa with sides of arroz and frijoles to her chatty, Spanishspeaking customers who must shout to compete with clattering pots and pans.

A hundred feet away, Mary Luz, owner of Salon de Belleza Mary Luz , busily clips the hair of male laborers who make up the backbone of Denton’s economy—working ranches, laying concrete, cutting grass, cleaning dishes and doing other backbreaking work that many Anglo workers won’t do. Most of these laborers work seven days a week and have little time to shop. So Luz makes life a little easier for them. She sells straw hats, cowboy boots, belts and other western wear out of a side room of her salon.

Nearby, La Indita Meat Market bulges with glass-fronted meat cases offering Mexican-style cuts, stuffed shelves of canned and bottled Mexican food items, freshly packaged spices and herbs, and counters littered with limp cardboard containers of trinkets, candies, even Mexican videos.

Despite a ruthless economy that has crippled Anglo-run businesses across Denton County, “Little Mexico� – as some residents refer to the family-owned, Hispanic enclave of enterprises sprouting along East McKinney Street between Bell and Crawford – flourishes. The meteoric growth in the Hispanic population of Denton County has much to do with it.

The U.S. Census Bureau says there were just four Hispanic households in Denton County in 1920. Today, Hispanics make up 16.7 percent of the population and a growing slice of the economy.

“We did not have a tenth of the Hispanic businesses we have now,� says Tomasa Garcia, who founded the Denton Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in 1995. “It has exploded.�

Inside the half-mile triangle of immigrant culture clustered along East McKinney Street, an innate cultural grit kicks in to beat back the blows of a battering economy. “The U.S.-born may know the drive and the politics for success, but the Mexico-born know the work ethic‌ immigrant survival skills are the subtle difference,â€? says a U.S.-born Mexican whose parents immigrated to Texas.

After years of backbreaking labor, often working two jobs, the Nunez family saved enough to start their own business. In late 2005 and early 2006, they opened three separate enterprises within a few months of each other – La Indita Meat Market, Taqueria Guanajuato, and Ken’s Produce.

The family supports each other by pooling resources for inventory, supplies and labor.

From Ken’s Produce, Francisco Nunez sells tomatoes, avocadoes, lettuce, and onions at cost to his brother-in-law, Carlos, a co-owner of Ken’s Poduce and full owner of Taqueria Guanajuato. From La Indita Meat Market, Magdalena Nunez sells cabrito and puerco to her sister-in-law Guadalupe at Taqueria Guanajuato so she can feature a daily taco special. And Carlos frequently treks back and forth to the Farmer’s Market in downtown Dallas — replenishing withering perishables for both his taqueria and Ken’s Produce. “Carlos doesn’t stop,� says Francisco. “If he stops, we lose money,� says Francisco.

The Nunez’s say their close family and business relationships embody an old Mexican saying: “A Mexican works to live. An Anglo lives to work‌â€?

The Hispanic barrio surrounding East McKinney Street sprung up in the 1980s and early 1990s because of its proximity to two businesses that hired Hispanic

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Does a WORK INJURY or CAR WRECK have you

Hispanic businesses continue growth in Denton and region

Denton Up Close

Denton Record-Chronicle

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Denton Up Close

February 28, 2010

Denton Record-Chronicle

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Denton Record-Chronicle

February 28, 2010

Denton Up Close

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From Page 13

Hispanic laborers: Acme Brick Company and Morrison Milling Company. Carlos Nunez, for example, worked 12-hour shifts at Acme Brick Company and evenings and weekends at Ken’s Produce before he opened Taqueria Guanajuato.

Most of the immigrant families that settled into the East McKinney barrio originally came from the Mexican state of Coahuila, mostly from the town of Muzquiz and the city of Piedras Negras.

Lately though, immigrants from Guanajuato and Mexico City – and even Honduras and Nicaragua – have moved into the neighborhood.

Ken’s Produce

Today, the East McKinney looks a world apart from nearby Anglo neighborhoods. In the fall, at Ken’s Produce, fresh naphtha-red ristras dangle along entrance eaves, orange pumpkins mingle with purple pansies atop fresh hay bales, and flats of cabbage and kale stack shelves of a portable gardener’s rack. Customers drop off five-gallon plastic containers of raw pecans for shelling by the loud machine in the side room.

At Ken’s Produce, 410 North Bell, a popular Denton specialty and farmer’s market for more than two decades, the fruits and vegetables wither quickly, generating “a lot of waste,” says Rebekah Alvarez, who works part time at the market. Some of the fruits and vegetables are donated daily to the homeless shelter operated by St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. But that doesn’t help the stores bottom lines, frets Alvarez.

Taqueria Guanajuato By noon on a soggy October Saturday, the red oil-cloth coverings atop the three tables in Taqueria Guanajuato overflow with platters of tacos, tortas and corn tortillas.

Cilantro sprigs adorn each order.

Generous stacks of warm corn tortillas accompany each serving.

The restaurant, tucked in an aging, cinderblock building at 1017 East McKinney, opened four years ago.

Owners Guadalupe and Carlos Nunez opened a second Taqueria Guanajuato at 305 Hundley Drive in Lake Dallas in July.

Guadalupe, a mother of three, works 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Lake Dallas, and five

File photo/Al Dia A young girl waves a Mexican flag during a recent celebration. In Denton, Hispanic businesses are seeing continued growth and expansion despite a challenging economy. A number of Hispanic businesses are opening on McKinney Street in the city.

evenings until about 10:30 p.m. at the East McKinney Street restaurant. She sets aside Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings to run errands and attend Church. Carlos claims Sunday for uninterrupted siestas.

Guadalupe’s sister, Yolanda, a mother of two, and 21-year-old Carlos Junior, rotate hours at the East McKinney Street location. Carlos’s brother, Juan, works full time for half the year before returning to Mexico, where his wife and children still live. Guadalupe’s brother, Roberto, works with her at Lake Dallas, and Carlos fills in at both locations as needed.

La Indita Meat Market At La Indita Meat Market, 410 West Sherman, Magdalena Nunez arrives by 5:30 a.m. to prepare enough carnitas, sopes, moritos, tacos, tortas and steaks to fill up two mobile catering units. Female

drivers transport the savory Mexican dishes, both hot and cold, to construction sites all across the county.

But because many construction projects have been put on hold during the recession, La Indita has had to mothball one of its catering trucks. “This year’s just been real, real slow,” says Alejandro Nunez, Magdalena’s 23-year-old son.

To help make ends meet, two small tables and six chairs are now set up to serve customers lunch inside Magdalena’s kitchen. Besides lunch, La Indita’s walkin customers know they can find what they wouldn’t find at Kroger Food Stores — 18 varieties of meats priced from $1.99 to $4.39 per pound.

Veronica’s Cafe Lines form out the door and around the building on weekend at Veronica’s Café,

one of the oldest taquerias on East McKinney Street. For 15 years, patrons, mostly Mexican, have stood in line waiting for hours to get a mouthful of Veronica’s tamales, barbacoa and menudo.

The single-room building at 803 East McKinney looks like a rescued storageunit building. Inside the duct-tape stabilized screen door, more than 125 customers are served on weekends, around 75 during the week.

Veronica launched the business out of her living room, selling tamales and tortillas during the week, and barbacoa and menudo on weekends. Over the years, she saved enough money to purchase the restaurant and surrounding property.

Veronica’s daughter, 27-year-old Edith, recently took over management of the taqueria after Veronica’s retirement.

See HISPANIC on Page 18

16

Denton Up Close

February 28, 2010

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Denton Up Close

February 28, 2010

Hispanic When she’s not serving tamales, Edith studies at North Texas Community College, pursuing her goal to teach high school math.

Edith remembers her mother’s early entrepreneur days. “First she started in our living room…she sold tamales and tortillas… and on the weekends she would do barbacoa and menudo. And she started saving up money and she was able to get the loan...she owns the property…all of this, even the small building next door, and all the way to Frame Street…”

In her East McKinney Street neighborhood, Edith says many of her neighbors are undocumented workers who are acutely aware that they run the risk of getting picked up by immigration authorities. That’s what happened to the Mexican husband of a 22-year-old Anglo woman who works in the East McKinney barrio. “My husband got picked up yesterday for deportation,” says the wife, her blue eyes locked in a deep, distant gaze.

Now, she struggles to watch their children, a four-year-old and an 18-month0ld toddler, who wander the house looking for “Papapa.”

Salon, Western Wear No screaming neon lights, no fancy hair technologies, lure customers into Mary Luz’s Salon at 1012 East McKinney Street operated by Maria Gallegos and her daughters. But seated in her hairdresser’s chair, Nanci Gellegos, says their salon offers more than just a hair cut; they offer a soothing ear for the weary, the afflicted, the unemployed. “We hear the stories… ‘it’s been hard…I’m looking for a job…’” But no matter what their plight, Gallegos takes comfort in knowing that “everybody needs a haircut.”

Walk-in customers, mostly men and mostly laborers, keep the salon busy during weekends. The hairdressers offer $10 hair cuts, twelve-hours a day Monday through Saturday, and until 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. But there’s more to Mary Luz’s than meets the eye. Mary Luz sees to it that the Mexican laborers who frequent her salon leave not just well groomed, but well dressed as well.

Floor-to-ceiling rows of popular Tejano sun-bleached straw hats share wall space next to shelves lined with nut-colored hues of exotic and artisan-designed pointed-toe boots. Elaborately engraved silver and gold belt buckles sparkle in a

A bowl of arroz adds flavor and filling to a meal.

File photo/Al Dia

glass-enclosed counter and belt belts of every color hang from nearby racks.

Taco Lady Besides seating about 32 dine-in customers, Taco Lady, 1101 East McKinney, caters specialties to local offices. Two “big trucks, not the small ones” deliver freshly prepared tortillas, burritos, tacos and tamales.

Catering counts for much of the business, and the female employees enjoy both the work and the parties. “We don’t have any men (employees). This is Taco Lady,” Lorena Briseño says.

Her mother-in-law, Luz, opened Taco Lady in 2001, and has weathered the “up and down” business. Five employees prepare Mexican cuisine from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., seven days a week.

The American Dream?

Most of the Mexican migrants who fled their homelands came in search of a piece of the American Dream.

But Juan Nunez says he has no intention of sinking roots in Denton. He works with the family businesses located in East McKinney for only six months, sending remittances back home to Guanajuato to support his wife and children.

Juan says his children don’t have any ties to Denton or the United States. “Here my family doesn’t like because the school is not very good,” he says. “They go to school in Mexico… and they study very well. They live with the mother in Mexico, and they are happy there.”

His eldest son, 17, a U.S. citizen, visits infrequently. A second son, 14, and his daughter, 8, have no desire to live in the U.S. “They say no, please.”

Denton Record-Chronicle

Childcare providers hit hard in downturn

By Candace Clark For the Denton Record-Chronicle

Clutching a slice of pepperoni pizza in one hand and waving her Sippy cup furiously in the other, 2-year-old D’Ari Jackson sits at the kitchen table, babbling a soliloquy only she understands.

For the next two weeks, D’Ari will stay with relatives in Denton, giving her mother Shaunda Jackson, a much needed break.

Times have been tough for Jackson, a single mother of one, who lives in Dallas.

After losing her job, her apartment, and her car earlier this year, Jackson moved in with her aunt until she could get back on her feet.

Now several months later, Jackson has secured another job and an apartment, but her hardships have not ceased. Even with her new job, making rent and paying bills remains a struggle, as does trying to finance child care services. So when her cousins from Denton offered to babysit D’Ari for two weeks, Jackson was relieved that for at least a couple of weeks, she would not have to scramble to find child care for her daughter.

With the U.S. Bureau of Labor reporting the national unemployment rate at 10.2 percent and climbing, parents are struggling to afford the cost of child care.

Out of work, out of money and running out of options, many parents are seeking part-time child care services instead of full-time. Some parents are removing their children from child care altogether.

“I’ve lost two children already because their parents lost their jobs,” said Starr Campbell, who started a pre-school and daycare from her home in Denton 15 years ago.

Childcare providers in Denton County cite the economic downturn as the source of their financial woes. The state unemployment rate rose from 8 percent to 8.2 percent in September, placing financial strain on many families.

“Most of my parents cannot pay,” said Sophia Holmes, owner of Tiny Tykes Learning Center. “We have a long waiting list of parents waiting to receive governmental aid to help pay for child care. It’s taking longer than usual for them to secure the funds.”

Thirty percent of Holmes’ customers

“I’ve lost two children already because their parents lost their jobs.”

— Starr Campbell

receive assistance from the Child Care Services Program, which assists in the cost of child care for low-income, working families.

Ginger Conrad-Kane, who supervises the program, says there has been an increase in applications for the program this year, but they have had to deny many applicants who did not meet the minimum requirement of being employed for at least 30 hours per week.

Because of the staggering economy, Conrad-Kane said the work requirement was reduced to 25 hours so that more families would qualify.

“We found that many of the families couldn’t even meet the 25-hour requirement, either because they are having trouble finding a job or because their employers are not giving them enough hours to fulfill the requirement,” ConradKane said.

Roughly 25 percent of denials were due to applicants’ inability to meet the minimum work requirements. ConradKane also revealed that many families had to be dropped from the program because they no longer met the state requirements to qualify for the program.

“We’ve been letting customers go on a weekly basis now,” she said.

The faltering economy has issued an ultimatum to child care providers: adapt to the current economic climate or collapse under its pressure.

“In order to survive, you have to be flexible,” Campbell said.

For Campbell, flexibility means working with parents who have lost their jobs and can now only afford to pay for parttime child care.

It means granting extensions to struggling parents who cannot make payments when due.

It also means forgoing her flat rate of $125 per week to accommodate her See PROVIDERS on Page 19

Denton Record-Chronicle

February 28, 2010

Denton Up Close

19

Looking for something?

File photo

The sign above shows the location of the Town of Hickory Creek animal shelter where more than 100 volunteers provide their time and assistance to provide shelter for the many tenants.

Find it at

Volunteers help animal shelter handle growing needs in town

By Amanda Mielcarek For the Denton Record-Chronicle

Prowling for affection, a calico tabby named Sarabeth shyly slinks around the Hickory Creek Animal Shelter’s cat interaction room in search of a hand to nuzzle.

The elegant feline resembles an Egyptian statue with her long body, neck and especially her long tail trailing gracefully behind her.

Abandoned by her previous owners, who said only that they could no longer take care of her, Sarabeth is wholly unaware of the fact that she is being videotaped by one of the shelter’s many volunteers, who hopes that posting her profile on petfinder.com will help find the lonely cat, who has been at the shelter for over four months, a new, loving home.

Until then, since the cat room is too full

to house her any longer, she will be living in a foster home provided by Nicki, one of the shelter’s volunteers, said Kenneth Lowrie, the shelter’s Animal Control Officer.

It is this very dedication and compassion of the Hickory Creek Animal Shelter’s volunteers that transforms this small town shelter into something more— a sanctuary for needy pets.

Indeed, walking into the shelter is like walking into an old but cozy home.

Lowrie, like a concerned father, takes it upon himself to keep an eye on things, ambling surely from cage to cage and run to run, his keen eye quick to notice any sign of a pet in need of a pat on the head or a scratch behind the ear.

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Providers clients’ financial situations. And on rare occasions, flexibility means offering child care in lieu of other services. Campbell recalls one child’s father landscaping her backyard as repayment for child care.

Because her pre-school and daycare serves as her only source of income, Campbell admits that the economy’s effect on her business makes it difficult to budget her finances for herself and her 9year-old daughter, Emma.

“It’s hard when you know your mort-

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find it at DentonMarketplace.com gage is due on the first of the month, but your clients can’t pay you until the fifteenth.”

Despite her own financial insecurities, Campbell remains passionate about her work.

“I love my kids,” she said in reference to the 10 children she teaches and cares for each day. “I have a faith-based philosophy.

If I need money, I trust that God will provide. What’s important is that children receive good child care.”

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Denton Up Close

February 28, 2010

Denton Record-Chronicle

From Page 19

Shelter The five dog runs out back are full of excited pups jumping up on the cage doors to catch any attention they can get.

The cat room is small but well maintained, lined with cages and full of the sounds of music.

“The cats usually get country,” Jessica Burton, a frequent volunteer, said, reaching for a handful of treats to hand out to the shelter’s furry guests.

Though the old, worn sign out front suggests a derelict establishment, the inside is full of warmth, thanks in large part to the shelter’s dedicated volunteers, who keep the place clean and greet prospective owners with a friendly welcome as they shuffle between bottle feeding kittens and cleaning out the dog runs.

With no regular help, the shelter depends on its staff of over 100 volunteers to care for the shelter’s animals, feeding them, taking them to the vet and the groomer, and even doing laundry.

They are even responsible for the contents of the shelter, as almost everything in there was donated, from cat trees, scratching posts and toys to collars, pet supplies and treats. The dog and cat rooms are filled with several fans and constant air conditioning to ensure the animals comfort and health in the face of Texas’ brutal summers. The dogs, which are kept in the shelter’s open dog runs, are also provided with beds during the winter to keep warm.

“We have found tremendous support, even in the midst of a depression,” said Chris Gordon, a council member and the shelter’s liaison for the Animal Welfare Board. Last year the shelter’s volunteers collectively put in over 1,800 hours, including time spent at events and posting pets on petfinder.com.

Even youngsters Dellancey Meskill, 9, and her brother Brayden Meskill, 7, pitch in. “Right now the cat room’s full so we’re fostering two of the kittens ourselves,” Dellancey said. The siblings also had a lemonade stand to raise money for the shelter, with their parents doubling what they made. “The only thing I know is loving kittens and teaching them to be good,” said Brayden, in between playing with a restless black kitten and introducing the shelter’s dogs.

Thanks to the volunteers, the shelter has been able to survive even in the face of a harsh recession. The number of pets the shelter is housing has only increased by

less than one percent since last year, said Lowrie.

Likewise, the number of adoptions has actually increased by 1.4 per month from 2008 to 2009, thanks to dedicated volunteers, who, in addition to their other duties, also help out at the shelter’s events to raise money, such as the Lakeview neighborhood garage sale, the Wag ‘n Walk fundraiser, Lewisville’s Holiday at the Hall and Western Day, Hickory Creek’s Fall Fest, also called Bark in the Park, and the Highland Village Balloon festival, where they painted faces in exchange for donations. “These events help raise awareness of our small community’s animal shelter,” Lowrie said.

The volunteers not only care for the shelter’s animals, but are also sometimes called upon to save their lives. Three years ago, when Lowrie first started working at the shelter, it was a no-kill zone. This lasted until Hickory Creek’s Animal Welfare Board, which Lowrie called “the liaison between myself and the town and council,” brought in a representative from the humane society to check on the well being of the animals. The representative deemed that, at the time, the shelter was too crowded for their psychological welfare.

“It’s really not good for the animals to be overcrowded, they go stir-crazy,” Lowrie said. Fortunately, since making the shift from being a no-kill zone to a low-kill zone— which means they only euthanize animals that are seriously ill or unadoptable due to aggressive behavior— the shelter has not had to euthanize a single animal. “One reason is because we have great volunteers,” Lowrie said.

This is not the only change Lowrie has seen in his day. About three years ago what is currently the Hickory Creek Animal Shelter used to be the town hall.

When town hall moved location, animal services stayed behind, now able to utilize the entire building for its cause. “Since they moved we’ve tried to take advantage of the facility,” said Lowrie.

For example, what was once the public works director’s office is now the cat interaction room, a place where prospective owners can play with and get to know the cats or kittens they’re interested in adopting. The city council chamber is being used by Therapy Pals, an organization See SHELTER on Page 22

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Martha Jones rubs the back of her wrinkled neck and curly white hair exhaling a sigh of weariness as she steals a worried glance at some of the stark white, empty shelves.

The Denton Community Food Center isn’t brimming to the rafters and as the volunteer coordinator, she is beginning to feel helpless for the first time as a volun-

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“It’s critical right now,” Jones said.

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Shelter that trains dogs to provide pet therapy in nursing homes and Denton’s University Behavioral Health hospital.

Though Lowrie, his volunteers and his furry wards have made themselves quite at home at 8696 S. Stemmons, the shelter will soon be forced to move location. “The Texas Department of Transportation is expanding the highway and purchasing this property, among others, for the expansion,” Lowrie said. “We don’t have a choice, we have to move.”

The shelter plans to use the money they receive from selling the land, as well as some of the donated funds, to build a bigger, better facility on Hickory Creek’s Main Street. The new shelter will be connected to the Public Works Office by a breezeway, and will be able to house more animals.

In the last 18 months, seven members

of the Animal Welfare Board have raised over $20,000 for the new shelter. They’ve done a pancake breakfast, attended over 15 local shelter related events, had cakewalks, sold jellies and baseball bats and currently have a Historic Texas Stadium chair up for raffle. “Our group has found many creative ways to stimulate interest in a down economy,” Gordon said.

Once the state transportation department provides a signed acquisition agreement, they will have one year to move into the new shelter, and everyone involved is committed to ensuring that the new shelter will be ready.

Should they run into a problem with timing, however, they will once again be forced to look to the help and support of their volunteers. “We have multiple foster families already prepared to help us should the need arise,” Gordon said.

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Denton Up Close

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Denton Up Close

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Denton Record-Chronicle

Gardening becomes part of everyday life as more grow food

By Whitney Thompson and Karly Short For the Denton Record-Chronicle

Littered throughout the kitchen, her yellow Post-Its are reminders to turn off the coffee pot, remember her lunch and water the tomatoes and herbs.

For recent UNT graduate and current employee Lindsey Stevens, that last item on her daily checklist is new, but one she anticipates every morning. The gratification of growing her own vegetables is more than just a health factor, but also fiscally responsible.

The economic downfall most Americans are experiencing is not limited to gas prices and unnecessary spending. With the rising cost of grocery bills, shoppers are struggling to keep their cupboards full. Some green-thumbed individuals have taken to growing their own vegetables in an effort to maintain sustainability as best as they See GARDENS on Page 25

File photo

Growing vegetables is becoming a more frequent site in many back yards across the area.

From Page 22

Supply during economic downturns, according to a survey by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

The Denton Community Food Center has seen a small increase in donations but not enough food to go around at a time when more people are turning to nonprofits for help.

The demand for food has also gone up 20 percent in the last year, said Andrea Helms, a spokeswoman for the Tarrant Area Food Bank, a nonprofit organization that distributes food to not only the Food Center but other food banks in the 13-county network as well.

Jones is just one of the nine people that volunteers from 1 to 3 p.m. on Monday at the center where walk-in volunteers are whole-heartedly welcomed and taught on-the-spot.

As visitors to the Food Center pile in, voices are replaced by the sounds of shuffling feet over the marble floor as the volunteers silently flutter back and forth between filling up paper sacks and stocking shelves.

Jones meanders her way to the back stockroom, nicknamed “The Dungeon” by the volunteers, to find more canned vegetables and fruits.

“Oh my god, these shelves are so bare,” she whispers as she flicks on the light. “This is terrible.”

In the dank, dimly lit atmosphere, Jones looks through the few rows of boxes only to find packaged goods of beans or instant microwavable foods.

“In June, we had a donation drive with the U.S. Postal Service and got about 24,000 lbs. of donations,” said Bill Brady who has volunteered at the Center for 10 years.

“Now, I want to say we are about down to 15,000 lbs.”

Meanwhile in the calling area, Denton residents and sisters Tiffany Boyer and Stacie Hestand sit on a chipped

oak bench waiting anxiously for their numbers to be called.

“When you’re stuck and you go a month not feeding your kids because you haven’t gotten approved by food stamps yet because of messed up paperwork, we are glad to have this place available,” said Boyer as tears welled up in her eyes. “I’m not working because I have a 6-year-old that goes to school and I want to be there to pick him up.

I find myself doing this all the time.”

The sisters hold hands not letting the noises around them distract from numbers being called.

“Yeah, it can be tough sometimes,” Hestand said.

Situated between Elm and Locust Streets on West Sycamore, the Food Center is housed in a worn, red-brick building that has probably seen its fair share of a downspiraling economy.

From the 1950s to the 1960s, the building was a congregation for the affluent middle-class as the Old Southern Hotel. The hotel’s lavish restaurant was later converted to the room where food donations are now kept.

After a period of dilapidated growth, the building reopened its doors on Oct. 14, 1974 as the Denton Community Food Center with the purpose to supply food from one community storehouse, free of charge and on a temporary basis, to people in emergency situations.

“The number of people we are seeing has increased because of the economy,” said Tom Newell, the chairman of the Food Center. “Most of these people are going through temporary problems like ‘I’m out of the job’ or ‘I’ve wiped out my savings.’”

From serving less than 300 families in its first full year of operation, the center has steadily expanded to serve

more than 8,500 families a year within the Denton community, said Tom Newell, the chairman of the Food Center.

“Families or individuals can only come to the Food Center four times in a year,” said Suzy Holt, a volunteer and retired school counselor in Denton ISD, as she flicks open the paper bag and stuffs canned green beans and bread until it’s filled to the brim. “Unfortunately, these paper sacks barely last one person a week.”

Holt, who has been volunteering at the Food Center for about four months, said the Food Center doesn’t receive enough donations to supply visitors on a daily basis.

The Food Center distributes food by a code where if for example, there is a family of four then that family receives two paper sacks of food, two plastic bags of food and their choice of five food items from a designated shelf. One person is given one sack of food and his or her choice of the five food items.

Digging through the shelves, Holt finds a rarity in the lines of soup cans — a Campbell’s Chunky Chili soup — which she then places into one of the paper sacks lined up to be filled and then given to a visitor.

“I’m trying to find something other than chicken noodle soup,” she said as she fills four bags at a time.

“I want to dig through and be a little selective today.

Right now, we tend to have less of the heavy protein type of food,” she said.

As Holt masters her art of bagging by the numbers, Jones stocks the shelves quietly in the back while humming to herself.

“These volunteers are truly the core of this establishment,” she said. “We feed the hungry.”

Denton Record-Chronicle

February 28, 2010

From Page 24

Denton Up Close

25

Make your home

Gardens can.

“I originally started growing basil and cilantro because the cost of buying them fresh in the grocery store was getting outrageous,” says Stevens. “I cook with them so often and don’t want to sacrifice flavor to save a few dollars.”

She frequents local nurseries for seeds, potting soil and other gardening necessities, and the small pots of budding vegetables sit on her kitchen’s windowsill. She says that if she had more sun-lit windows in her apartment, she would do more planting and consider selling vegetables at Denton’s Farmer’s Market.

Not only is she finding more ways to utilize the space in her studio apartment, but she’s finding more ways to eat healthy.

As a vegetarian, her grocery money goes mostly to vegetables, and now she knows they’re pesticide-free.

In recent months, gardening enthusiasts and bargain hunters have sought refuge in numerous sales at Calloway’s Nursery. The red-brick building houses different kinds of seeds and maintenance supplies, while plants of every size and color await purchase under the outdoor canopies.

Store manager Cliff Baker has seen a shift towards vegetable sales, going green, growing organically and steering clear of pesticides. In addition, he says xeriscaping, a landscaping technique which cuts back on water usage, is widening in popularity because it reduces water bills.

“We’re seeing more young people, in their 20s or so, coming in and looking for more veggie products and herbs,” says Baker. “There have been a lot of people wanting to start gardening, but admit they haven’t got a clue how to begin.”

From catnip to watermelon, and beets to Stevens’ beloved cilantro, customers

Beautiful

“There have been a lot of people wanting to start gardening, but admit they haven’t got a clue how to begin.”

— Cliff Baker

have the option to grow it all. One packet of cilantro seeds, growing several bundles, from Calloway’s costs just under $2, whereas the Kroger Food Store in Denton charges .69 cents a bundle. Stevens says the initial cost of seeds and growing materials is worth the end results.

“There’s not really a time constraint,” says Stevens. “The cilantro grows faster than I can use it, and it stays fresh. When I used to buy at the store, things would go bad in my refrigerator before I could use it all.”

Botanist and Denton resident Jenny Norton has been growing vegetables almost every summer for the last eight years. When Norton got married, she was inspired to garden by her husband’s grandfather.

At different times, her backyard garden contains tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, onions, lima beans, jalapeño peppers and more.

“It’s cheaper to grow your own onions,” says Norton. “Plus it’s fun, educational and tasty.”

Norton’s garden doesn’t always provide enough beans or strawberries to feed her family of four, but she saves money in cantaloupes, cucumbers and other veggies.

She says the downfall of gardening is watering the plants, often during water See GARDENS on Page 26

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26

Denton Up Close

February 28, 2010

Denton Record-Chronicle

Thrift shops see higher traffic in trying times

By Cassie Smith and Savannah Carter For the Denton Record-Chronicle

Stepping inside Plato’s Closet, shoppers find themselves surrounded by brightly colored walls of pink, green and yellow, rows of metal racks filled with shoes, accessories and high-fashion brand-name clothing and upbeat Pop music.

If Plato’s Closet sounds like just another glitzy retailer, think again. Plato’s customers are thrift shoppers badly-ravaged by the harsh economy and are desperate to save money any way they can.

“I’ve been shopping at thrift stores for two years now,” says Tina Jezek, after searching unsuccessfully for a pair of boots at Plato’s Closet in Denton. “I’ve been out of a job since May, so now I shop exclusively at thrift stores.”

Jezek believes because of the economy, more people are shopping in thrift stores and are not afraid to admit it.

The gloomy economic climate is forcing local middle-class people to adopt different financial strategies for coping with money woes brought by the economic downturn. Thrift shopping is becoming a target strategy for people wanting to save money and in some ways, like resaleobtain fast cash.

Local thrift stores like Goodwill, The Holy Family and Friends of the Family are reporting increases in customers, not donations. Customers are taking advan-

“I’ve been out of a job since May, so now I shop exclusively at thrift stores.”

— Tina Jezek, late last fall

tage of thrift shopping during the shaky economy, according to the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops (NARTS).

Surveying 333 store membership respondents for 2008 to 2009 sales figures, NARTS found a 67.4 percent sale increase (with an average increase of approximately 35 percent). Regarding new customers, 80.6 percent of the stores experienced an increase.

Locally, consumers are taking interest in the cash for clothes opportunity provided by resale shops like Plato’s Closet— selling brand name clothing and accessories for fast cash.

Among increasing thrift shoppers is twenty-year-old Shelbi Varnell. Pregnant, she prepares herself for the responsibility of raising a little girl. Anxiousness overwhelms her.

Plagued by financial concerns for the baby, Varnell and her boyfriend, Ben

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Gardens rationed periods. Similarly, it’s too hot to grow some items like green beans, carrots and peas.

“If you leave a couple of cantaloupes in the garden and let them rot, they reseed the next years and you get free melon plants!” says Norton. “Now that’s savings!

But other than that, [I grow] for the enjoyment and the fun of getting to eat what we’ve grown.

“My kids get to learn where food comes from,” he said.

Stevens’ indoor garden is exempt from some of the problems that Norton has to deal with, such as the slimy, green worms she picks off her tomato plants. However, Stevens has to cross-pollinate the leaves of her plants since she can’t have rely on

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nature for that.

Norton’s efforts to show her children how food goes from seeds to meals dates back to her history as a science teacher and desire to educate others on the significance of gardening.

“I’d encourage anyone to grow their own vegetables who has the space and dedication to water their plants every night. The homegrown tomatoes and okra are far superior to anything you can buy in the store.”

If money’s tight, it can be difficult to pick up a couple jumbo cantaloupes from Kroger for $2.49 each. Following Norton’s advice, last summer’s gardening mishap may turn into free fruit salad the next summer.

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Denton Record-Chronicle

February 28, 2010

Denton Up Close

27

A daily reminder of why you live here.

There are thousands of reasons why people are proud to call Denton County home and those reasons are as varied as the people who live here. Whatever is important to you, chances are you can find it in the Denton Record-Chronicle. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your community and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reflected in these pages. For everything that makes Denton County home, the Denton Record-Chronicle is where it all comes together. To subscribe, call 940-566-6836.

Denton Record-Chronicle DentonRC.com

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28

Denton Up Close

February 28, 2010

Denton Record-Chronicle

From Page 27

Thrift Dubroca, consider every option when it comes to saving money.

The couple tries saving money with groceries by comparing prices for better deals at various stores. They have even considered homeschooling their child to counteract public school expenses.

Dubroca works as a cashier at Albertson’s, currently providing the only source of income for the family.

Having recently moved in to their apartment and needing a little extra money for rent, they sometimes sell their valuables. Saving money for three months to purchase his desire—a $400 Play Station 3, Dubroca was forced to immediately sell it for $300.

“I had to sell [it] just to make rent,” Dubroca says with a grimace. “I had just got it.” Varnell is in the process of selling her $270 Wii gaming system, a birthday present from her grandfather, for extra money.

Thrift shopping has become a financial routine for the couple. Varnell says she’s resorting to thrift stores for clothing and household items, finding a microwave for $18 at a thrift store, compared to one at Wal-Mart for $49.99. Cutting costs as much as possible, Varnell shops in most local thrift stores—looking for better deals. She says thrift stores usually have a decent selection of sizes. She visits the men’s section for larger sizes to wear while she is pregnant.

“Maternity clothes are really expensive for the amount of time you wear them,” she says. Varnell also shops at Plato’s Closet, selling some of her clothes when she needs money.

College sophomore Carly James frequents Plato’s, selling clothes and shoes, to acquire extra income for gas and food.

James has been looking for a job since last December, but hasn’t had any luck. “I go through money like it’s toilet paper,” she laughs. “I wanted to move out [of my parents’ house] and save up money so I could do that.” James wishes to have money set aside for an apartment, but until she finds a job, she will continue cleaning her closet—selling her brand name clothes and shoes to resale shops like Plato’s Closet.

Business at Plato’s is booming amidst the economic slump; the store claims they haven’t seen a decrease in their number of donations.

“The economy definitely hasn’t hurt our business, in both the buying and sell-

ing” says Melody Watson, the owner of Plato’s Closet. Customers bring clothing into Plato’s Closet; sales associates rummage through the items, and if they can’t purchase them from the customers, Plato’s gives them the option to donate.

“There’s a non-profit organization called The Shepherd’s Hand (located in Denton) that comes to pick up from us twice a week,” says Josh Roberts, an assistant manager at Plato’s Closet. The non-profit ministry collects left over clothing from Plato’s, donating them along with food for families in need in Denton County.

Plato’s Closet has been selling items out of its Denton location for just over a year; the store has seen a 24 percent increase in sales since it opened. “Every month is different, but we are definitely seeing an increase” says Roberts.

In a college town, the 14 to 24 year age demographic helps Plato’s Closet’s business, but Roberts says because of the weak economy, their customers are becoming increasingly diverse (in age) and that everyone is looking for better deals.

Some of Plato’s customers try to barter for a few extra dollars for their clothing items. “We’ll get someone a quote on a price, and you pay them and they’ll be like, ‘Oh, how about five more dollars.’ But the thing is, we don’t barter,” says Roberts with a grin, gesturing toward the computer. “Brands are already programmed into our system, so it prices things for us. We have people that try to barter all the time.”

Varnell shops at Plato’s occasionally but doesn’t mind shopping at thrift stores, saying she looks anywhere for better deals. “If you really look, you’ll find good deals,” she adds.

The Denton County Friends of the Family Thrift Store and Battered Women’s shelter is not struggling with business, but stresses the need for donations of twin bed sheets, laundry detergent, diapers and blankets.

“I’ve been having more people in here asking for [assistance with clothing, food and counseling services] because of the economy,” says Friends of the Family Thrift Store associate, Natalie Starnes.

“Since the recession, the government has cut some funding and grants so we’ve had to pick up the slack,” Starnes says while ringing up a customer. “We’re getting more families and a bigger diversity of people.”

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