DENTON
October 2018
Business
CHRONICLE
www.dentonbusinesschronicle.com
Jupiter’s horizon Jeff Woo
Workers operate Tuesday near a staircase to Jupiter House’s new mezzanine level that will overlook the Courthouse on the Square.
Jeff Woo/DRC
Owners Joey and Amy Hawkins with their children, Royal and Holiday, stand in front of Jupiter House, their longtime coffee shop, which they plan to reopen in January. They’ll be closing Royal’s Bagels and Deli at the end of October, but Royal’s items, like the famous cinnamon rolls, will be on the menu at the new Jupiter House.
Coffee shop owners eye January reopening By Jenna Duncan
W
hen a fire broke out next door to Jupiter House last year, longtime owners Amy and Joey Hawkins were devastated, but in the immediate aftermath they were hopeful they could reopen the iconic Denton coffee shop in a few weeks. Now, 10 months later, renovations to the shop are underway to build the Jupiter House of their dreams, set to open in mid-January. To get here, though, there have been a lot of complications. “At first we just thought it would be
Jeff Woo/DRC file photo
Jupiter House sits closed in early June. Immediately after December’s fire next door, Jupiter House’s owners thought they might be able to reopen in a matter of weeks.
“At first we just thought it would be cleaned. ... It ended up being like going to the dentist every day.” cleaned and we would reopen, and we had just remodeled four months before the fire, so we had already done this,” Joey Hawkins said. “It ended up being like going to the dentist every day.” The shop has had to do a lot to reopen,
apart from the renovations the owners wanted and agreed on with their landlord. There was asbestos that had to be removed, and beams added to the north wall, COFFEE | CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Jake King/DRC file photo
The Jupiter House sign is seen at far right in the aftermath of the Downtown Mini Mall fire Dec. 26.
So long, Sears, Roebuck & Co. “I think retailing is just too tough for me.” — Warren Buffett, in a 2017 interview
We already saw Toys R Us fold in the spring. Sears is the next domino to fall. The reality is that many more may follow suit as interest rates continue their climb.
E By Jenna Duncan | Staff Writer Ten:One, an artisan cheese shop named for the 10 pounds of milk it takes to make a pound of cheese, is officially open. Located at 515 S. Locust St., the shop features specialty cheese, bread from Ravelin Bakery and housemade spreads and sides. Denton is getting another English pub — in the space that used to house Abbey Inn and Abbey Underground. Addison’s Lion & Crown is expanding
to the space and should open next year. They’re leasing the top and basement floors, and will conjoin the two for the restaurant and bar. DIME Store, a store that only sells goods made by local artists, is moving from its current location at 510 S. Locust St. to 118 E. McKinney St. The storefront used to be Fox Vapor Co. Owners anticipate opening next month. DUNCAN | CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
arly this week, American retail icon Sears filed for bankruptcy. Some may chalk this up to another casualty caused by Amazon.com — that digital retailing wonder that disintermediates every analog business it sets it sights on. But a closer look might see several factors at work. Many might say that Sears’ leadership brought this on themselves. Hedge fund titan turned Sears CEO Eddie Lampert acquired Sears using the holding company he forged in the crucible of the Kmart bankruptcy. An expert in structured debt financing, Lampert gathered control of Kmart’s vast real estate empire as it emerged from Chapter 11 in 2003. Lampert quickly acquired Sears for more than $11 billion and was thought to be a real estate genius as he began spinning off some of the best real estate in high-priced transactions. As the recession pummeled real es-
Jonathon FITE | COMMENTARY
tate prices later that decade, Lampert’s efforts to unlock the hidden value of the real estate empire were hampered. He continued to starve the stores with few capital improvements and focused on harvesting as much cash as could be generated from the deteriorating store base. While Walmart, Home Depot, Best Buy and Target spent billions upgrading their stores, Sears sat fallow. And Amazon was building a full head of steam. By 2010, Sears stores were no longer profitable. So Lampert began stripping the company of key assets.
Sears Canada was spun off. Key brands like DieHard and Kenmore were monetized. The best real estate was hived off into real estate investment trusts and then leased back to the parent company. Left over was a collection of poorly performing stores and a pile of debt. It’s a wonder Sears didn’t go belly up sooner. Astute observers might point to the Federal Reserve’s massive quantitative easing programs as one reason Sears lasted this long. As the Fed fabricated trillions of FITE | CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
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