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Eyes Open LOOK FOR THE helpers. That’s pretty solid advice in navigating a mass crisis, and particularly so for all of us faced with the depressing and frightening ambiguity of a disaster that has no definitive end. But here’s a useful addendum: Keep an eye on the scammers, too. In this week’s cover story, Danny Wicentowski went looking for those cashing in on COVID-19 fear and interviewed a local who has sold face masks online for a massive markup. As Danny writes, the price gouger is one of today’s most “hateable villains,” but he found a situation with more nuance than absolutes. Unsurprisingly, reality is almost always a little more complicated than it first appears. Another example: Jaime Lees looked into JOANN Fabrics and Crafts’ promise to offer sewing kits to people planning to make face masks for medical professionals. She soon learned from first one employee, and then many others, that the program isn’t quite what it seems. In another twist, Ryan Krull, who has previously chronicled the misdeeds of shady landlords, instead found the ones who have decided to give their tenants a break. We’ve also got the return of our food and dining feature Side Dish, retooled by Cheryl Baehr to dig into the challenges facing hospitality workers. And Ymani Wince brings us the tale of female producers still grinding, because music is one of the ways we’re making it through. We’re trying out new ways to get this paper to you (you can always find a flip-through digital version on our website), given the ever-changing times. As always, the paper and our site are free. No subscriptions. No paywalls. And no Amazon price gouging. If you can help us continue that work, you can also donate through our site: riverfronttimes.com. — Doyle Murphy, editor in chief
TABLE OF CONTENTS CAN’T
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Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Doyle Murphy
E D I T O R I A L Digital Editor Jaime Lees Hero In A Hot Dog Suit Daniel Hill Contributors Cheryl Baehr, Trenton Almgren-Davis, Jenna Jones, Monica Obradovic, Andy Paulissen A R T & P R O D U C T I O N Editorial Layout Haimanti Germain Production Manager Haimanti Germain Design Contributor Evan Sult M U L T I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Advertising Director Colin Bell Senior Account Executive Cathleen Criswell Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Jackie Mundy C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers
COVER
E U C L I D M E D I A G R O U P Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services Stacy Volhein www.euclidmediagroup.com
Recipe for Disaster If politicians don’t act fast, St. Louis restaurants and bars are toast Cover design by
PAIGE BRUBECK & EVAN SULT
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HARTMANN Neanderthal Man Failing Fighting a virus with a clueless governor BY RAY HARTMANN
On March 19, fully eight days after the World Health Organization issued its official declaration that COVID-19 was a global pandemic, Missouri Governor Mike Parson uttered these astonishing words: “I don’t think there is a doomsday for the state of Missouri or the United States over COVID-19,” Parson told the Kansas City Star. “It’s something we have to be concerned with. But to try to put that into a fear category is wrong. This is like viruses we’ve dealt
with before. “It’s going to take us some time to be able to treat that virus and come up with a vaccine at some point,” Parson said. “But if people will follow simple instructions, they can sure slow the process down of COVID-19.” Alrighty then. Parson had been asked for a response to the imbecilic words spat upon the floor of the Missouri House by Rep. Kathryn Swan (R-Cape Girardeau) as part of her party’s opposition to one Democratic measure after another to rush more help to health care workers. “I’ve sat here for a couple of hours and I’ve grown a little frustrated, a little weary of the doomsday picture that is being painted,” Swan said. “We all know the drill: Wash your hands, don’t touch your face, don’t be around people who are ill, if you are ill, contact your physician, if you need to go to the hospital, go to the hospital. I think we could recite those in our sleep at this point.” But that, she babbled on, is enough. What’s actually remarkable about
this abject stupidity is that it wasn’t just your everyday abject stupidity from a state legislator. Swan is a freaking nurse. Just imagine her outrage when, eight days later, the Missouri Nurses Association demanded, to no avail, that Parson initiate a statewide stay-at-home order. From the perspective of the St. Louis metropolitan area’s “fear category,” it’s obvious that Parson would be better suited serving as Polk County sheriff, as he once did, rather than as governor of a state of 6 million people, as he now does. He just doesn’t get it. From all accounts, Parson is a fine gentleman with the best of intentions. But while his roots as a county sheriff are hardly disqualifying, it is not so comforting that he seems a product of the Homer Simpson School of Advanced Medicine in this crisis. Unlike most fellow governors, Parson has acted like a man who truly believes “this is like viruses we’ve dealt with before.” Maybe he was referring to the Spanish flu of 1918, in which St. Louis was noted for its exceptionally smart response under the leadership
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of the great Max Starkloff. Maybe not. Among his non-actions, Parson has not closed the schools (he waited until they all did it themselves), not issued a state-at-home order (not even close), not demanded that the legislature act urgently to get assistance funds to desperate health care professionals (still hasn’t happened) and not required non-essential business to close statewide (not state’s role). Parson’s most recent non-action was to announce last Friday that he had “mobilized” the National Guard, albeit with no specific deployment, a gift-for-the-obvious step that hardly reflected the somber tone with which the governor attempted to impersonate a leader. At the same news conference, the governor was asked when his government might get around to releasing the paltry $40 million ($33 million of it in pass-through federal dollars) appropriated on March 19 by the state House of Representatives. No rush. Even though Parson can only disperse the funds after the Missouri Senate approves the House’s
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appropriation, he seemed fine with waiting until the senators mosey back to the state capitol sometime this week. He added — without intending irony — that the “drop dead” date to act was April 24. I don’t know if anyone else in the media noticed the unintentional pun. I did. True to its well-deserved reputation as the upper berth of a legislative clown car, the Senate couldn’t be troubled to interrupt its spring break to return to Jefferson City and rush the aid to the governor. For the House’s part, even as it sprinkled an insultingly small $7 million in state crumbs for our health care heroes, this overwhelmingly Republican chamber refused to trust the governor of its own party with added emergency-funding appropriation authority. As I write this on Sunday, March 29, Missouri has just experienced a 600 percent increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in a week, tops in the country, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The state’s total known cases is 902, with twelve dead. It will be higher when you read it. What doesn’t get enough attention is that at least two-thirds of that total comes from St. Louis and Kansas City. The cities of Columbia and Springfield account for most of the rest. If you visit the amazing COVID-19 world map updated daily online by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (https://coronavirus.jhu. edu/map.html), you can zoom in and see that large parts of rural Missouri have either no confirmed cases, or just one. Herein lies a fundamental problem. Though the coronavirus knows no physical borders nor political affiliations nor timelines, it has generally been felt most intensely — and spread most rapidly — in places with greater population density. That’s why, to the fault of no one, Americans are sensitized differently to the coronavirus based upon where they live. Tragically, in a state like Missouri, that means people start breaking apart along rural-versusurban lines like they do on issues such as guns and puppy mills and Medicaid expansion. We don’t have time for such nonsense now. Making matters worse, testing for the virus is almost nonexistent in rural communities, even more so than under-tested urban areas. It’s scandalously lagging behind everywhere in the U.S. thanks to the incompetency and personal issues of the narcissist-in-chief. And people in places like Rep. Swan’s Cape Girardeau County just don’t sense trouble.
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From the perspective of the St. Louis metropolitan area’s “fear category,” it’s obvious that Parson would be better suited serving as Polk Couty sheriff, as he once did, rather than as governor of a state of 6 million people, as he now does. He just doesn’t get it. On March 26, there were three cases in Cape Girardeau. The next day there were five. That doesn’t sound like much in a county of 78,000 people. But if it keeps growing by half or two-thirds every day, like it has too many places, come back in a few weeks and see what the math has wrought. Let’s hope it doesn’t. If it does, we might come together as a state — too little and too late — if for no other reason than that many rural folks will come to St. Louis seeking the best in medical care. As for Parson, a man whose sincerity is not in doubt, if he checks back home with the folks in Polk County, where he was sheriff, or in Hickory County, where he grew up on a farm, they’ll tell him there’s nothing to see here, no cases at all. Just like “viruses we’ve dealt with before.” But in a state that produced Harry Truman, he of “the buck stops here” fame, the rest of us can’t afford to have Neanderthal man calmly observing that the buck hasn’t been carved yet into his own cave. n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977. Contact him at rhartmann@sbcglobal.net or catch him on St. Louis In the Know with Ray Hartmann from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday thru Friday on KTRS (550 AM).
NEWS As Restaurants Struggle, Landlords Step In
JOANN’s Masking Dangerous Conditions, Employees Say Written by
JAIME LEES
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s food writer Cheryl Baehr’s cover story in last week’s RFT attests, St. Louis restaurants are being devastated by COVID-19. “In mere weeks, the St. Louis restaurant community as a whole has gone from touting several James Beard Award nominations as a sign of its ascendance to having its very existence threatened by a global pandemic,” she wrote. Many restaurants’ biggest cost after food and labor is rent. This means a lot of beleaguered restaurants will have to turn to their landlords for a break, and at least some of those landlords have proven willing to ease the financial burden. The RFT has written plenty about bad landlords, but in this situation it looks like some property owners in St. Louis are trying to cut their tenants some slack. “Our landlords have been great,” says Zach Rice, who with his wife Mary owns Three Monkeys in Tower Grove South. “They’ve given us a break on rent through April. They’re committed to keeping us in here. They want to see this neighborhood succeed.” Even if a landlord isn’t motivated by a sense of civic duty, there’s also the reality that if they evict a commercial tenant for not paying rent, it’s unlikely that a new business will want to move in and set up shop during a pandemic. “People correctly associate certain businesses such as restaurants as being on the ‘front lines’ of the economic impact this will have,” says Paul Behrns, a CPA with SFW Partners. “But it is im-
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Three Monkeys co-owner Mary Rice interacts with a customer. | DOYLE MURPHY portant to remember there will be a domino effect that goes far beyond the restaurant itself. With a large-scale stoppage it is not only the restaurant and its employees who are affected, but also those in the restaurant food and equipment supply industry, the landlords who own the space restaurants operate out of, and the banks who lend the funds to these businesses.” As Kyle Howerton puts it: “My initial reaction is that this is really bad for everyone.” Howerton is a principal at AHM Group, a small St. Louis-based investment firm that rents the space to Three Monkeys as well as other residential and commercial properties along Morganford Road. “There is light at the end of the tunnel. But everyone has to work together.” All the sectors of the economy, Howerton says, need to realize that people shouldn’t be punished for a pandemic outside their control. For their part, AHM has provided commercial tenants several months of free rent. The rent came with the stipulation that a portion of the money be used to put cash in the hands of those tenants’ employees. “Just as much as the business owners themselves, the people we really worry about are the hourly employees at those businesses who are more likely to be paycheck to paycheck. They’re the
people everyone should be most concerned about,” Howerton says. Landlords like AHM have to answer to the banks who loaned them the money to buy the property in the first place and who can foreclose on the properties if AHM misses payments. “I’m sure 99 percent of landlords out there are in constant communication with their lenders and working with them to see if they can defer payments for a month or two,” he adds. Liz Austin is the vice president of marketing for Green Street St. Louis, the real estate and development company behind the Chroma building in the Grove as well as many other properties around St. Louis. “We’re panicked,” she says. “It’s been hard to see these amazing people struggling right now.” Austin says that Green Street has been able to able to offer deferred rent to some of its retail tenants, but the extent to which it can do this depends in large part on the lending bank. Austin stressed that at the moment there are still a lot of unknowns, including how the reently passed government relief will benefit tenants long-term. The one silver lining of this specific crisis, she says, is that everyone is in it together. “It’s taken all of us to build this restaurant and boutique business scene in St. Louis,” she adds. “It will take all of us to save it.” n
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ince our government has completely failed our health care workers by leaving them without enough proper personal protection equipment, the nurses and doctors on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 have been largely on their own out there. Hospital workers across the country have been trying to sanitize and reuse disposable gowns and have been unable to use fresh masks throughout the day. Normally, a nurse would grab a new mask between each patient, but now they are being forced to reuse even crappy paper masks indefinitely because there aren’t enough to go around. The good news is that a bunch of Americans have stepped up to take care of our health care workers. Across the country, people are getting out their sewing machines to make and donate washable masks for these medical professionals that they can at least wear over their other masks to protect them from fluids, etc. So when news stories started coming out about JOANN Fabric and Craft Stores offering materials to sewers to make masks for the cause, many were overjoyed. People want a way to help, and it seemed like JOANN was making it easy on them. They even promised to deliver the masks to places that needed them. All a customer had to do was show up, pick up some kits, sew them and return them to the store. That meant that some employees would have to be working at the stores, of course, but JOANN’s website said this: “JOANN teams in our stores will be on hand to ensure we are following government-recommended social distancing guidance. And we will routinely sanitize our work areas and keep the equipment clean.” We called a local JOANN outpost to get more information about the program. For example, were employees now meeting customers outside like local restaurants have been doing with curbside service? We found much more information (and disappointment) than we were expecting. An employee we spoke to was beyond frustrated with the situation and work con-
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ditions, describing a long list of troubling conditions. Here’s a summary of the employee’s complaints: Employees are being told they must come into work during this pandemic (even though the St. Louis area is currently under orders to stay at home). Management is telling employees that the stores are “essential” like hospitals, because they sell fabric that could be made into masks. Management is telling employees that they can’t wear gloves while on shift and to just wash their hands frequently instead. Management is not giving employees breaks to wash their hands frequently because they are understaffed. JOANN said it would be donating supplies to stock stores with face mask kits, but no kits have been delivered to the St. Louis area. Employees have been instructed to tell callers that they’ve run out of face mask kits, when really none were ever available. Employees have been instructed to tell callers that there is plenty of material available to make masks, but not to mention that they are completely out of elastic. JOANN is reassuring customers that surfaces will be cleaned frequently, but employees are too busy with hundreds of customers per day to sanitize properly. Sanitizing materials are expired. (In one instance, the sanitizer expired in 2012.)
JOANN has disabled Instagram comments because customers were writing in with concerns about the safety of employees who were being asked to come to work. After publishing this story online, the RFT heard from multiple employees at other stores who reported similar problems. The employee we originally spoke to said that a local JOANN staffer had recently walked out during her shift because customers were not obeying social distancing guidelines in the checkout lane and managers were not enforcing it. The employee also said everyone there was worried about their customers, most of whom are older and seem to not understand the gravity of the situation. They worry that JOANN stores could become hotbeds for the virus because of the lack of consistent surface cleaning combined with the advanced age of most of their customers. We checked JOANN’S Instagram page and it does, indeed, look like they shut down Instagram comments as negative comments began piling up. It looks like the company has had a harder time keeping guard over Facebook comments, because we still found a bunch asking for mercy for JOANN employees. The company did not respond to RFT’s request for comment. In the meantime, if you already have the supplies at home, there are instructions on how to sew masks on the JOANN website. Your health care workers still need you; they just don’t need you to go to a busy fabric store. Stay home. Sew. Save your country. n
St. Louis prosecutors and public defenders have identified people to be released. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI
Release Inmates to Slow Virus Spread, Advocates Say Written by
DOYLE MURPHY
M
issouri jails could be headed for deadly outbreaks of the coronavirus if they don’t start releasing inmates, according to a group of advocates, academics, law enforcement and clergy. In a letter to the chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, the group outlines a plan to release people who pose little threat to society, including those held on low-level, nonviolent felonies and municipal violations and people who are elderly or can’t afford cash bail. “Missouri’s jails are filled with some of the most vulnerable people in the state, and the reality of incarceration means jails are hot spots for disease even under normal circumstances,” Mary Fox, director of the Missouri State Public Defender office, said in a written statement. “COVID-19 is unlike anything Missouri has seen, and reductions in the jail population will be necessary in order to avoid significant suffering and death.” Jails in the metro area have already begun the process of releasing inmates to reduce the numbers of people locked up in facilities. Last week, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and District Defender Matthew Mahaffey of the St. Louis Trial Office of public defenders announced they had identified 56 people with “low-level offenses or significant health issues” who were awaiting trial, and they planned to ask the court to release them immediately. “The harsh health realities of COVID-19 demand unique collaboration from all persons, groups, and organizations within the criminal justice community in order to ensure justice is pursued in a humane and consistent manner,” Mahaffey and Gardner said
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in a joint statement. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that St. Louis County planned to release more than 100 people, and St. Charles County had cut its jail population by about 20 percent. So far, the efforts to slow the spread of the virus by holding fewer people in jail have been county by county. In the letter to the Missouri Supreme Court, advocates asked for a statewide directive to release people. The letter writers note that it not only protects inmates but also jail staff, including corrections workers and nurses. “With the virus rapidly spreading across Missouri and the rest of the country, and people cycling in and out of city and county jails daily, it is a matter of when — not if — the virus will infiltrate Missouri’s jails,” the letter says. Along with public defenders, the letter was signed by a wide variety of organizations and individuals, including ArchCity Defenders, the NAACP, Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center, American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and City of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts. “This letter reflects the broad consensus of concerned individuals and organizations across the state that the current population in Missouri’s jails presents a clear and present danger during this public health crisis,” Blake Strode, executive director of ArchCity Defenders said in a written statement. “There are people all across the state caged in jails, many of them serving sentences on lowlevel charges or detained on cash bonds that they cannot afford to pay. We feel very strongly that everyone should do their part to significantly reduce the number of people behind bars, and we are hopeful that the Court will agree.” The request for a statewide order was opposed by the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. “Local authorities such as sheriffs and judges after input from prosecutors and defense attorneys are in the best position to review and make decisions about the release of any individual inmate,” the organization said in a news release. “They are able to consider not only public health issues but also the nature of the offense, the criminal history of the defendant, the defendant’s record of appearing in court when ordered to do so, whether the defendant is in custody for reoffending after an initial offense, the defendant’s probability of reoffending, and the safety of the victim.” n
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INTERVIEW WITH A FACE MASK PRICE GOUGER BY DANNY WICENTOWSKI
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merica’s most hateable villain might be the pandemic price gouger. They are the creatures who bought up every last roll of toilet paper, the economic villains who add zeros to every price tag. As COVID-19 forced schools to close and fear to set in, searching “masks” on the St. Louis-area Craigslist yielded numerous options for anyone willing to pay more than $100 on protective gear that usually runs $15 to $20. Here are some real item descriptions: “Moldex brand n95 face mask 20 masks in a box for 130 dollars. Willing to ship after payment.” “We have [full] cases of 2000 surgical face masks.” “Could easily be resold or used given there is currently a shortage.”
It’s easy to see the source of the public revulsion. While hospital staff find themselves forced to reuse masks and gloves, these sellers can hold the gear for their own use while also making incredible profits — in the case of the $130 box above, the price increase stands at more than 700 percent. “Everyone has a different moral compass,” suggested one St. Louis-area Craigslist seller in a phone interview with RFT. “But when money’s involved, that goes out the window quick.” And how. Viral videos have captured shopping carts stacked high with toilet paper, and it’s become universally apparent that hand sanitizer is possibly the most valuable commodity known to civilization — a point highlighted to great effect by a March 14 New
York Times story, recounting two brothers who drove 1,300 miles through multiple states, emptying stores of inventory, all to acquire a 17,000-bottle stockpile of hand sanitizer that sat unsold thanks to Amazon’s crackdown on price gouging. However, according to the Craigslist seller who spoke to RFT, the reality of price gouging at a time of pandemic is often less brazen and, perhaps, less deserving of contempt. “Obviously, they are gouging the prices,” said the seller, who identified herself only as Jordan. “I’ve seen them go for $250 for a pack of ten. Do I think some feel guilty? Maybe? But rare. But I doubt it’s going to be around much longer.” Indeed, the fight over price controls is already taking its toll. On-
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line retail platforms, along with attorneys general in multiple states, have teamed up to combat price gouging; as of early last week, a spokesman for the Missouri Attorney General’s Office said they’d already fielded more than 230 complaints related to unfair pricing. In addition, Attorney General Eric Schmitt recently announced partnerships with Amazon and Facebook “to combat price gouging in Missouri,” while asking consumers to report specific items and sellers using a new online form. But when I asked Jordan about those efforts at regulation, or if she feared possible punishment, she sounded dubious. “I highly doubt that the government is going to knock on the door,”
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J. SMUGS GASTROPIT JSMUGSGASTROPIT.COM
314.499.7488 4916 SHAW AVE ST. LOUIS, MO 63110 Housed in a retro service station, J. Smugs GastroPit serves up barbecue that can fuel anyone’s fire. Married teams of Joe and Kerri Smugala and John and Linda Smugala have brought charred goodness to the Hill neighborhood, nestled among the traditional Italian restaurants, sandwich shops and bakeries. Part of St. Louis’ ongoing barbecue boom, the J. Smugs’ pit menu is compact but done right. Ribs are the main attraction, made with a spicy dry rub and smoked to perfection. Pulled pork, brisket, turkey and chicken are also in the pit holding up well on their own, but squeeze bottles of six tasty sauces of varying style are nearby for extra punch. Delicious standard sides and salads are available, but plan on ordering an appetizer or two J. Smugs gives this course a twist with street corn and pulled-pork poutine. Several desserts are available, including cannoli – a tasty nod to the neighborhood. Happy hour from 4 to 7pm on weekdays showcases halfdollar BBQ tastes, discount drinks, and $6 craft beer flights to soothe any beer aficionado.
THE KICKIN’ CRAB THEKICKINCRAB.COM
314.888.8688 9616 OLIVE BLVD OLIVETTE, MO 63132 The Kickin’ Crab has joined the Crustacean Nation and is here to satisfy your taste sensation. The Kickin’ Crab is a fun-filled Cajun seafood destination where patrons come and escape into flavor paradise. Offering a distinct ambiance to enjoy the finest and freshest Cajun seafood around! Kickin’ Crab is a great place to hang out with friends, family, or both! No plates... no utensils! Just your hands, a bib, and our unique and absolutely irresistible KC sauces - a combination of spicy, sweet and tangy flavors - over freshly prepared seafood that will give your taste buds satisfaction unlike anything else you’ve ever tasted. Join us and partake in the festivities and quality of seafood that The Kickin’ Crab has to offer.
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APRIL 1-7, 2020
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Medical workers have been scrambling to find enough face masks. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS
PRICE GOUGER Continued from pg 9
she said, and instead suggested that the online giants were stumbling to clean up their own platforms. “They have taken down a lot of people’s listings, but they just reupload it, and the algorithms, they can’t keep up,” she observed. “So they only target a few people and leave the rest up.” She makes a good point. For instance, one can still find N95 masks on eBay today — one listing, for a pack of ten, has a “Buy It Now” price of $360 — despite the company’s announcement on March 5 of a ban on all listings for health care masks, hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes. The listings may be active, but these sellers, Jordan charged, should know what they’re doing: “They’re using people’s fear as profit. It’s quick money.” Of course, there’s been quick money for Jordan as well. She’s made five sales, at $100 per box, for an item described as a “brand new” N95 respirator, the very gear the CDC recommends for use by medical staff and whose national supply is critically low. “I have two boxes left,” Jordan’s listing continued, as written. “These are great for the elderly and also immune deficiency also if you are feeling sick. Unfortunately there is a huge shortage I am just asking what I purchased I can ship or pickup only serious inquiries only.” During the interview, Jordan attempted to distance herself from the more extreme cases of price gouging. She said she was per-
sonally shocked by the New York Times story of the brothers who had amassed 17,000 bottles of hand sanitizer. In her telling, Jordan hadn’t set out to target a vulnerable market, but the contrary: She claimed that she herself was a victim of price gouging. “I actually bought some masks back in 2014, because I was living in Chicago when the Ebola outbreak happened,” she said. “I had a newborn son at the time, and they were gouging prices then, too. I ended up spending close to $1,000.” It was during that Ebola outbreak — which was eventually contained after infecting less than a dozen Americans — that Jordan claimed she purchased her masks at $100 per box. It was only fair, in her mind, to sell the masks back at the same price. Jordan said she doesn’t feel guilty about her listing because, as she explained in the item description, she’s just asking for what she purchased them for. But while she’s sold a handful of the coveted N95s, Jordan claimed that she also gave four away: One box went to a cancer patient, another to an elderly woman with diabetes and asthma — “She lives by herself, she’s afraid to go out for food, that her immune system is so low that it could kill her,” Jordan recalled. This is the other side of price gouging: While manufacturers and governments are slowly working to increase inventory of items like masks, it’s the price gougers — like Jordan — who are frequently the last available gatekeepers for emergency supplies. At the same time, what Jordan
The coronavirus has made basic products hard to get — and valuable. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI
“Everyone has a different moral compass. But when money’s involved, that goes out the window quick.” is doing potentially violates the law. Missouri regulations prohibit “[taking] advantage of a person’s ... hardship caused by extreme temporary conditions, and charging a price substantially above the previous market price of the merchandise in seller’s trade area.” But unlike other states, Missouri’s regulations don’t specify an exact percentage or further define “substantially above.” The issue comes down to the discretion of Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt. Last week, his office announced that it had issued a cease-and-desist order against a seller described as a Springfield-area man who, according to local news station KOLR10, spent $23,000 buying up thousands of masks to then resell. (He’s since donated 600 masks back to the retailers he bought them from.) In an email to the RFT, Chris Nuelle, a spokesman with the attorney general’s office, noted that price gouging is different from the “small price fluctuations” one expects to see due to the sudden flux in supply and demand. “We’re really looking for the
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most egregious examples of profiteering or price gouging,” Nuelle wrote. “We’re really looking at huge markups on essential items, which typically come from third party sellers.” Third party sellers ... like Jordan. Subjectively speaking, Jordan sounded like someone genuinely concerned with the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and its related shortages. She wasn’t clearing out store shelves at 6 a.m. or holding out on hundreds of pounds of essential items. It’s worth noting, though, that I can’t corroborate Jordan’s laudable decision to donate her spare masks, or her personal account about buying pricegouged masks in 2014 and now selling them for the same price. Mitigating factors aside, it’s still price gouging. “I’m still in it at the price point I purchased it from, and I still feel bad doing that,” Jordan conceded. “But I have to make that money back somehow, and I donated as well, too. If I didn’t do it, other people would.” Several days after our interview, Jordan’s listing disappeared from Craigslist, one among many to vanish as the site attempted to implement its own crackdown. I reached back out to Jordan. In an email, she said that she decided to take the listings down a few days after our interview. She’s now worried that “we are a few steps away” from martial law and a full national shutdown. “I’m keeping the masks and giving some to my neighbours,” she explained. “With everything going on, I’d rather have it for my community.” n
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Reaching Out From Isolation Written by
CHERYL BAEHR
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hillip Lockett knew things were going to get bad when he started hearing from his music colleagues who were out on tour in Europe. Tours were getting cancelled left and right, a friend got stuck in Italy and social media posts told stories of curfews and deserted streets. He knew it was just a matter of time before the same would happen here. “We knew it was coming, but it still took us by surprise,” Lockett says. “When we made the decision to close Takashima Records and pretty much the whole family group of restaurants, it was cool because it showed that the service industry was trying to jump ahead of this and be responsible and encourage people to stay home — but still, once it happens to you it’s like, ‘Oh shit.’” Lockett, who divides his time behind the bars at Frazer’s (1811 Pestalozzi Street, 314-773-8646) and the brand-new Takashima Records (4095 Chouteau Avenue, 314-5719133), has been out of work since both establishments decided to fully shutter in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he is more concerned about his fellow hospitality industry professionals who might not have a strong support network and the small businesses, like his beloved Shameless Grounds, that are fighting for their survival. Part of the reason for his perspective, he explains, has to do with his vast touring experience with bands like the Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza and Emmure — a lifestyle that is way less glamorous than non musicians might think. “I feel fortunate to have that experience touring,” Lockett says. “On tour, you have to ration food and money, and you’re stuck in one place and can’t go anywhere or do anything. When that’s ingrained in you, the reality of how to live like this comes naturally, but not everyone has that experience, so I’m thinking about how I can help. I know what level of survival I can
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Phil Lockett is getting through the current crisis by focusing on others. | ED ALLER tolerate; I’ll tear the shirt off my back and give it to you if you need it.” One way Lockett is helping his fellow musicians and service industry colleagues is by drawing attention to the many fundraisers that are assisting those in need during this time. He’s particularly moved by the Nomad Fundraiser, set up by his touring colleague, Frank Fanelli, that is providing assistance to musicians who have lost their jobs as tours have been cancelled and venues shuttered. He’s also encouraging people to support funds like the Gateway Resilience Fund, the United States Bartenders Guild’s Bartender Emergency Assistance Program and Good for the Grove, all of which have been set up to assist hospitality professionals as they navigate an uncertain future. He urges everyone to check in on others, noting that these difficult times can be a trigger for those who may already be dealing with mental health issues. “I’m trying not to focus on the bad but on what we are doing right now to take care of others,” Lockett says. “It’s affirming to be a part of this scene be-
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cause everyone is doing what they can do to help. Seeing how we are all coming together to take care of each other is giving me hope.” Lockett took a moment to share his thoughts on the state of the St. Louis hospitality industry, navigating the new “normal” and what is giving him hope in the face of adversity. As a hospitality professional, what do people need to know about what you are going through? That’s a tough one to answer. All my life, I’ve known people that were laid off or otherwise forced to stop their chosen profession — where their only option was getting on unemployment while they found a new job. I’d much prefer if this situation was that simple. Unfortunately, this situation is bigger, broader and so much worse. I don’t know if there is anything that I’m going through that people need to know. I’m most likely dealing with the same as they are — stress, worry, fear — though, not so much about myself necessarily but my community. Those demographics who are at a higher
risk of dying if they catch this thing. The elderly, those with weak immune systems, hospital and aid workers. First responders. ‘Essential’ workers. All my friends and family in the music and touring industry who are in the exact same situation as us in the service industry. My friends and fellow service industry workers. Most of us live paycheck to paycheck. Those small and independent business owners who can’t file for unemployment and, in all likelihood, may never open again who are losing everything. Earlier today, I was talking with my neighbor, who’s a rep for a brewery (let’s just say it’s very massive and very well known). They estimate that St. Louis will lose at least thirty percent of its bars and restaurants by the time it’s safe to reopen. He’s anticipating getting laid off soon. I guess what I’m going through is trying to wrap my head around the ripple effect of all of it and how I can, effectively, help and support. What do you miss most about your job? The work flow — that sensation you
feel when you’re slammed, but you and your crew are executing perfectly, like clockwork. Also, I miss the interaction with patrons and introducing them to something new, catching up with regulars and knowing exactly what they want, how they want it, without them saying a word. The sense of purpose. What do you miss least? Probably dealing with that rare guest that, no matter what you do, it’s not good enough. The drinks are not good enough, the food isn’t good enough, the service isn’t good enough. You know, that special ‘class’ of individual that already has it in their head to verbally defecate all over you before they even walk in the door. What is one thing you make sure you do every day to maintain a sense of normalcy? Walk around my apartment as much as I would behind a bar, shake a couple of tins with nothing but ice, stir ice around in a mixing glass ... I’m joking! Honestly, none of this is normal. My normal is I wake up, work, clock out, decompress and socialize at a local bar for a bit, go home, sleep, repeat. Any sense of normalcy, or the maintenance thereof, has gone out the window. Though, with this abundance of free time on my hands, I have been reading a lot more. I’ve also shifted back into creating and working on music (I’ll need to get a Patreon account, right?). I’ve been finally working on projects around the apartment that I’ve been putting off. I suppose that’s what I do to maintain: find a purpose for myself. What have you been stress-eating/ drinking lately? Whiskey. A Lot of whiskey. When news hit that we were closing Takashima Records, I went home that Sunday night, messaged Terry at Frazer’s and spent all night (and most of the morning) texting and communicating with other industry friends about what we can/could/should do next. I had a bottle of whiskey next to me the entire time. Not proud of it, but not ashamed either. What are the three things you’ve made sure you don’t want to run out of, other than toilet paper? Food, booze and beer, and money. I’m more worried about money than anything else — more worried about my friends and loved ones in that respect. You have to be quarantined with three people. Who would you pick? There’s far too many to choose from, though, I am lucky to have two of the most chill roommates ever, Josh and
Pyatt. We’ve known each other and toured with each other since a lifetime ago. With our experience, this kinda just seems like another tour: We can’t go anywhere, are rationing and stuck with each other doing nothing. It’s surprisingly similar. Once COVID-19 is no longer a threat, and people are allowed to go back out and about, what’s the first thing you’ll do? Go back to work, doing what I do. What do you think the biggest change to the hospitality industry will be once people are allowed to return to normal activity levels? Perspective. This whole ordeal, so far, has shed light on how vulnerable the industry is in such a situation and how essential it is for local commerce, not just here, but across the country. I don’t know if it will happen, but I would like to see measures ALREADY set in place and wellfunded that would guarantee emergency assistance to small, independent businesses and their employees in the event that an emergency of this magnitude ever happens again. I’m very aware of what programs are in place and what insurance is out there that are assisting however they can, though, I suspect that none of those were prepared for a scenario this big. It’s almost like handing out BandAids for a shotgun wound when it’s really an amputation. So, maybe that will change. *holds breath.* Also, sanitation protocols. I think there will be two types of people: those patrons that will go back to their normal routines and those that will be very skeptical about even going out. Much like how at the start of this, bars and restaurants having to visibly show patrons how clean we already are and taking extra precautions on top of that, I believe we’ll have to continue making that very visible for all to feel, somewhat, comfortable again. What is one thing that gives you hope during this crisis? Friends, family, community (both professional and literal). I’m always awestruck by the lengths individuals will go to help and support their neighborhood, community and city when devastation happens, especially in the service industry. I don’t know, maybe I have more optimism than hope. The hope I do have is that we all get through this and survive long enough to once again gather around the table or warm up to the bar and share a round or two. Until then, it’s virtual bars and Facetime shots. Cheers! n
Bryce Lob (left) and Zach Conley have been donating bottles of their Una Vida Tequila to hospitality workers. | OLIVER MUELLER
The St. Louis ‘Tequila Fairy’ Written by
CHERYL BAEHR
L
ike everyone in the food and beverage community, Zach Conley and Bryce Lob have been watching in horror as the industry they work in and love is decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Though their St. Louis-owned tequila brand Una Vida Tequila (www.unavidatequila.com) is still operating, roughly 80 percent of its sales are based in bars and restaurants. In just a matter of days, that business has ground to a virtual halt — but it’s not their own fortunes Conley and Lob have on their minds. “We’re business owners and entrepreneurs, but the interactions bartenders and wait staff have with customers on a daily basis far exceeds what we can do,” Conley explains. “They are the backbone of what we do, and now they are all laid off. We figured, we can’t put that money in their pockets, but at least we can give them a bottle of tequila.” Dubbing himself the “Quarantine Tequila Fairy,” Conley has indeed been spreading the tequila love around town, dropping off a bottle of the spirit and a handwritten note at the homes of any industry staffer who has been laid off, is facing hard times or just needs a bit of agave cheer to help get them through. As Conley explains, the idea first stemmed from a feeling of helplessness that eventually turned into action. “We just celebrated our two-year anniversary, so we are a young company and there’s not much we can do financially,” Conley says. “We took a look at the great things some of the bigger labels are doing — Jameson donated $500,000 to the U.S.
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Bartenders Guild. Molson-Coors donated $1 million to them. I felt like we didn’t have anything we could do, so then I took a look at the pallet of tequila we had just sitting here, and I said, ‘Screw it. We’re just going to give it away.’” On a whim, Conley put up a quick Instagram post, announcing that anyone in the industry — bartenders, servers, chefs, support staff — who contacted Una Vida Tequila and expressed interest would be given a bottle of tequila, free of charge, delivered to their doorstep. He expected that he’d get about ten or fifteen people to take him up on the offer. Before he knew it, his post had gotten three thousand views with hundreds of requests. Despite the overwhelming demand, he is making good on his promise. For the past six days, Conley has been driving around town, personally delivering bottles of his wares, complete with a handwritten thank-you note, to the homes of unemployed industry workers. After he makes the delivery, he tags the recipient in an Instagram post, which usually leads to them tagging their colleagues (Lob is following the same template in Wichita, where he lives). It has increased demand, but he has been able to meet it, thanks to the distributor Major Brands donating back to Una Vida Tequila twenty cases of their product in order to make sure that everyone who wants a bottle gets one. Conley has been shocked at the reception he’s received from what he considers a small gesture. And what’s surprised him just as much is how this act of helping others has helped him gain perspective in these trying times. “Some of the messages I’ve gotten are of people tearing up,” Conley says. “I figured that it’s just a bottle of tequila. I didn’t understand the impact it was going to have on other people, but I also didn’t know the impact it would have on me. The act of giving really puts you in a good mindset.” n
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CULTURE
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Production Value Written by
YMANI WINCE
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hen Leethal the Poet was ready to announce the final track off her album ...Well Damn at a recent listening party, Stacey Reynolds left the room. The producer and musician behind the new work, known as Volume Speaks, prefers not to be the center of attention. It’s an ironic fact about Reynolds, considering that Volume truly lives up to her name. She produced about 98 percent of Leethal’s album, and its release was an accomplishment that followed Reynolds’ journey to becoming one of the most exciting female producers on the scene. Her background as a musician — a saxophonist, primarily, though she’s skilled with other instruments as well — made her interest in producing come naturally. While attending Lindenwood University, Reynolds was inspired by watching her friends create beats and figured it couldn’t be that hard. She says her friend was a producer and taught her how to use Maschine, a brand of musicmaking software and line of hardware controllers. “I had never thought about making beats or anything,” Reynolds says of her interest at the time. “It seemed pretty easy. I made beats on the piano, and I wanted to dig deeper into it.” As a multi-skilled musician with expertise in saxophone, drums and bass guitar, as well as writing and rapping, she says producing and making beats ties all of her interests together. As a beginner, Reynolds quickly picked up skills, even though she didn’t have the proper equipment. Soon enough, she was performing at the Grove’s monthly beat battle Fresh Produce, quickly making a name for herself. Fresh Produce is a night made for producers. It’s the one night of the month that the local creative scene looks forward to watching talented beatmakers from around the city as well as out of town go head to head. It’s also an oppor-
Stacey Reynolds, known as Volume Speaks, flowed naturally from performer to producer. | CREATION WITHIN PHOTOGRAPHY tunity for artists to network and take note of who they need to make connections with. Volume Speaks is one of the few women most respected in that realm. When she stepped on stage in January as a wildcard competitor, the audience already knew to expect some of the toughest and best sounds. The beats she showcased were a testament to the amount of hours Reynolds puts into them. She has an endless Rolodex of sound — beats she’s made for other people and others she’s made simply because she enjoys the process. It’s the passion Reynolds carries, in addition to her considerable talent, that sets her apart from the competition, male or female. All the time spent cranking out beat after beat resulted in the opportunity for Reynolds to produce the vast majority of Leethal the Poet’s new album. ...Well Damn marks the first time she’s made music entirely for one project, something she’d been looking forward to since the beginning of her journey. “It was very emotional, but it was also a learning experience,” she says. “Everything that was wrapped up in that album and release party was a collection of feels and experiences. Not just from Leethal, but for me as well. When I can’t say it, I put it in my
beats, and you can really feel it.” Alongside Reynolds in the world of talented female beatmakers is fellow producer and engineer Lexxiiibeatz. Alexis Calhoun is another well-recognized and respected producer in the hip-hop creative space here in St. Louis, and one who contributed to Leethal’s album as well. Her journey to becoming a producer seems to have been fate, and a little unlikely. “I was on Instagram one night, and I saw some dude making a beat on his phone,” she says. “I went to the comments to see what it was, and he was using something called GarageBand.” From there, Calhoun says she downloaded the app and started making beats on her phone as well. It ignited a desire to learn and do more. That led her to enrolling at the now-defunct Ex’Treme Institute by Nelly at Vatterott College, graduating and becoming “an official producer and engineer.” While most people know Lexxiiibeatz for her beats, working with Leethal the Poet gave her an opportunity to flex her engineering skills. Most recognized at Fresh Produce, Calhoun has created a legion of attendees that follow and respect her style. When Lexxiiibeatz performs at Fresh Produce, the murmurs of
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“she ’bout to kill it” circle through the room, as Calhoun’s beats crescendo into what the crowd knows will be a drop that will advance her to the next round. And in her experience, it usually has. In one battle, Calhoun advanced to the semifinals, which was no surprise given her production work’s skill, variance and complexity. It’s funny, because she says she has a hard time describing exactly what her style or sound is. She does, however, draw plenty of inspiration from her love of gaming, and the music in some of her favorite games from her childhood. “I would describe my sound as a video game sound,” she says. “Some of it comes from the stuff I grew up listening to, and some of it comes from me being a gamer girl, too.” Her aptitude for creating a unique sound has taken Calhoun outside St. Louis, namely Atlanta, where she was able to showcase her work in last year’s AC3 Festival. It was an opportunity that came as a surprise for the producer and engineer, who says she never thought she’d get the chance to travel and play her music for ears outside her city. “Men expect me to be doing girl stuff, whatever that is,” she says. “What is girl stuff? This is girl stuff to me, because I am a girl, and I’m doing this.” n
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SAVAGE LOVE OPEN AND SHUT BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: My husband and I got married in August of 2019, and we were together for over five years before getting married. I’m very happy and love him with all my heart. I want to have his kids and support his entrepreneurial efforts as he supports mine. We don’t fight, we just have some tiffs here and there. The kicker is that I have a tough time feeling him during sex and he doesn’t last as long as I would like him to. We’re adventurous enough to try different things, i.e. toys and different positions, but I find myself sexually unfulfilled. He also isn’t very willing/interested in going down on me, in fact he has not once gone down on me. I’m also finding myself attracted to and fantasizing about other men. In addition to being honest with my husband, I don’t know what the solution is. I’m not opposed to opening up a marriage, but I worry that I’m just being selfish and that it’s too soon to try or even discuss it at any length. I did bring up a crush I have on a coworker and my husband said, “There’s nothing wrong with having a snack.” What did he mean by that? Do you have any other insights or suggestions on what to do? Married Not Dead P.S. I hope you, your family, and your friends are holding up ok during this pandemic. It’s a scary time so I hope you’re all ok. I shared your letter with Tristan Taormino, author of Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships. Through her books, lectures and podcasts (“Sex Out Loud Radio”), Taormino has helped countless couples navigate the transition from monogamy to non-monogamy. But before we dive into the specifics of your situation, MND, there’s something Taormino and I want to make clear to all. “In this time of a global pandemic, thinking and talking about non-monogamy is all you can do right now,” said Taormino. “This goes for everyone: no new sex partners until public health experts say we can go back to standing closer than six feet apart. Even then, we’re going to have to proceed with caution.” Listen up, people: The woman who literally wrote the book on open relationships says open and poly relationships are cancelled for the time
being. “Yup, cancelled,” said Taormino, “unless every one of your partners lives with you.” While COVID-19 isn’t classified as a sexually transmitted infection (STI), having sex with someone who has coronavirus would almost certainly result in transmission. And since people who get infected typically don’t show symptoms for up to two weeks, the fact that someone appears to be healthy doesn’t mean they are corona-free. Someone can look and feel great and be both infected and infectious. So for the time being we should only be having sex with a sex partner we live with. If you have more than one sex partner and you’re all staying in the same place, great! Poly isn’t cancelled for you and your partners. But we shouldn’t be hooking up with new partners in person or going to see established partners we don’t live with. That goes double for meeting up with non-cohabitating partners who have other partners and whose other partners have other partners of their own. But the good news is that sext messages and dirty video chats are both allowed and encouraged, kids, so we can get off online with new people as well as established partners who live on the other side of town or the other side of the world. Hell, get the whole polycule together on Zoom—just don’t actually get together (or get under) anyone you don’t live with. Okay! With that out of the way, MND, we’re going to answer your question. But bear in mind that some of our advice — our advice about opening up your marriage — won’t be fully actionable until after COVID-19 is brought under control. “I’m glad MND is being honest with her husband about her desires, but let’s take that further with even more specific talk about what’s missing in her sex life,” said Taormino. “In her letter, I heard: pussyeating, intense enough sensation from intercourse and longer sex sessions. I’ll translate that: She’s missing pleasure, reciprocation and orgasms for her. She is NOT being selfish for wanting these things. They are pretty fundamental aspects of a sexual relationship, and she needs to address them with her husband first.” Backing way the hell up: Assuming you knew about my column five years ago, MND, it’s telling you didn’t ask for my advice back when you realized your new boyfriend was never going to eat your pussy. (Spoiler: I would’ve told you to dump him.) Since you chose not to break up with your boyfriend over the lack
cunnilingus back then and you don’t want to divorce your husband over it now, MND, it would seem that going without oral — at least going without at home — is the price of admission you’re willing to pay to be with this guy. As for your other issues about your sex life with your husband — you don’t “feel him” during penis-in-vagina (PIV) intercourse and it’s over too quickly — the right toys could certainly help. But if your husband ruled out penetration toys that were bigger than his cock, MND, or if you didn’t order any that were bigger than his cock to avoid hurting his feelings, you’re gonna have to broach the subject of buying some larger toys, MND, ones you can really feel. And since experimenting with new positions didn’t help your husband last longer, you should try alternating between toys and his cock during PIV, which will make both the sex (and the husband) last longer. “If MND’s husband is really in this relationship, he should be open and willing to give most anything a try,” said Taormino. “MND really needs to see that he’s as interested in her pleasure and satisfaction as he is in his own. And if there’s something she wants to try or something that really turns her on and gets her off that her husband doesn’t know about, now is the time to share the juicy details.” As for opening up the relationship, MND, I wouldn’t advise most people to initiate that convo at this moment. Because if the conversation goes badly — and they often do at first — that could mean sheltering in place with an angry person. But based on your husband’s reaction when you confessed having a crush on a coworker, MND, I think you could risk discussing opening up while you’re locked down. Your husband didn’t say there was nothing wrong with fantasizing about a snack, MND, he said there’s nothing wrong with having a snack. Make no mistake: that’s not a green light to immediately outsource getting your pussy eaten. But his calm, matter-of-fact reaction when you confided in him about your crush is good sign. But first things first: You need to work with your husband on improving your sex life at home and you should have a convo about that — and a convo about ordering some new sex toys — before you make plans to open up the relationship and start getting your pussy eaten elsewhere. “Exploring non-monogamy is one way to address sexual incompatibilities and expand our capacity for love
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and intimacy,” said Taormino. “But the stuff between the two of them needs to gets talked about first. Otherwise, you’re glossing over the issues with something new and shiny.”Follow Tristan Taormino on Twitter @ TristanTaormino. Hey, Dan: I’ve been in love with a close friend for years. Social distancing has thrown major life “regrets” into high relief, and I would be crushed if something happened to him. We’ve both been distancing for two weeks and neither of us have symptoms. Can I have him come over to hang out? What if we ended up making out or hooking up? He has housemates and I don’t, so he’s around more people than I am, but everyone at his house has been distancing too. I see so many questions about hooking up with randos and that seems like a clear no-no. But what about hooking up with someone you know? No Regrets Also a no-no, NR. We’re not supposed to come within six feet of anyone we don’t live with, NR, which means you can’t invite this guy over to play cribbage and/or fuck you senseless. If you wanted to invite this guy over to stay, you could shack up and wait out the lockdown together. But you can’t invite him over just to play. Instead of inviting him over and hoping for something to happen, NR, you should give this guy a call and tell him how you feel. He might feel the same way and want to be your quarantine buddy. But if he doesn’t feel the same way, at least you’ll know. Rejections we can get over, NR, but regrets are for life.
Listen to the Savage Lovecast every week at www.savagelovecast.com. mail@savagelove.net Follow Dan on Twitter FakeDanSavage www.savagelovecast.com Follow Dan on Twitter
Want to reach someone at the RFT? If @fakedansavage you’re looking to provide info about an event, please contact calendar@riverfronttimes.com. If you’ve got the scoop on nightlife, comedy or music, please email daniel.hill@riverfronttimes.com. Love us? Hate us? You can email doyle.murphy@riverfronttimes.com about that too. Due to the volume of email we receive, we may not respond — but rest assured that we are reading every one.
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BELEAF’S LIFE’S OILS
ST. LOUIS’S PREMIER CBD COMPANY & PRODUCT LINE Established in Missouri in 2016, BeLeaf Company has deep roots in the greater St. Louis area. BeLeaf’s commitment to superior hemp cultivation, quality, and education is what sets the company apart— and it’s why we’ve been an authority in the CBD space since the beginning. Now, with our award-winning CBD product line BeLeaf Life’s Oils, we’re more confident than ever that CBD can be a beneficial addition to any lifestyle. With the heightened level
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Learn More: www.beleaflifesoils.com Contact Us: (314) 209-0859 info@beleafco.com
THE GREEN DRAGON CBD
IS A ST. LOUIS, FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS THAT RECENTLY OPENED ITS FLAGSHIP LOCATION IN CHESTERFIELD Did you know that your body already produces cannabinoids every day as part of a key system that runs throughout your body and helps to regulate almost every part of your body’s functions? CBD is one of many natural cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant, and is used to promote overall health and wellness, as well as to deal with many health challenges. Our company’s mission, and the physical store itself, was constructed with the intention of helping to educate both existing and brand new potential users on every aspect of CBD. The education center includes video, wall displays and printed material to help customers explore CBD and related topics. The inviting environment, much like a spa, is supported by knowledgeable and friendly associates. We are excited to have created an animal friendly establishment, where 5% of all pet product sales go to benefit Stray Rescue of St. Louis. When you are ready to buy CBD, you have the largest selection of top-quality, trusted brands and
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products anywhere. Select from many product categories to find the best method based upon personal preference:Jack CBD Oils & Tinctures, CBD Flower or Pre-Rolls, CBD Topicals, CBD Gummies, Edibles, Drinks, CBD for Pets, CBD Vaping…and more! In addition to the store resources, the online presence, at www.thegreendragoncbd.com has dozens of blog posts covering many topics of CBD usage, CBD myths, and unique testimonials from CBD users. You can also place orders online for delivery at-home. 15% off for all first time customers in-store, or go online for special web offerings!
The Green Dragon CBD www.thegreendragoncbd.com 14856 Clayton Rd Chesterfield, MO 63017 (636) 220-7278 Open Mon-Sat 8am-9pm, or Sun 9am-6pm
MARCH 25-31, 2020
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