Lowell's

LexMob: Final Schedule

When we started LexMob on July 22nd, the idea was to keep patronizing businesses affected by the closure of South Limestone for a month. It has been extremely rewarding to meet fellow LexMobbers and to meet owners and workers in the targeted businesses.

It has also been very time-consuming.  I've decided to stop organizing LexMobs after Monday, August 31st, so that I can better tend to my business.

This doesn't mean that LexMobs have to stop.  In fact, we'd be thrilled if LexMob continues into the fall.  And anyone can organize a LexMob for South Limestone: The idea is to 'show up' with our feet and our wallets to help out these businesses.  Whether it is a mob of 1 or a mob of 100, simply show up and ask others to show up as well.

The easiest way to organize a LexMob: Send out a notice on Twitter with the hashtag phrase "#LexMob for #SoLime".  In my experience, it is good to send out a few tweets at different times of the morning to let different people know when and where the LexMob will be.  Then, after your LexMob, tell the twitterverse how it was and thank those who came.  That's all it takes. 

I've had a number of suggestions for how LexMob could continue:

• LexMobs could be weekly (or a couple of times a week) instead of each day
• Perhaps the businesses on South Limestone could organize LexMobs themselves
• We could just see what happens; Hopefully, other LexMobbers could continue to organize mobs without a central planner

We support any or all of these options. 

In any case, here is our 'final' schedule for LexMob:

• Wednesday 8/19, Lunch: Sav's Grill
• Thursday 8/20, Lunch: Hanna's, Zag's, & Failte Irish Imports
• Thursday 8/20, 7 PM: Social Event at Pazzo's Pizza Pub (sponsored by the Lexington Fashion Collaborative)

• Monday 8/24, Lunch: Banana Leaf
• Tuesday 8/25, Lunch: Tolly Ho
• Wednesday 8/26, Lunch: Cloud 9
• Thursday 8/27, Lunch: Han Woo Ri, The Album, Sqecial Media, and ReBelle
• Friday 8/28, Lunch: Sav's Grill and Oneness

• Monday 8/31, Lunch: Pazzo's Pizza Pub and CD Central

We hope to see you there!  Who's in?

LexMob Schedule

We like (and encourage) the loose, spontaneous organization of LexMob (an initiative to patronize businesses affected by the closure of South Limestone). 

But several folks have encouraged us to put together a LexMob schedule so that they can plan their attendance.  We think that's a good idea.  As always, feel free to organize or propose your own LexMobs.

Here's our tentative schedule for the next week (also published in this week's Ace Weekly on page 5).  Look for updates and schedule changes on Twitter (look for the #LexMob or #SoLime hashtags).

Friday 8/7, Lunch: Tolly Ho
Friday 8/7, 5:30PM: (OFF Lime) Front Porch Friday, Ace Weekly, 185 Jefferson
Saturday 8/8, 6-9 South Limestone 'Street Party' near High Street

Monday 8/10, Lunch: Banana Leaf
Tuesday 8/11, Lunch: Hanna's, Zag's, & Failte Irish Imports
Tuesday 8/11, Dinner: SoundBar
Wednesday 8/12, Lunch: Sav's Grill and Oneness
Thursday 8/13, Lunch: Cloud 9 and Kennedy's Bookstore
Friday 8/14, Lunch: Tin Roof

Please join us as we support businesses on South Limestone.  Also, if you are up for a hike (7 to 8 blocks) you can park in the Lowell's parking lot on the south corner of North Limestone and Mechanic Streets.

LexMob Update: Who's in?

It's been two weeks since South Limestone closed and since I suggested the idea to LexMob businesses up and down SoLime.  So how is the LexMob idea faring?  Have we made a huge difference to the bottom lines of the affected businesses?

In a word: No.

In two words: Not yet.

As an ad hoc effort, we usually decide the spot we'll mob for lunch that morning.  I usually send out a tweet proposing a time and place, and ask "Who's in?" 

So far in a typical LexMob, just three or four people show up.  A couple of times, the mob swelled to about a dozen or more.  And yesterday, I was the lone LexMobber.

These weren't really the overwhelming numbers I had hoped for, but are about what I expected as we get the idea of LexMob off the ground. 

Still, the LexMob experience has already been rewarding in a number of ways:

• I have gotten to meet a lot of great new people while LexMobbing.
• I have gotten a lot of exercise marching up and down Limestone (except in yesterday's monsoon).
• I have gotten a lot of encouragement from the local Twitter community and from the affected businesses.
• Lexmobbers (including me) have gotten exposure to great restaurants and stores that we would never have patronized if the closure hadn't happened.
• A few times, I've seen folks organize their own LexMobs
• I have gotten an inspiring, up-close look at how resilient and innovative other business owners are in the face of profound challenges.

And those rewards will keep me going back to SoLime businesses during the closure.

Where have we been?  Here's our list so far:

7/22, Lunch: Pazzo's Pizza Pub (4 LexMobbers)
7/23, Lunch: Sav's West African Grill (3 LexMobbers)
7/24, Lunch: Tolly Ho (14 LexMobbers)

7/27, Lunch: Tin Roof (3 LexMobbers)
7/28, Lunch: Han Woo Ri (Korean - 11 LexMobbers)
7/29, Lunch: Hanna's on Lime and Failte Irish Imports (8 LexMobbers)
7/29, Dinner: Pint Night at Pazzo's Pizza Pub (~4 LexMobbers)
7/30, Lunch: Pita Pit (2 LexMobbers)
7/31, Lunch: Sav's West African Grill (4 LexMobbers)

8/3, Lunch: Banana Leaf (Indian & Malaysian - 2 LexMobbers)
8/4, Lunch: Cloud 9 (1 LexMobber)

While I think all of these businesses need our help, I worry less about the popular campus hangouts (Pazzo's, Tolly Ho, Tin Roof) than I do the lesser-known and more out-of-the-way spots.

At Cloud 9 yesterday, I wasn't just the only LexMobber there - I was the only patron.  During what should have been their busiest hour, I was the only customer in the whole place. 

And - given its former 'dive' incarnation as the original Tolly-Ho and Wok 'n' Go (tucked behind Kennedy's Book Store) - it was a surprisingly great place.  Very clean.  Really nice ambience.  A very tasty special burger blend from Critchfield Meats.  Deep-fried hot dogs.  Beer-battered fries.  Unique and delicious 'flavor-blasted' soft serve ice cream.  Home-made mix-ins for ice cream treats.  Home-made frozen cheesecake.  I already want to go back.

Being the only customer gave me a chance to have a long conversation with the owner (Kurt Henning) about a variety of topics, including the South Lime closure.  He had no communication from the city about the closure - he heard details mainly through rumor.  He didn't know that the digging would go as far south on South Lime as it has.  He had no warning that the Euclid / Winslow / Avenue of Champions intersection with South Limestone would be completely closed.  And, he was surprised that the road in front of his shop (on Winslow, well off of South Lime) was being dug up as well.

And yet, Kurt was surprisingly resilient in the face of such a disruptive interruption to his business.  He's looking forward to when students get back on campus and business picks back up.  He's working to ensure good word-of-mouth (he does no advertising) about his business. 

And, sitting there as the only lunchtime customer in a great local establishment, I decided then and there to give him some good word-of-mouth.  (Did it work?) 

Don't go there - or to other South Lime places - because you feel sorry for them.  Go because they really are that good and because they deserve our business.

And, despite the extra inconvenience, time, and cost - I decided to continue LexMobbing South Limestone.

Who's in?

LexMobs on South Limestone?

The South Limestone streetscape project gets underway this morning.  Using Twitter, Lexington's Mayor announced that the closure will result in traffic delays of up to 45 minutes. 

From a public point of view, the closure seems hastily and poorly planned, although the promised streetscapes look wonderful.  The project stems from a noble goal: to better connect the University of Kentucky campus with downtown Lexington. 

But businesses lining South Limestone (SoLime) had little time to adapt to the closure, and I wonder how many can survive being starved of traffic for so long.  When Lexingtonians realize that there is a "mess" surrounding SoLime, they will stay away in droves.  (With a business just off of North Limestone, I'm concerned about the disruptions to our southside Lexington customers making it in to Lowell's.) 

There are a lot of great businesses along SoLime that would be a shame to lose: Sav's, Pazzo's, Tolly Ho, Failte, Sqecial Media, and many, many others.  Some (maybe all) of these are Lexington institutions.

How long could they operate without significant customer patronage?  How long could they retain employees?  How long can they make debt / rent payments?  How long can they pay bills?  How long can they survive?

So, here's a challenge for our readers: Let's go out of our way to demonstrate that we care about those businesses.

Beginning today, and continuing through the next month, let's pick one or two businesses to "flash mob" each day.  Let's get together to show, with our feet and our wallets, that we want those businesses to survive.  Let's show up.  And eat.  Or buy.  Or drink.  Let's refuse to let these businesses fail.

If our LexMobs get too big, that's OK - I'm sure that the plentiful nearby businesses would also love some of our overflow business.

Will this effort be well-organized and well-thought-out in advance?  Not a chance.  Will it be messy?  Yes.  Will it be chaotic?  Absolutely.  Will it be inconvenient?  Certainly.  Will you be too busy to interrupt your day?  Undoubtedly.

But that is precisely the point: to go out of our way to demonstrate we care for these businesses.

So... Let's LexMob South Limestone.  Look for more details on Twitter with the hashtags #LexMob and #SoLime.  See you there!

Update: The inaugural LexMob will be Wednesday, July 22nd @ Pazzo's Pizza Pub at 11:30 AM near Euclid on SoLime.  Can't make it?  We'll try for other times and places with future LexMobs!