Denton County Up Close 2010

An advertorial publication of the Denton Record-Chronicle Feb. 28, 2010

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Downtown Denton offers a unique presence in the center of the growing city.

By Lori LeeFor the Denton Record-Chronicle

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

On Locust Street, which borders one side of the Square, customersflood onto the walkway outside Jupiter House Coffee, gathering on thesteps of the old former bank on the corner. On the coffee shop patio, anartist hustles paintings. And across the street, a band of teenagers hangout on the courthouse steps.

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

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

The Square seems almost recession proof. Only a handful of busi-nesses are facing a slight downturn in sales, says Julie Glover, programadministrator for downtown Denton development. But most mer-

Downtown Denton fares well in economy

See DOWNTOWN on Page 6

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6 Denton Up Close February 28, 2010 Denton Record-Chronicle

From Page 5

Downtown

chants are bustling, and some are evenexpanding. Beth Marie’s ice cream shoprecently opened a second store, andJupiter House Coffee is about to openone. Starbucks, however, isn’t on theSquare’s blueprint for new development.“We’d kind of like to…have only mom andpops here in the city,” says Joel North,manager at Jupiter House Coffee.

Some merchants say they’ve been sur-prised that their businesses haven’t beenclobbered by the economic downturn. “Iwas a little anxious about this one beingworse,” says Virginia McNeil, owner ofMcNeil’s Appliances on the Square. “ButI think it’s going to work out all right.”

According to Dr. Ard Anjomani, anurban planning specialist of theUniversity of Texas at Arlington, Squareslike Denton’s predate World War II —before huge highway-building projectsspurred shopping-center developmentaway from downtowns.

Today, the chain stores and shoppingcenters on the outskirts of downtownhave fallen into the dumps.

In the past year, Little Brother’s Pizza,Heavenly Body and Scents and CircuitCity have closed, along with severalrestaurants in the Denton CrossingShopping Center off Loop 288.

Merchants attribute part of the down-town Square’s appeal to the diversity anduniqueness of experiences offered withina short walking distance.

Patrons can choose between pubs andpizza places, hamburger joints and coffeehouses, and shop for everything fromclothes — new and vintage — to antiques,appliances, trinkets, dusty old books andvinyl recordings of bands no one’s thoughtof in twenty years.

Teenagers drink soda balls, twenty-something music diehards strum restlessfingers, bearded professors sift throughtheir texts at Jupiter House Coffee and theseptuagenarians plays cards at Ruby’sDiner.

Some patrons say they flock to theSquare to escape the one-in-the-samemalls and big-box retail establishments.“The malls are too commercial,” saysPamela Holloway, On the Square, sheadds, “There’s not a Target or a Kmart ora WalMart or a Great Klips. We’re tired ofthe corporate mentality.”

“Denton does not do faux,” says BobMontgomery, president of DowntownMain Street Association.” Everything

around here is reality based. Southlake has built some great struc-

tures, but it’s like either going to Paris orVegas to see the Eifel Tower.”

Merchants on the Square say they oper-ate on a simple formula: providingunique products and personal service ataffordable prices.

In selecting merchandise for Elementsof Design Boutique, Joanne Moses saysher store carefully chooses “one-of-a-kinditems or things we think our customerswill enjoy.” And the store offers comple-mentary gift wrap – whether it’s a $1 or$100 purchase. “We give them equalattention,” says Moses.

Unlike other shopping centers, Mosessays “every budget can find something onthe Square, our shop included.”

Leah Wood, part owner of 2nd Streeton the Square, a vintage and resale store,says most of the merchants also let localartists and musicians use their stores assales outlets for their work. “We want thelocals to feel like it’s their store,” saysWood.

The “locals” include the local universi-ties, Texas Women’s University and theUniversity of North Texas. JimmyMeridith, part owner of Sweetwater Grill& Tavern, says Sweetwater hosts a patiojazz night every Tuesday where the per-formers are students from UNT’srenowned School of Music. “There’s aconstant dynamic with the two colleges,”says Joshua Baker, a Denton resident.“They keep the city alive.”

The Downtown Main StreetAssociation maintains close ties with the“locals” by sponsoring everything fromlocal art and antique shows to TwilightTunes, where crowds gather on theCourthouse lawn during the summer forlive music. And they work nonstop tokeep the Square sparkling, squeaky cleanand safe at all hours of the day and night.

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

John Maple’s hands are swollen anddry from washing windows in the frigidair for downtown businesses.

Not the sort of labor you’d expect fromsomeone who holds two music degreesfrom UNT.

His window-cleaning business occu-pies most of his time. But he doesn’t mindthe work at all.

Doing his part to make sure the historicSquare continues to sparkle, he says,stems from his family’s connection to thecenterpiece on the Square: DentonCounty’s courthouse.

In the late 1800s, his wife’s great grand-father owned a wagon with Clydesdale

horses, and he hauled quarried stonesfrom the railroad to town to build what isone of the grandest courthouses in Texas.

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

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 sur-

rounding the

Courthouse on

the Square are

part of the

downtown

charm.

File photos

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Economy strikes somein midst of retirement

By Elizabeth LangtonFor the Denton Record-Chronicle

Kay Hull holds up a tile sample meantfor the new backsplash in her Lewisvillekitchen, showing her husband how theiroriginal design has been reconfigured tofit a small slip of wall underneath the bar.

Ken Hull pretends to think hard aboutthe suggestion before quickly agreeingwith his wife’s plan.

The new backsplashes and countertopsconstitute the final phase of a kitchenmakeover in the couple’s three-bedroomLewisville home, to which they downsizedin 1997 anticipating their retirementyears.

The renovations included replacing thesink, adding new appliances and convert-ing to a gas range so the couple can “prac-tice our gourmet cooking skills,” Hull sayswhile mimicking sautéing food in a fryingpan.

The kitchen updates pose no financialstrain for the couple. Though Hull retiredin 2007 after a career selling radiatorsand then insurance, he works several dayseach month bookkeeping for the radiatorbusiness. His wife remains employed full-time as an airline ticket agent.

But Hull remains less sure about theirfinancial status in three years when hiswife retires at 66, the age she can collectfull Social Security benefits.

The Hulls started planning their retire-ment 15 years ago, envisioning trips toAlaska, Europe and the Orient. Thesedays Hull wonders if his investments willyield enough to merely pay the bills.

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

Along with Social Security, the couple’spost-employment income would also relyon his small pension, her 401k and jointIRA investments and savings. While thatonce seemed like plenty to pay theirexpenses and fund world travel, Hull wor-ries about lingering effects of the econom-ic downturn such as inflation and the dol-lar’s falling value.

“The way things are headed, we won’t

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

The worldwide economic meltdownthat started in 2008, considered theworst recession since the GreatDepression, has battered stock prices andpummeled investment returns, including401k retirement accounts and pensionplans.

More than half of American house-holds are “at risk” of not having enough tomaintain their living standards in retire-ment, up from 44 percent in 2007 and 30percent in 1989, according to theNational Retirement Risk Index, a projectof the Center for Retirement Research atBoston College.

As a result, workers are postponingretirement and retirees are cutting theirspending.

“People are holding onto their jobs fordear life,” says Jean Setzfand, director offinancial security at AARP.

According to a national survey byAARP released in October 2008, 69 per-cent of workers age 45 and older plan todelay retirement and spend less once theyretire if the economy fails to improve sig-nificantly.

Thirteen percent admitted tapping intotheir retirement accounts or other invest-ments to cover day-to-day expenses, thesurvey found, and 20 percent hadstopped retirement account contributionsduring the previous 12 months.

In a survey by global consulting firmWatson Wyatt, workers between age 50and 64 cited declining 401k values as themost important reason for delayingretirement.

Phillip Young, a Denton-based retire-ment and estate planning specialist, sayshe advises his clients to remain diligent intheir planning and, for now, keep workingunless forced to leave for health reasons.

“The meltdown we’ve had over the pastfew years is as significant as the GreatDepression,” he says. “The economy is toounstable now.”

See RETIREMENT on Page 9

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From Page 8

Retirement

The number of Americans planning towork at least one year past retirement agehas jumped 11 percent since the end of2008, according to the latestUnretirement Index, a survey by Sun LifeFinancial released in October. The indexreported that 27 percent expect to workfive extra years because of current eco-nomic conditions.

Sun Life Financial U.S. president WesThompson says a majority of Americansnow consider working in their later yearsas a necessity – a defining change in howsociety views work and retirement.

“This idea that the retirement was a 15-to 20-year period where you get to havefun is a relatively recent cultural phenom-enon,” says Andrew Eschtruth, communi-cations director for the Center forRetirement Research. “We’re not sayingyour dreams aren’t attainable, but youneed to adjust your expectations to reali-ty.”

The first adjustment – more years inthe workforce.

“We’re not saying people have to workforever or die at their desks,” Eschtruthsays. But “we do think strongly that work-ing longer is part of the solution.”

Joe Lyons always planned to work wellinto his retirement years.

Two years ago, he enjoyed a successfulcareer supervising 20-member crews asthey constructed houses from “dirt to fin-ish.”

Even as home sales crashed and his lastemployer shut down projects, cut wagesand laid off workers, Lyons felt secure inhis job because he remained busy andworked long hours.

He was laid off in 2008.“I didn’t see it coming. I was devastat-

ed,” he says. “I always identified myselfwith my job; I think that’s where I messedup.”

The Choice Homes 1998 Builder of theYear now relies on odd jobs such as housepainting, fence construction and bath-room remodeling to make a living. Hiswife, Patty, works part-time as a depart-ment store sales clerk.

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

The Lyonses have no retirement sav-ings and cannot afford to start now.

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

his life,” says Paul Foutch, Lyons’ friendwho works as a financial advisor forEdward Jones.

But Tony Boudreau hopes that carefulplanning keeps him on track to retire innine years – just as soon as he reaches thethreshold for full Social Security benefits.

“If for some reason my investments dowell, I’ll retire even sooner,” the 57-year-old Flower Mound resident said. “Thequicker I can retire, the happier I’ll be.”

Boudreau, an accountant and vice pres-ident of business affairs for Parker Collegeof Chiropractic in Dallas, pulled hisretirement investments from the stockmarket in January 2008 – before stockvalues plummeted. Some co-workers losthalf the money in their retirementaccounts, he says.

“When the market really tanked, I did-n’t get hurt like a lot of people did,” hesays. “I was lucky this time around butsomething else could come along. It’s veryscary.”

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

“It gets even worse if they dip into theirprinciple,” he says. “There are a lot of peo-ple retired who have to spend that moneyfrom day one.”

Financial advisors say dedicated plan-ners can weather the economic stormwith their future finances intact.

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

Experts say devise a plan and stick to it.Phillips, the Denton-based financial plan-ner, recommends people set aside 10-15percent of their income for retirement.Savings should begin as soon as peopleestablish their careers, he says.

“The most important thing is to devel-op the habit of saving very early on,” hesays.

Hull, the Lewisville retiree, said he andhis wife lost significant savings when themarket collapsed but regained ground byshuffling their investments.

While confident he can now protect hismoney, he worries that overall economicconditions will hurt his bottom line whenhis wife retires in three years.

“I’m generally an optimistic person butI’m not this time around,” he says.“Hopefully there will be something left toplay with.”


The show will go onBy Tyler CochranFor the Denton Record-Chronicle

A vintage neon sign and old fashioned ticketbooth from its grand old days as a glitzy moviehouse welcome patrons into one of Denton’scultural treasures.

The Campus Theater, with its art decodesign and vibrant terrazzo color scheme ofreds, greens and whites in the interior, offersthe sort of edge-of-your-seat drama that fewcommunity theaters around the country canmatch.

During its 12-month-season, the DentonCommunity Theatre will perform three plays,three musicals and several special events. For alocal, non-profit organization, this is no smallfeat. Providing high-end theater in a commu-nity the size of Denton is an expensive under-taking. And at a time when growing legions ofDentonites are facing economic hardship, evenactors and actresses wonder whether the com-munity has the will and the wherewithal tosupport it’s theater.

Shane Strawbridge certainly hopes so. Like

other actors, he believes theaters like the DCTare essential to a community’s health and well-being. “Without art, life is empty,” he says.

Actors who perform with DCT are volun-teers who are not compensated for their servic-es. But the actors say making money isn’t whythey spend countless hours in rehearsals andperformances. It’s about creating art for art’ssake. “For me it is necessary,” says Strawbridge,who appeared in last season’s production ofCarousel. “It gives me an outlet and an extend-ed family.”

After spending hundreds of hours in exhaus-tive rehearsals, Justin Harmon and BusterMaloney are excited about stepping onto thestage at the DCT to perform the comedy, ATuna Christmas. Each actor will don a varietyof costumes and wigs to play 11 different char-acters — ranging from young to old, male tofemale and pretentious to down-right rude.And all this comically gifted duo wants inreturn for their efforts are a few belly laughs

See SHOW on Page11

A central part of

Denton’s down-

town, the Campus

Theater continues

to thrive despite

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From Page 10

Show

from a packed house.But while making money is of little con-

cern to the actors, it is to Mike Barrow, theDCT’s managing director. With just 25%of the theatre’s funding coming from tick-et sales, he says he has to find ways toraise money from outside sources.

The Greater Denton Arts Council is oneof those sources. It has helped to supportthe theater and other artistic, cultural,and educational institutions.

In the early 90s, a $1.8 million grantfrom the GDAC was used to renovate theCampus Theatre, providing the DentonCommunity Theatre a permanent home.

But in a job-squashing economy, pro-viding top quality theater is a constantchallenge.

That’s why Borrow spends a great dealof his time seeking grants from local,state, and national organizations thatsponsor the arts – hoping to maintainDCT’s main stage season that has alreadybeen cut to six productions from eight. .

Under Borrow, another theatricalvenue began to take shape in the form ofa black box performance located in theeast wing of the Denton Record-Chronicle building.

Unfortunately, the plans for this newspace were put into place before the econ-omy began to implode.

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

The DCT’s black box –which will beused for rehearsals, theater classes and tooffer more experimental pieces in con-trast to more costly productions like MyFair Lady — is being leased to DCT for amere $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 theatreto pay off royalties for its various produc-tions and place aside a portion of ticketsales that will in turn assist with thefinancial planning for future seasons.

Barrow’s parents, Frank and Betty Ann,were involved in the theater almost fromthe beginning, when silent momentsonstage were offset by the noisy fire sta-tion directly downstairs from themakeshift theater.

His father’s philosophy was to present

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

By providing family faire such as TheProducers, Cinderella and A TunaChristmas, the younger Barrow says he’sconfident Campus Theater will remain avital part of the Denton community.

Fight Boy Theater

Fight Boy Theatre is a more unortho-dox theatrical organization now vying forattention from local patrons. This youngstart-up theater offers an alternative totraditional fare using unorthodox artisticchoices such as performing classicalpieces and original works written by localplaywrights in the backyard of a coffeehouse.

The group is overseen by JoshuaHancock, a recent Texas Woman’sUniversity graduate who sports spiky hairand striped button-down shirts. He saysthe five year old theater company oper-ates with a survival school mentality.“Everything is found, borrowed, orstolen,” he jokes.

Yet Fight Boy, unlike DCT, is a for prof-it company. Productions are funded outof Hancock’s own pocket, or with helpfrom two or three producers working withthe company. Fight Boy’s actors performat the Art Six Coffee House on BryanStreet, which takes 30% of the proceedsfor each performance. Fight Boy gets therest.

Barrow and Hancock agree that risinggas prices and a sour economy may evenbenefit their Denton theater companies.“More locals are deciding to stay homeinstead of making the trek out to Dallas orFort Worth,” says Barrow.

“They are simply rediscovering the cityand the culture that has always beenthere,” he adds.

Hancock concurs: “As long as we haveactors and an audience then there willalways be a place for us.”

“As long as we haveactors and an audiencethen there will always

be a place for us.”— Joshua Hancock


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Hispanic businessescontinue growthin Denton and regionBy Rose Marie MercadoFor the Denton Record-Chronicle

Faded black and white prints ofMexico’s beloved border bandit PonchoVilla and sepia magazine reprints of1930-era Mexican family portraits adornorange marigold colored walls. Mexicanflags stick out of nail holes, and a serapeframes a 4-foot-tall painting of Our Ladyof Guadalupe.

The co-owner of Taqueria Guanajuato,Guadalupe Nunez, serves freshly steamedtortillas and spicy barbacoa with sides ofarroz and frijoles to her chatty, Spanish-speaking customers who must shout tocompete with clattering pots and pans.

A hundred feet away, Mary Luz, ownerof Salon de Belleza Mary Luz , busily clipsthe hair of male laborers who make up thebackbone of Denton’s economy—workingranches, laying concrete, cutting grass,cleaning dishes and doing other back-breaking work that many Anglo workerswon’t do. Most of these laborers workseven days a week and have little time toshop. So Luz makes life a little easier forthem. She sells straw hats, cowboy boots,belts and other western wear out of a sideroom of her salon.

Nearby, La Indita Meat Market bulgeswith glass-fronted meat cases offeringMexican-style cuts, stuffed shelves ofcanned and bottled Mexican food items,freshly packaged spices and herbs, andcounters littered with limp cardboardcontainers of trinkets, candies, evenMexican videos.

Despite a ruthless economy that hascrippled Anglo-run businesses acrossDenton County, “Little Mexico” – as someresidents refer to the family-owned,Hispanic enclave of enterprises sproutingalong East McKinney Street between Belland Crawford – flourishes. The meteoricgrowth in the Hispanic population ofDenton County has much to do with it.The U.S. Census Bureau says there werejust four Hispanic households in DentonCounty in 1920. Today, Hispanics makeup 16.7 percent of the population and agrowing slice of the economy.

“We did not have a tenth of theHispanic businesses we have now,” saysTomasa Garcia, who founded the DentonHispanic Chamber of Commerce in 1995.“It has exploded.”

Inside the half-mile triangle of immi-grant culture clustered along EastMcKinney Street, an innate cultural gritkicks in to beat back the blows of a batter-ing economy. “The U.S.-born may knowthe drive and the politics for success, butthe Mexico-born know the work ethic…immigrant survival skills are the subtledifference,” says a U.S.-born Mexicanwhose parents immigrated to Texas.

After years of backbreaking labor, oftenworking two jobs, the Nunez family savedenough to start their own business. In late2005 and early 2006, they opened threeseparate enterprises within a few monthsof each other – La Indita Meat Market,Taqueria Guanajuato, and Ken’s Produce.The family supports each other by pool-ing resources for inventory, supplies andlabor.

From Ken’s Produce, Francisco Nunezsells tomatoes, avocadoes, lettuce, andonions at cost to his brother-in-law,Carlos, a co-owner of Ken’s Poduce andfull owner of Taqueria Guanajuato. FromLa Indita Meat Market, MagdalenaNunez sells cabrito and puerco to her sis-ter-in-law Guadalupe at TaqueriaGuanajuato so she can feature a daily tacospecial. And Carlos frequently treks backand forth to the Farmer’s Market indowntown Dallas — replenishing wither-ing perishables for both his taqueria andKen’s Produce. “Carlos doesn’t stop,” saysFrancisco. “If he stops, we lose money,”says Francisco.

The Nunez’s say their close family andbusiness relationships embody an oldMexican saying: “A Mexican works tolive. An Anglo lives to work…”

The Hispanic barrio surrounding EastMcKinney Street sprung up in the 1980sand early 1990s because of its proximityto two businesses that hired Hispanic

See HISPANIC on Page 15

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From Page 13

Hispanic

laborers: Acme Brick Company andMorrison Milling Company. CarlosNunez, for example, worked 12-hourshifts at Acme Brick Company andevenings and weekends at Ken’s Producebefore he opened Taqueria Guanajuato.

Most of the immigrant families thatsettled into the East McKinney barriooriginally came from the Mexican state ofCoahuila, mostly from the town ofMuzquiz and the city of Piedras Negras.Lately though, immigrants fromGuanajuato and Mexico City – and evenHonduras and Nicaragua – have movedinto the neighborhood.

Ken’s Produce

Today, the East McKinney looks aworld apart from nearby Anglo neighbor-hoods. In the fall, at Ken’s Produce, freshnaphtha-red ristras dangle alongentrance eaves, orange pumpkins minglewith purple pansies atop fresh hay bales,and flats of cabbage and kale stack shelvesof a portable gardener’s rack. Customersdrop off five-gallon plastic containers ofraw pecans for shelling by the loudmachine in the side room.

At Ken’s Produce, 410 North Bell, apopular Denton specialty and farmer’smarket for more than two decades, thefruits and vegetables wither quickly, gen-erating “a lot of waste,” says RebekahAlvarez, who works part time at the mar-ket. Some of the fruits and vegetables aredonated daily to the homeless shelteroperated by St. Andrews PresbyterianChurch. But that doesn’t help the storesbottom lines, frets Alvarez.

Taqueria Guanajuato

By noon on a soggy October Saturday,the red oil-cloth coverings atop the threetables in Taqueria Guanajuato overflowwith platters of tacos, tortas and corn tor-tillas.

Cilantro sprigs adorn each order.Generous stacks of warm corn tortillasaccompany each serving.

The restaurant, tucked in an aging, cin-derblock building at 1017 East McKinney,opened four years ago. OwnersGuadalupe and Carlos Nunez opened asecond Taqueria Guanajuato at 305Hundley Drive in Lake Dallas in July.

Guadalupe, a mother of three, works 7a.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 theEast McKinney Street restaurant. Shesets aside Saturday mornings andWednesday evenings to run errands andattend Church. Carlos claims Sunday foruninterrupted siestas.

Guadalupe’s sister, Yolanda, a motherof two, and 21-year-old Carlos Junior,rotate hours at the East McKinney Streetlocation. Carlos’s brother, Juan, works fulltime for half the year before returning toMexico, where his wife and children stilllive. Guadalupe’s brother, Roberto, workswith her at Lake Dallas, and Carlos fills inat both locations as needed.

La Indita Meat Market

At La Indita Meat Market, 410 WestSherman, Magdalena Nunez arrives by5:30 a.m. to prepare enough carnitas,sopes, moritos, tacos, tortas and steaks tofill up two mobile catering units. Female

drivers transport the savory Mexicandishes, both hot and cold, to constructionsites all across the county.

But because many construction proj-ects have been put on hold during therecession,

La Indita has had to mothball one of itscatering trucks. “This year’s just been real,real slow,” says Alejandro Nunez,Magdalena’s 23-year-old son.

To help make ends meet, two smalltables and six chairs are now set up toserve customers lunch inside Magdalena’skitchen. Besides lunch, La Indita’s walk-in customers know they can find whatthey wouldn’t find at Kroger Food Stores— 18 varieties of meats priced from $1.99to $4.39 per pound.

Veronica’s Cafe

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

one of the oldest taquerias on EastMcKinney Street. For 15 years, patrons,mostly Mexican, have stood in line wait-ing for hours to get a mouthful ofVeronica’s tamales, barbacoa andmenudo.

The single-room building at 803 EastMcKinney looks like a rescued storage-unit building. Inside the duct-tape stabi-lized screen door, more than 125 cus-tomers are served on weekends, around75 during the week.

Veronica launched the business out ofher living room, selling tamales and tor-tillas during the week, and barbacoa andmenudo on weekends. Over the years, shesaved enough money to purchase therestaurant and surrounding property.

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

See HISPANIC on Page 18


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When she’s not serving tamales, Edithstudies at North Texas CommunityCollege, pursuing her goal to teach highschool math.

Edith remembers her mother’s earlyentrepreneur days. “First she started inour living room…she sold tamales andtortillas… and on the weekends she woulddo barbacoa and menudo. And she start-ed saving up money and she was able toget the loan...she owns the property…allof this, even the small building next door,and all the way to Frame Street…”

In her East McKinney Street neighbor-hood, Edith says many of her neighborsare undocumented workers who areacutely aware that they run the risk of get-ting picked up by immigration authori-ties. That’s what happened to theMexican husband of a 22-year-old Anglowoman who works in the East McKinneybarrio. “My husband got picked up yester-day for deportation,” says the wife, herblue eyes locked in a deep, distant gaze.Now, she struggles to watch their chil-dren, a four-year-old and an 18-month-0ld toddler, who wander the house look-ing for “Papapa.”

Salon, Western Wear

No screaming neon lights, no fancyhair technologies, lure customers intoMary Luz’s Salon at 1012 East McKinneyStreet operated by Maria Gallegos andher daughters. But seated in her hair-dresser’s chair, Nanci Gellegos, says theirsalon offers more than just a hair cut; theyoffer a soothing ear for the weary, theafflicted, the unemployed. “We hear thestories… ‘it’s been hard…I’m looking for ajob…’” But no matter what their plight,Gallegos takes comfort in knowing that“everybody needs a haircut.”

Walk-in customers, mostly men andmostly laborers, keep the salon busy dur-ing weekends. The hairdressers offer $10hair cuts, twelve-hours a day Mondaythrough Saturday, and until 3:00 p.m. onSunday. But there’s more to Mary Luz’sthan meets the eye. Mary Luz sees to itthat the Mexican laborers who frequenther salon leave not just well groomed, butwell dressed as well.

Floor-to-ceiling rows of popular Tejanosun-bleached straw hats share wall spacenext to shelves lined with nut-coloredhues of exotic and artisan-designedpointed-toe boots. Elaborately engravedsilver and gold belt buckles sparkle in a

From Page 15

Hispanic

File photo/Al Dia

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

Taco Lady

Besides seating about 32 dine-in cus-tomers, Taco Lady, 1101 East McKinney,caters specialties to local offices. Two “bigtrucks, not the small ones” deliver freshlyprepared tortillas, burritos, tacos andtamales.

Catering counts for much of the busi-ness, and the female employees enjoyboth the work and the parties. “We don’thave any men (employees). This is TacoLady,” Lorena Briseño says.

Her mother-in-law, Luz, opened TacoLady in 2001, and has weathered the “upand down” business. Five employees pre-pare Mexican cuisine from 6:00 a.m. to3:00 p.m., seven days a week.

The American Dream?

Most of the Mexican migrants who fledtheir homelands came in search of a pieceof the American Dream.

But Juan Nunez says he has no inten-tion of sinking roots in Denton. He workswith the family businesses located in EastMcKinney for only six months, sendingremittances back home to Guanajuato tosupport his wife and children.

Juan says his children don’t have anyties to Denton or the United States. “Heremy family doesn’t like because the schoolis not very good,” he says. “They go toschool in Mexico… and they study verywell. They live with the mother inMexico, and they are happy there.”

His eldest son, 17, a U.S. citizen, visitsinfrequently. A second son, 14, and hisdaughter, 8, have no desire to live in theU.S. “They say no, please.”

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Childcare providershit hard in downturnBy Candace ClarkFor the Denton Record-Chronicle

Clutching a slice of pepperoni pizza inone hand and waving her Sippy cup furi-ously in the other, 2-year-old D’AriJackson sits at the kitchen table, babblinga soliloquy only she understands.

For the next two weeks, D’Ari will staywith relatives in Denton, giving her moth-er Shaunda Jackson, a much neededbreak.

Times have been tough for Jackson, asingle mother of one, who lives in Dallas.After losing her job, her apartment, andher car earlier this year, Jackson moved inwith her aunt until she could get back onher feet.

Now several months later, Jackson hassecured another job and an apartment,but her hardships have not ceased. Evenwith her new job, making rent and payingbills remains a struggle, as does trying tofinance child care services. So when hercousins from Denton offered to babysitD’Ari for two weeks, Jackson was relievedthat for at least a couple of weeks, shewould not have to scramble to find childcare for her daughter.

With the U.S. Bureau of Labor report-ing the national unemployment rate at10.2 percent and climbing, parents arestruggling to afford the cost of child care.Out of work, out of money and runningout of options, many parents are seekingpart-time child care services instead offull-time. Some parents are removingtheir children from child care altogether.

“I’ve lost two children already becausetheir parents lost their jobs,” said StarrCampbell, who started a pre-school anddaycare from her home in Denton 15years ago.

Childcare providers in Denton Countycite the economic downturn as the sourceof their financial woes. The state unem-ployment rate rose from 8 percent to 8.2percent in September, placing financialstrain on many families.

“Most of my parents cannot pay,” saidSophia Holmes, owner of Tiny TykesLearning Center. “We have a long waitinglist of parents waiting to receive govern-mental aid to help pay for child care. It’staking longer than usual for them tosecure the funds.”

Thirty percent of Holmes’ customers

receive assistance from the Child CareServices Program, which assists in thecost of child care for low-income, workingfamilies.

Ginger Conrad-Kane, who supervisesthe program, says there has been anincrease in applications for the programthis year, but they have had to deny manyapplicants who did not meet the mini-mum requirement of being employed forat least 30 hours per week.

Because of the staggering economy,Conrad-Kane said the work requirementwas reduced to 25 hours so that morefamilies would qualify.

“We found that many of the familiescouldn’t even meet the 25-hour require-ment, either because they are havingtrouble finding a job or because theiremployers are not giving them enoughhours to fulfill the requirement,” Conrad-Kane said.

Roughly 25 percent of denials weredue to applicants’ inability to meet theminimum work requirements. Conrad-Kane also revealed that many familieshad to be dropped from the programbecause they no longer met the staterequirements to qualify for the program.

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

The faltering economy has issued anultimatum to child care providers: adaptto the current economic climate or col-lapse under its pressure.

“In order to survive, you have to be flex-ible,” Campbell said.

For Campbell, flexibility means work-ing with parents who have lost their jobsand can now only afford to pay for part-time child care.

It means granting extensions to strug-gling parents who cannot make paymentswhen due.

It also means forgoing her flat rate of$125 per week to accommodate her

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From Page 18

Providers

clients’ financial situations. And on rareoccasions, flexibility means offering childcare in lieu of other services. Campbellrecalls one child’s father landscaping herbackyard as repayment for child care.

Because her pre-school and daycareserves as her only source of income,Campbell admits that the economy’seffect on her business makes it difficult tobudget her finances for herself and her 9-year-old daughter, Emma.

“It’s hard when you know your mort-

gage is due on the first of the month, butyour clients can’t pay you until the fif-teenth.”

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

“I love my kids,” she said in reference tothe 10 children she teaches and cares foreach day. “I have a faith-based philosophy.If I need money, I trust that God will pro-vide. What’s important is that childrenreceive good child care.”

Volunteers help animal shelterhandle growing needs in town

File photo

The sign above shows the location of the Town of Hickory Creek animal shel-

ter where more than 100 volunteers provide their time and assistance to pro-

vide shelter for the many tenants.

By Amanda MielcarekFor the Denton Record-Chronicle

Prowling for affection, a calico tabbynamed Sarabeth shyly slinks around theHickory Creek Animal Shelter’s cat inter-action room in search of a hand to nuzzle.The elegant feline resembles an Egyptianstatue with her long body, neck and espe-cially her long tail trailing gracefullybehind her.

Abandoned by her previous owners,who said only that they could no longertake care of her, Sarabeth is whollyunaware of the fact that she is beingvideotaped by one of the shelter’s manyvolunteers, who hopes that posting herprofile on petfinder.com will help find thelonely cat, who has been at the shelter forover four months, a new, loving home.

Until then, since the cat room is too full

to house her any longer, she will be livingin a foster home provided by Nicki, one ofthe shelter’s volunteers, said KennethLowrie, the shelter’s Animal ControlOfficer.

It is this very dedication and compas-sion of the Hickory Creek AnimalShelter’s volunteers that transforms thissmall town shelter into somethingmore— a sanctuary for needy pets.

Indeed, walking into the shelter is likewalking into an old but cozy home.Lowrie, like a concerned father, takes itupon himself to keep an eye on things,ambling surely from cage to cage and runto run, his keen eye quick to notice anysign of a pet in need of a pat on the heador a scratch behind the ear.

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From Page 19

Shelter

The five dog runs out back are full ofexcited pups jumping up on the cagedoors to catch any attention they can get.The cat room is small but well main-tained, lined with cages and full of thesounds of music.

“The cats usually get country,” JessicaBurton, a frequent volunteer, said, reach-ing for a handful of treats to hand out tothe shelter’s furry guests.

Though the old, worn sign out frontsuggests a derelict establishment, theinside is full of warmth, thanks in largepart to the shelter’s dedicated volunteers,who keep the place clean and greetprospective owners with a friendly wel-come as they shuffle between bottle feed-ing kittens and cleaning out the dog runs.

With no regular help, the shelterdepends on its staff of over 100 volunteersto care for the shelter’s animals, feedingthem, taking them to the vet and thegroomer, and even doing laundry.

They are even responsible for the con-tents of the shelter, as almost everythingin there was donated, from cat trees,scratching posts and toys to collars, petsupplies and treats. The dog and catrooms are filled with several fans and con-stant air conditioning to ensure the ani-mals comfort and health in the face ofTexas’ brutal summers. The dogs, whichare kept in the shelter’s open dog runs, arealso provided with beds during the winterto keep warm.

“We have found tremendous support,even in the midst of a depression,” saidChris Gordon, a council member and theshelter’s liaison for the Animal WelfareBoard. Last year the shelter’s volunteerscollectively put in over 1,800 hours,including time spent at events and post-ing pets on petfinder.com.

Even youngsters Dellancey Meskill, 9,and her brother Brayden Meskill, 7, pitchin. “Right now the cat room’s full so we’refostering two of the kittens ourselves,”Dellancey said. The siblings also had alemonade stand to raise money for theshelter, with their parents doubling whatthey made. “The only thing I know is lov-ing kittens and teaching them to be good,”said Brayden, in between playing with arestless black kitten and introducing theshelter’s dogs.

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

less than one percent since last year, saidLowrie.

Likewise, the number of adoptions hasactually increased by 1.4 per month from2008 to 2009, thanks to dedicated volun-teers, who, in addition to their otherduties, also help out at the shelter’s eventsto raise money, such as the Lakeviewneighborhood garage sale, the Wag ‘nWalk fundraiser, Lewisville’s Holiday atthe Hall and Western Day, HickoryCreek’s Fall Fest, also called Bark in thePark, and the Highland Village Balloonfestival, where they painted faces inexchange for donations. “These eventshelp raise awareness of our small commu-nity’s animal shelter,” Lowrie said.

The volunteers not only care for theshelter’s animals, but are also sometimescalled upon to save their lives. Three yearsago, when Lowrie first started working atthe shelter, it was a no-kill zone. This last-ed until Hickory Creek’s Animal WelfareBoard, which Lowrie called “the liaisonbetween myself and the town and coun-cil,” brought in a representative from thehumane society to check on the well beingof the animals. The representativedeemed that, at the time, the shelter wastoo crowded for their psychological wel-fare.

“It’s really not good for the animals tobe overcrowded, they go stir-crazy,”Lowrie said. Fortunately, since makingthe shift from being a no-kill zone to alow-kill zone— which means they onlyeuthanize animals that are seriously ill orunadoptable due to aggressive behavior—the shelter has not had to euthanize a sin-gle animal. “One reason is because wehave great volunteers,” Lowrie said.

This is not the only change Lowrie hasseen in his day. About three years agowhat is currently the Hickory CreekAnimal Shelter used to be the town hall.When town hall moved location, animalservices stayed behind, now able to utilizethe entire building for its cause. “Sincethey moved we’ve tried to take advantageof the facility,” said Lowrie.

For example, what was once the publicworks director’s office is now the cat inter-action room, a place where prospectiveowners can play with and get to know thecats or kittens they’re interested in adopt-ing. The city council chamber is beingused by Therapy Pals, an organization

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Shelterthat trains dogs to provide pet therapy innursing homes and Denton’s UniversityBehavioral Health hospital.

Though Lowrie, his volunteers and hisfurry wards have made themselves quiteat home at 8696 S. Stemmons, the shelterwill soon be forced to move location. “TheTexas Department of Transportation isexpanding the highway and purchasingthis property, among others, for theexpansion,” Lowrie said. “We don’t have achoice, we have to move.”

The shelter plans to use the money theyreceive from selling the land, as well assome of the donated funds, to build a big-ger, better facility on Hickory Creek’sMain Street. The new shelter will be con-nected to the Public Works Office by abreezeway, and will be able to house moreanimals.

In the last 18 months, seven members

of the Animal Welfare Board have raisedover $20,000 for the new shelter. They’vedone a pancake breakfast, attended over15 local shelter related events, had cake-walks, sold jellies and baseball bats andcurrently have a Historic Texas Stadiumchair up for raffle. “Our group has foundmany creative ways to stimulate interestin a down economy,” Gordon said.

Once the state transportation depart-ment provides a signed acquisition agree-ment, they will have one year to move intothe new shelter, and everyone involved iscommitted to ensuring that the new shel-ter will be ready.

Should they run into a problem withtiming, however, they will once again beforced to look to the help and support oftheir volunteers. “We have multiple fosterfamilies already prepared to help usshould the need arise,” Gordon said.

File photo

Need outstrips supplyBy Courtney Roberts For the Denton Record-Chronicle

Martha Jones rubs the back of herwrinkled neck and curly white hair exhal-ing a sigh of weariness as she steals a wor-ried glance at some of the stark white,empty shelves.

The Denton Community Food Centerisn’t brimming to the rafters and as thevolunteer coordinator, she is beginning tofeel helpless for the first time as a volun-

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

“We’re running low on everything, but wecan’t just shut the door in these peoples’faces. Most of them depend on this to getby.”

Almost a million more people donatedtheir time to causes in 2008 than in 2007even though volunteer rates typically drop

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Supplyduring economic downturns, according to a survey bythe Corporation for National and Community Service.The Denton Community Food Center has seen a smallincrease in donations but not enough food to go aroundat a time when more people are turning to nonprofits forhelp.

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

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

As visitors to the Food Center pile in, voices arereplaced by the sounds of shuffling feet over the marblefloor as the volunteers silently flutter back and forthbetween filling up paper sacks and stocking shelves.

Jones meanders her way to the back stockroom, nick-named “The Dungeon” by the volunteers, to find morecanned vegetables and fruits.

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

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

“In June, we had a donation drive with the U.S. PostalService and got about 24,000 lbs. of donations,” said BillBrady 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 andsisters Tiffany Boyer and Stacie Hestand sit on a chipped

oak bench waiting anxiously for their numbers to becalled.

“When you’re stuck and you go a month not feedingyour kids because you haven’t gotten approved by foodstamps yet because of messed up paperwork, we are gladto have this place available,” said Boyer as tears welled upin her eyes. “I’m not working because I have a 6-year-oldthat 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 aroundthem 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-brickbuilding that has probably seen its fair share of a down-spiraling economy.

From the 1950s to the 1960s, the building was a con-gregation for the affluent middle-class as the OldSouthern Hotel. The hotel’s lavish restaurant was laterconverted to the room where food donations are nowkept.

After a period of dilapidated growth, the buildingreopened its doors on Oct. 14, 1974 as the DentonCommunity Food Center with the purpose to supply foodfrom one community storehouse, free of charge and on atemporary basis, to people in emergency situations.

“The number of people we are seeing has increasedbecause of the economy,” said Tom Newell, the chairmanof the Food Center. “Most of these people are goingthrough 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 yearof operation, the center has steadily expanded to serve

more than 8,500 families a year within the Denton com-munity, said Tom Newell, the chairman of the FoodCenter.

“Families or individuals can only come to the FoodCenter four times in a year,” said Suzy Holt, a volunteerand retired school counselor in Denton ISD, as she flicksopen the paper bag and stuffs canned green beans andbread until it’s filled to the brim. “Unfortunately, thesepaper sacks barely last one person a week.”

Holt, who has been volunteering at the Food Centerfor about four months, said the Food Center doesn’treceive enough donations to supply visitors on a dailybasis.

The Food Center distributes food by a code where if forexample, there is a family of four then that familyreceives two paper sacks of food, two plastic bags of foodand their choice of five food items from a designatedshelf. One person is given one sack of food and his or herchoice of the five food items.

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

“I’m trying to find something other than chicken noo-dle 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 typeof food,” she said.

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

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

File photo

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

Gardening becomespart of everyday lifeas more grow foodBy Whitney Thompson and Karly ShortFor the Denton Record-Chronicle

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

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

The economic downfall most Americans are experiencing is notlimited to gas prices and unnecessary spending. With the rising costof grocery bills, shoppers are struggling to keep their cupboardsfull. Some green-thumbed individuals have taken to growing theirown vegetables in an effort to maintain sustainability as best as they

See GARDENS on Page 25

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Gardens

can.“I originally started growing basil and

cilantro because the cost of buying themfresh in the grocery store was getting out-rageous,” says Stevens. “I cook with themso often and don’t want to sacrifice flavorto save a few dollars.”

She frequents local nurseries for seeds,potting soil and other gardening necessi-ties, and the small pots of budding vegeta-bles sit on her kitchen’s windowsill. Shesays that if she had more sun-lit windowsin her apartment, she would do moreplanting and consider selling vegetablesat Denton’s Farmer’s Market.

Not only is she finding more ways toutilize the space in her studio apartment,but she’s finding more ways to eat healthy.As a vegetarian, her grocery money goesmostly to vegetables, and now she knowsthey’re pesticide-free.

In recent months, gardening enthusi-asts and bargain hunters have soughtrefuge in numerous sales at Calloway’sNursery. The red-brick building housesdifferent kinds of seeds and maintenancesupplies, while plants of every size andcolor await purchase under the outdoorcanopies.

Store manager Cliff Baker has seen ashift towards vegetable sales, going green,growing organically and steering clear ofpesticides. In addition, he says xeriscap-ing, a landscaping technique which cutsback on water usage, is widening in pop-ularity because it reduces water bills.

“We’re seeing more young people, intheir 20s or so, coming in and looking formore veggie products and herbs,” saysBaker. “There have been a lot of peoplewanting to start gardening, but admitthey haven’t got a clue how to begin.”

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

have the option to grow it all. One packetof cilantro seeds, growing several bundles,from Calloway’s costs just under $2,whereas the Kroger Food Store in Dentoncharges .69 cents a bundle. Stevens saysthe initial cost of seeds and growing mate-rials is worth the end results.

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

Botanist and Denton resident JennyNorton has been growing vegetablesalmost every summer for the last eightyears. When Norton got married, she wasinspired to garden by her husband’sgrandfather.

At different times, her backyard gardencontains tomatoes, okra, cucumbers,onions, lima beans, jalapeño peppers andmore.

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

Norton’s garden doesn’t always provideenough beans or strawberries to feed herfamily of four, but she saves money in can-taloupes, cucumbers and other veggies.She says the downfall of gardening iswatering the plants, often during water

“There have been a lotof people wanting tostart gardening, but

admit they haven’t gota clue how to begin.”

— Cliff Baker

See GARDENS on Page 26

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From Page 25

Gardensrationed periods. Similarly, it’s too hot

to grow some items like green beans, car-rots and peas.

“If you leave a couple of cantaloupes inthe garden and let them rot, they reseedthe next years and you get free melonplants!” says Norton. “Now that’s savings!But other than that, [I grow] for theenjoyment and the fun of getting to eatwhat we’ve grown.

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

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

nature for that. Norton’s efforts to show her children

how food goes from seeds to meals datesback to her history as a science teacherand desire to educate others on the signif-icance of gardening.

“I’d encourage anyone to grow theirown vegetables who has the space anddedication to water their plants everynight. The homegrown tomatoes andokra are far superior to anything you canbuy in the store.”

If money’s tight, it can be difficult topick up a couple jumbo cantaloupes fromKroger for $2.49 each. FollowingNorton’s advice, last summer’s gardeningmishap may turn into free fruit salad thenext summer.

Thrift shops see highertraffic in trying timesBy Cassie Smith and Savannah CarterFor the Denton Record-Chronicle

Stepping inside Plato’s Closet, shoppersfind themselves surrounded by brightlycolored walls of pink, green and yellow,rows of metal racks filled with shoes,accessories and high-fashion brand-nameclothing and upbeat Pop music.

If Plato’s Closet sounds like just anoth-er glitzy retailer, think again. Plato’s cus-tomers are thrift shoppers badly-ravagedby the harsh economy and are desperateto save money any way they can.

“I’ve been shopping at thrift stores fortwo years now,” says Tina Jezek, aftersearching unsuccessfully for a pair ofboots at Plato’s Closet in Denton. “I’vebeen out of a job since May, so now I shopexclusively at thrift stores.”

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

The gloomy economic climate is forc-ing local middle-class people to adopt dif-ferent financial strategies for coping withmoney woes brought by the economicdownturn. Thrift shopping is becoming atarget strategy for people wanting to savemoney and in some ways, like resale-obtain fast cash.

Local thrift stores like Goodwill, TheHoly Family and Friends of the Family arereporting increases in customers, notdonations. Customers are taking advan-

tage of thrift shopping during the shakyeconomy, according to the NationalAssociation of Resale and Thrift Shops(NARTS).

Surveying 333 store membershiprespondents for 2008 to 2009 sales fig-ures, NARTS found a 67.4 percent saleincrease (with an average increase ofapproximately 35 percent). Regardingnew customers, 80.6 percent of the storesexperienced an increase.

Locally, consumers are taking interestin the cash for clothes opportunity pro-vided by resale shops like Plato’s Closet—selling brand name clothing and acces-sories for fast cash.

Among increasing thrift shoppers istwenty-year-old Shelbi Varnell. Pregnant,she prepares herself for the responsibilityof raising a little girl. Anxiousness over-whelms her.

Plagued by financial concerns for thebaby, Varnell and her boyfriend, Ben

“I’ve been out of a jobsince May, so now Ishop exclusively at

thrift stores.”— Tina Jezek, late last fall

See THRIFT on Page 28


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Advertiser IndexAl’s Furniture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Amyx Fine Jewelry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

B & O Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

BCI Mechanical Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Bill Utter Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Carpets Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

DATCU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

DeBerry Funeral Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Dennard Farm Supply Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Denton Hearing Health Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Denton Sewing Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Dentures & Dental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Good Samaritan—Denton Village . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Morelle Miller, REALTOR® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Mulkey Mason Funeral Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Northstar Bank of Denton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Plato’s Closet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Pro Cuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Scott Brown Commercial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Selwyn College Preparatory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Senior Care Health Rehabilitation Center . . . . . . . . . . 9

Tim Shoopman, State Farm Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Stanley Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton . . . . . . . . 3

Thomas Furniture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

United Mattress Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

WOL + MED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Publisher: Bill PattersonAd Director: Sandra Hammond

Retail Advertising Sales Manager: Shawn ReneauRetail Sales Respresentatives:

Becci Hendrix, Deb Skinner, Jerry McDaniel, Kathleen Bass

Classified Advertising Sales Manager: Julie HammondClassified Display Representatives:

Katie Slover, Nicole Al-KhafajiBV

Dubroca, consider every option when itcomes to saving money.

The couple tries saving money withgroceries by comparing prices for betterdeals at various stores. They have evenconsidered homeschooling their child tocounteract public school expenses.Dubroca works as a cashier at Albertson’s,currently providing the only source ofincome for the family.

Having recently moved in to theirapartment and needing a little extramoney for rent, they sometimes sell theirvaluables. Saving money for three monthsto purchase his desire—a $400 PlayStation 3, Dubroca was forced to immedi-ately sell it for $300.

“I had to sell [it] just to make rent,”Dubroca says with a grimace. “I had justgot it.” Varnell is in the process of sellingher $270 Wii gaming system, a birthdaypresent from her grandfather, for extramoney.

Thrift shopping has become a financialroutine for the couple. Varnell says she’sresorting to thrift stores for clothing andhousehold items, finding a microwave for$18 at a thrift store, compared to one atWal-Mart for $49.99. Cutting costs asmuch as possible, Varnell shops in mostlocal thrift stores—looking for betterdeals. She says thrift stores usually have adecent selection of sizes. She visits themen’s section for larger sizes to wear whileshe is pregnant.

“Maternity clothes are really expensivefor the amount of time you wear them,”she says. Varnell also shops at Plato’sCloset, selling some of her clothes whenshe needs money.

College sophomore Carly James fre-quents Plato’s, selling clothes and shoes,to acquire extra income for gas and food.James has been looking for a job since lastDecember, but hasn’t had any luck. “I gothrough money like it’s toilet paper,” shelaughs. “I wanted to move out [of my par-ents’ house] and save up money so I coulddo that.” James wishes to have money setaside for an apartment, but until she findsa job, she will continue cleaning her clos-et—selling her brand name clothes andshoes to resale shops like Plato’s Closet.

Business at Plato’s is booming amidstthe economic slump; the store claims theyhaven’t seen a decrease in their number ofdonations.

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

ing” says Melody Watson, the owner ofPlato’s Closet. Customers bring clothinginto Plato’s Closet; sales associates rum-mage through the items, and if they can’tpurchase them from the customers,Plato’s gives them the option to donate.“There’s a non-profit organization calledThe Shepherd’s Hand (located in Denton)that comes to pick up from us twice aweek,” says Josh Roberts, an assistantmanager at Plato’s Closet. The non-profitministry collects left over clothing fromPlato’s, donating them along with food forfamilies in need in Denton County.

Plato’s Closet has been selling items outof its Denton location for just over a year;the store has seen a 24 percent increase insales since it opened. “Every month is dif-ferent, but we are definitely seeing anincrease” says Roberts.

In a college town, the 14 to 24 year agedemographic helps Plato’s Closet’s busi-ness, but Roberts says because of theweak economy, their customers arebecoming increasingly diverse (in age)and that everyone is looking for betterdeals.

Some of Plato’s customers try to barterfor a few extra dollars for their clothingitems. “We’ll get someone a quote on aprice, and you pay them and they’ll belike, ‘Oh, how about five more dollars.’ Butthe thing is, we don’t barter,” says Robertswith a grin, gesturing toward the comput-er. “Brands are already programmed intoour system, so it prices things for us. Wehave people that try to barter all the time.”

Varnell shops at Plato’s occasionally butdoesn’t mind shopping at thrift stores,saying she looks anywhere for betterdeals. “If you really look, you’ll find gooddeals,” she adds.

The Denton County Friends of theFamily Thrift Store and BatteredWomen’s shelter is not struggling withbusiness, but stresses the need for dona-tions of twin bed sheets, laundry deter-gent, diapers and blankets.

“I’ve been having more people in hereasking for [assistance with clothing, foodand counseling services] because of theeconomy,” says Friends of the FamilyThrift Store associate, Natalie Starnes.

“Since the recession, the governmenthas cut some funding and grants so we’vehad to pick up the slack,” Starnes sayswhile ringing up a customer. “We’re get-ting more families and a bigger diversityof people.”

From Page 27

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Denton County Up Close 2010