The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Littlejohn's On UVA Corner Closes Permanently; List Of Local Icons That Closed In Last 12 Months

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

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Guys, good afternoon to you. A challenging day for the viewers and listeners as another local icon, another local business institution has bit the proverbial dust. My name is Jerry Miller. It's a Wednesday afternoon in downtown Charlottesville. We woke to the news of a statement released by Little John's and its managing partner that the business is closed. And the closing date is now.

The institution, Little John's, that legitimately has served, when did the business open, Judah? Originally? Yeah. It originally opened in 1976. 1976. So we're talking 50 years of students, tourists, and locals alike. That's a handful of generations of UVA students right there. I personally, I've been in this community 25 years, arrived as a first year at the University of Virginia August of 2000. So this August is 25 years for me. Within a few weeks of arriving in Charlottesville as a first year, I was eating ranch hens and wild turkeys and bum steers at Little John's.

We're going to talk about the closing of this institution on today's show. Tom Powell, welcome to the program. Bill McChesney, welcome to the program. Hammer that like button for us, ladies and gentlemen. I'm going to ask this question. This is a challenging question. Is it more difficult to operate a locally owned business right now or was it more difficult to operate a locally owned business during COVID and the pandemic? And you guys are immediately going to say, Jerry, Jerry,

of course it was more challenging to operate a business during COVID and the pandemic. But I want to remind you, during COVID and the pandemic, the government was throwing money at local business owners. PPP loans, idle loans, free money left and right. Today, that free money is not readily available from the federal government. And today, policy red tape from the federal government has trickled down and made things extremely difficult at the local level. Furthermore, human behavior and spending patterns and habits have changed since COVID. So I want to have this discussion with you, the viewer and listener. Is it more challenging now to own and operate a local business or COVID and the pandemic was that more challenging to own and operate a local business?

The list of local icons that have closed in the last 12 months off the top of my head, and this is not a comprehensive list, I'd love if you open some kind of notepad and keep track of these for us. Viewers and listeners, in the last 12 months, which businesses locally have closed that we would call iconic. Blue Moon Diner, Mooses by the Creek, Mel's Cafe, Lumpkins, Little John's, El. Joe's traditional clothing. You have all those on the list, J. Dobs? Yeah.

Create a second list. I would not call these local icons, but I would still call these noteworthy closings. Roses on pant tops, not a local icon, but certainly a noteworthy closing that a discount store can't make it right now. Roses, 10,000 villages on the downtown mall has been there forever. Not a local icon, been there forever, however, can't make it. Goodness gracious, add Reed's Grocery store to the local icon list. Reed's grocery store has to absolutely be on there.

Reed's didn't go fund me and still could not survive. Reed's has got to be on there. What am I missing, viewers and listeners? Local icons that have shuttered, even businesses that have kind of institutional history that are not local icons like a Rose's Discount Store that is closed. What else should be on that list? Put it on the stream in the comments section

and Judah and I will put a comprehensive list together and publish it on iloveseaville.com for us to kind of keep track of this in crowd sourcing format. We just want to be the water cooler of conversation here. We don't profess to have everything right or know everything. So we're asking for your help in putting this list together please. If you think of one, put it in the comment section.

I will relay it live on air. I mean, I know for certain other businesses that our icons are about to close. It's not me to release that information. I, yesterday and a couple of weeks ago, I told you about the challenges icons are about to close. It's not me to release that information. Yesterday and a couple of weeks ago, I told you about the challenges that Star Hill Brewery is facing. The oldest brewery in Charlottesville, guys,

has got Hardywood and Richmond brewing a lot of its beer. Think about that. The oldest brewery in Charlottesville, Star Hill, has formed a partnership with Hardywood in Richmond to brew a lot of its beer. Star Hill did a significant round of layoffs, ladies and gentlemen, and they, in the very recent past, to the tune of 30 to 40 people laid off

from an iconic brewery, Star Hill. We know their headwinds in the beer business. Denver Riggleman's Silverback Distillery is for sale and has been for sale for an extended period of time. The Riggleman family, their award-winning bourbon and distillery has said, we are open-minded to selling the business and the real estate. Silverback distillery, ladies and gentlemen. I'm gonna ask the question again,

more challenging right now to run a business or more challenging during COVID to run a business? In the pandemic, the government was giving small business owners free money to stay open. PPP money, EIDL loans at very short, very small interest rates, a lot of those coming due and frankly those EIDL loans are the reason why a lot of stuff is closing right now. I would caution all the viewers and listeners that know a business owner that's on the cusp

of closing to please reach out to us at Charlottesville Business Brokers. Our firm brokers a lot of business deals. We've done north of 4 million in combined sales in the last 24 months. Local businesses trading from a new owner to an old owner. The most recent one we did was Great Harvest Bread Company, Great Harvest Bakery in the McIntyre Plaza. Eileen wanted to exit. Tracy and Chris Crowley are in. We helped broker that deal. Do not get to the point where you're doing an asset sale, basically selling equipment

for pennies on the dollar like Little John's is doing right now. There is value in brands. There is value in your social media following. There is value in your business outside of just doing an asset sale, selling your equipment. Little John's, there's no coincidence, chooses to close. The closing is today, am I right, Judah? That's what they said.

They say in the statement today. Think about this. There's no coincidence. And then, Judah, you jump in. They close the day after the students leave. Graduation was this weekend. Close on Wednesday. That's not a coincidence. They squeeze the lemon, they squeeze the orange for as much juice as possible, and as soon

as the students get out of Dodge, they close. Go ahead. I was just going to say that when I checked earlier today, the website was up. Now all they've got is the notice, the notification. Thank you, Judah Wickhauer. The story on iloveseaville.com. For more information on Little John's closing, Kevin Yancey says the Guadalajara restaurant on Fontaine Avenue should be added to the list of local icons that have closed.

Excellent work from Kevin Yancey and Waynesboro. Let's get Kevin Yancey's photo on screen as another local icon, Guadalajara on Fontaine. I was eating at that Guadalajara on Fontaine Avenue while a student at the University of Virginia. at that Guadalajara on Fontaine Avenue while a student at the University of Virginia. My first year roommate, Shannon and his father, Chuck, would take me every time Chuck was visiting Shannon in Charlottesville and say, go grab Jerry. Let's go get some Mexican at Guadalajara on Fontaine.

25 years I've been eating there on the Guadalajara on Fontaine. 25 years I've been eating there on the Guadalajara on Fontaine. Anna's Pizza is another icon that closed. Don't put Anna's on the list because that did not happen within the last 12 months. I'm talking specifically in the last 12 months, ladies and gentlemen. Local icons that have closed. Kevin Yancey, good call. I'm responding to your comment right now. Who are we missing, viewers and listeners? We'll put a comprehensive list together and post it on iloveseaville.com. I mean, goodness gracious, we got a clothing store in Eljos that's been in business for 75 years. We got the oldest brewery in Charlottesville, Star Hill, that's laid off somewhere between 30 and 40 people and is choosing to

to ask a brewery in Richmond to brew most of its beer. We got one of the most iconic grocery stores close their doors. We got a fried chicken restaurant in Scottsville that's got a captive market captive audience closing their doors. You got a discount retailer in Roses. A discount retailer, ladies and gentlemen. At a time of financial and economic hardship for many, a discount retailer has closed their doors. Our friend Dave Fafara, great guy Dave Fafara, smart guy, Dave Fafara of Shenandoah Joe's

sold his Shenandoah Joe's ownership. Said I'm getting out of Shenandoah Joe's. Got paid very nicely Dave Faf, to exit the iconic coffee brand. Love Dave Fafara. John Blair jumping in with a comment, his photo on screen, number two in the family. Jerry, I'm curious about your thoughts on this. Did the markets at Tiger Fuel and Ivy Provisions doom the Little John's comeback? Tiger Fuel marketsets have expanded

its sandwich offerings to so many more locations in town than just Bel Air and IV. Also, IV provisions is always packed. With all of these high quality sandwiches available throughout town, non-students did not have to go to the corner to get a Little John's type sandwich. It's sad because I went by there four times since they reopened and got a five easy pieces each time. I will miss supporting Little John's. John Blair. Thank you for this comment. I respond to him on LinkedIn. Why did Little John's close viewers and listeners? Judah, why did Little John's close? Do we attribute it to astronomical rent on the UVA corner? We know the University

of Virginia corner is owned by in large part three or four people. Robin Lee has a good chunk of the UVA corner. I was in a room negotiating with Mr. Lee with a lease and a client a couple of months ago. Deal did not materialize, but I can tell you right now Robin Lee, who owns the parking garage much of Eliwood Avenue, owns the building where Take It Away Sandwich Shop is located, owns a good chunk of Ellywood Avenue, owns the parking garage, is that the 14th Street parking garage over there? Kind of behind El Sado where the Chinese restaurant is hosted? Is that Beijing Kitchen? He's an astute businessman, ladies and gentlemen. He owns a good chunk of the UVA corner. Hunter Craig owns a good chunk of the UVA corner. Tip Top Terry owns a good chunk of the UVA corner. Tip Top Terry

exited his position from Tip Top on Pantops, a very astute Greek negotiator, Tip Top Terry. Do we attribute these closings to astronomical rent? Do we attribute the closing of Little John's to goodness gracious, they were asking $16, $17, $18, $19 a sandwich. Do we attribute the closing of Little John's to the shopping behavior, the spending habits, the consumer choice has changed since COVID? Since the pandemic, ladies and gentlemen, people do not have the affinity to support

local like we once did prior to COVID. And that's sad, but that is a fact. And I want to ask you, the viewer and listener, is it more challenging now to operate a locally owned business than it was during the depths of the pandemic? And hear me out. During the depths of the pandemic, ladies and gentlemen, owners and operators got PPP money. Owners and operators got idle loans from the government

with interest rates at next to nothing. During the depths of the pandemic, ladies and gentlemen, the consumer wanted a showed a commitment to supporting local to help these businesses try to make it through a once in a lifetime outbreak. But that commitment, that identity of supporting local has waned as an influx of outsiders have moved to Charlottesville. And there are pros and cons to having an influx of outsiders moving to the Charlottesville, Almarra County and Central Virginia area. What are the pros? Well, ladies and gentlemen, you got a lot more money in this community than you did before COVID. The median family household income according to HUD is $125,800. That's significantly higher than it was in 2019 just six years ago. $125,800, the median family household income according to HUD for the Charlottesville metro area. Some would say as an influx of new money has come into Charlottesville, an

influx of families that are able to work hybridly or remotely in their tidy whiteys, in their bath robes, in their Victoria's secrets, in their BVDs, in their flannel pajamas from an ISP in their basement on a super deluxe home office while earning an income from an employer outside of central Virginia? That that's good for the economy. Maybe it is. The downside of it, ladies and gentlemen, is you don't have this memory, this institutional memory of what it was like as a first year, like I did at the University of Virginia, to close down Coop DeVilles while

Benny Dodd was playing country music on a Tuesday night. And I sneak into Coop DeVilles with a fake New Jersey ID. A fake New Jersey ID made with my friend Shannon, my friend Tom, my friend Dave and Dabney101, old dorms at UVA. We buy the laminator, we buy the glossy paper, we buy the hollow ink, we get super deluxe printing paper and the four of us make fake New Jersey IDs that we're super proud of and we test those fake New Jersey IDs at a time and a place where everyone knew if you were going to test them it was coopedavils on Eliwood Avenue because they were easy if you had something that said you were 21 you could get in and we tried it two weeks

into our first year and lo and behold, it worked. And next thing you know, we're Tuesday night drinking $3 natural light pitchers, eating $2 cheeseburgers at Coop DeVille's, listening to Benny Dodd sing country music with Jeff Cheers on the bass standing right next to Benny Dodd. Having the time of our lives as last call hits, we're drunk, we say we're hungry, and we stumble over to Little John's. Someone orders a bum steer, somebody orders a ranch hand, somebody orders a wild turkey sub, and it's these memories, these experiences that kind of cement into your your brain. And when you start having these cherished memories, you're

nostalgic of the brand. And when you fall in love with the brand because of these memories, these experiences, this institutional knowledge, you are willing to commit to a brand and a local operation and you're able to overlook the warts. I went to Little John's to have Frank at the register ring me up when I would give him a $5 bill and Frank would give me a $1 bill back and some change and Frank at the register, the older black gentleman that worked the register, would toss the coins from one hand to the other and then give them to me.

Who remembers Frank working the register at Little John's back in the day? This is Frank who would belly up to the bar at St. Martens. Who remembers St. Martens, a bar on a railroad track with no windows, where if you were a regular at St. Martens, you had your mug hanging at the bar. Frank would drink at Martens, then go work at Little John's. He tossed the coins from one hand to the other and give them to us. And it's these experiences stumbling from Coops, stumbling from O'Neill's which is now Trinity, stumbling from Orbit which is now Boylan Heights, stumbling from the Biltmore

which is now LA Country Club into Little John's and building this relationship with this brand that created a commitment to support the brand. And that commitment, that passion to support local helped you overlook warts. Little John's wasn't the cleanest place. The service wasn't always the friendliest. But you overlooked it because you felt a passion to support it. That's lost now. And it's lost now, it's collateral damage of COVID.

An influx of new people don't have those memories of Frank tossing coins from one hand to the other or stumbling from Coupe de Ville's or stumbling from O'Neill's or getting a ranch hen or a wild turkey on your lunch break. It's not there, that commitment anymore. I can make a legitimate argument that running a business right now may be more challenging than running a business during COVID where free money was easy peasy. Five easy peasy. What are your thoughts? What are the businesses we're missing from the list of local icons that have closed in the last 12 months? Blue Moon Diner, Mooses by the Creek,

Eljo's traditional clothing, Reid's grocery store, Guadalajara restaurant on Fontaine Avenue, Mel's Cafe, Lumpkins, Little John's. What else should be on that list? Bill McChesney, his photo on screen, that was Frank Wells, aka Frank the Tank Wells, former Lane High School football player and a Marine. I remember Frank the Tank Wells extremely well, Bill McChesney. Kevin Yancey says the nuclear sub was his favorite. Georgia Gilmer's photo on screen. In the 80s and 1990s, more local kids and college students are part of the working force

in restaurants, stores, Fashion Square Mall, grocery stores, pools. It seems today that teens, UVA students, don't work anymore. Exactly right. And then I'm going to get to Deep Throat. He's on deck. His comments.

Ladies and gentlemen, the University of Virginia. Am I on a one-shot here? Make that one-shot dynamic. I want to weave you in on a two-shot with some commentary. And then we'll get to comments on the stream because they're prolific right now on what is the water cooler of conversation for central Virginia, the I Love Seaville Network

and its flagship show, the I Love Seaville Show. Ladies and gentlemen, the University of Virginia has become so expensive to attend. The University of Virginia has become so expensive to attend in-state and certainly out of state that the student body that attends the University of Virginia, it's a student body whose parents are filthy rich. It's the one percenters, the two percenters, the three percenters, the 4 percenters of America. When I attended the University of Virginia, got here as a first year in 2000, it was made

very clear by our parents that we would be working. My brother was a year behind me. My brother excelled at anything academically. He was a residential advisor for two years. In RA, his second and third year where he got free housing and made some money, his second and third year. His fourth year, he worked at the Biltmore Grill as a waiter. Me, I was into a lot of stuff I probably shouldn't have been into.

Above board, I was working at Ruby Tuesdays for most of my four years of college. I'd walk from Lambeth Commons or my fraternity house at Phi Kappa Psi on Rugby Road. And I would wait tables, I'd host, I'd bartend at Ruby Tuesdays. When I wasn't doing that, I was running a gambling book. When I wasn't doing that, I was hustling pool and foosball at the Greenskeeper when George and Teresa were the owners of the Greenskeeper on the UVA corner. Bunch of different ways to make money at my time, but it was made playing poker all hours of the night when a hundred dollar buy-in was real money. In poker games, in college, where

I'd be sitting across the table from attorneys and bankers that weren't UVA students but somehow figured my way into these games. It was a different time where the UVA student, the high school teenager and the UVA student, were working frontline jobs more prolifically. There was a time where the high school teenager and the UVA student were working frontline jobs more prolifically. There was a time where the high school teenager and the UVA student would work jobs as a rite of passage for professionalism.

Now people think that these frontline jobs at Little John's and these frontline jobs at Bodo's and these frontline jobs at fast food restaurants or these frontline jobs at local restaurants or bars are careers and they expect the pay to be career worthy. The small business that's on Main Street or on Market Street or on the UVA corner or on Preston Avenue They are being forced to pay their employees a wage so high That they cannot survive

with that type of payroll 20 years ago 25 years ago They survived by paying high school students and UVA students a wage that was as much about the compensation as it was the professional experience needed to pad the resume or pay your bills or right of passage the professional ladder. Now the world has changed and it's changed where you have a set of mankind that expects these jobs to be career compensation. And the businesses don't justify it. They can't sustain it. Judah Wickauer on a two shot. Vanessa Parkhill's comments coming on deck. I got newspapers, radio and television watching the I Love Seville show here on a Wednesday

afternoon in downtown Charlottesville. Judah, the show is yours. Deep throat, you're next. Vanessa Parkhill, you're in the hole. I think there's a lot that goes into the closing. Obviously, having the entire summer without any of those students can't be good for any of the business down there. We all know that, but I wonder if the increased mobility of students these days also hurt in the last year. With UVA, students often in the past were stuck pretty close to grounds.

The ability to get pretty much anywhere in the city has to be a serious issue for for businesses on the corner. I'll be straightforward. One of the top elements that is destroying small business is the ubiquitous nature of anything purchasable on the internet. With two taps of your finger, you can have something delivered to your doorstep in less than an hour. And I've said it on the program, the small business that's in food and beverage,

if you do not cut ties with Uber Eats, with Grubhub and third party delivery, you will, what's the phrase, cut your nose to spite your face? Cut off your nose to spite your face. You will be, you will cause the demise and the death of your business. You cannot have a margin that is that small with third party delivery partnership. You can't do it and sustain your livelihood. You just can't do it. I'm having a conversation this morning, ladies and gentlemen, with someone who's in short-term rentals, Airbnbs in one of the outer counties here in central Virginia.

A very advantageous county for business. And this man is making very good money air being being short term rentals cabins on the Rappahannock. Beautiful cabins that he's building. He's formed, he's in a business partnership with Airbnb and VRBO. He's in a business partnership. That's how he gets a lot of his clients. The true value and short-term rental, if you want to be, have a short-term rental empire that has sustaining value. You have to transition the business leads that come from Airbnb into booking directly with you.

We have a client, a client that I respect tremendously that listens to the show. They will probably hear me offer this commentary when I say it. You know exactly who I'm talking about. We're not going to say who the client is. This client is doing six figures of business through partnership with Amazon Prime, through Amazon in a store. I have very humbly but very persistently advised our client to transition the business that's coming from the Amazon store through a store that's directly tied to their e-commerce platform.

Yeah. Because if you're able to transition the business that you book from that's coming through Airbnb or VRBO or Amazon and say customer, thank you for your business. Airbnb or VRBO or Amazon and say, customer, thank you for your business. Here's a flyer that I'm going to put in your package or here's a flyer that I'm going to put on your pillow when you get into my cabin with Airbnb. And I want you to have the best experience possible and I'm grateful for your money. But the next time you book your stay with me on the Rappahannock, the next time you order some supplies from me, from Amazon, instead of doing it from Amazon or doing it through Airbnb, book directly with me. And then that is how your margin gets way fatter. And that's how you sustain yourself. That's

what we advise our clients on. How about this question? Deep throat is coming up. Sales, lodging and meals tax collections are all under the budgeted amounts in the city of Charlottesville. Sean Tubbs has this reporting. Through March 31, 2025, the city collected an estimated $ 14 million in sales tax. The budgeted item is 15.8 million. Through March 31, 2025, the city collected an estimated 18.1 million in meals tax, below the 18.2 anticipated.

Lodging tax, 9.56 million was the estimation. 9.1 was the collection. You have sales, lodging and meals tax in the first quarter of this year that was all down versus what was budgeted and expected by city hall and local officials. Why is sales tax, meals tax and lodging tax in the city of Charlottesville through the first quarter of 2025 all down versus what is budgeted and expected? I'm going to ask the question again, is it more difficult to own and operate a business right now than during COVID. Right now, tariff uncertainty.

Right now, inflation uncertainty. Right now, White House uncertainty. Right now, University of Virginia cuts, layoffs, no cost of living increases, no performance-based bonuses, no discretionary spending right now. Right now credit card debt all-time high. Right now 7% interest rates on 30 year fixed mortgages. Right now home assessments in the area, highest they've ever been. Right now median family household income, the highest it's ever been. Is it more difficult now to own and operate than during COVID when the government was giving you piles of free money? Deep throat, number one in the family.

Why is Charlottesville sales tax collection down? I'm guessing, he says, restaurants and food and beverage. Seaville sales tax is unusually reliant on restaurants. 25% for the city of Charlottesville, only 12% for Almarra County. We know there have been many closures and restaurants in the city. Deep Throat also adds, actually Weldon Cooper tracks this by industry. 2024 versus 2023 numbers are available. Weirdly, the categories where sales tax fell the most, specialty trade contractors,

food stores including V.A.B.C., miscellaneous store retailers and gasoline stations. He says deep throat restaurant sales tax revenue actually up in 2024 from 2023, which surprises him. Little John's. Ginny Hoo watching the program. She says, Judah, if you guys are putting roses on the list, then you need to add big lots to the list for closures in the last 12 months. Ginny who says, little John's should have stayed open through reunions next month.

A lot of alums have nostalgia for little John's. She says, I remember Frank the tank and the coin flipping at little John's in the register and she had a mug at St. Martin's. And Ginny who also adds on Twitter, there are still kids who want to work, especially in the home school community. My older two both got jobs at 15 and my youngest just got her first job at 14. Eldest just graduated from college with three BAs, all while holding a research fellowship and working all four years.

Ginny Who, I love those tweets. My first job, I was 12 years old. I would go door knocking in the neighborhood for cutting yards. I got three yards and I realized I'm not going to be able to scale this business, so I got some of my buddies to cut the grass while I knocked doors in the neighborhood and booked the gigs. Every yard that was cut, we charged $20. I kept 10. My buddy who cut the yard got 10. Before we know it, we were cutting 18 or 19 yards over a weekend. $180 for me, $180 split for my buddies. When you're 12 years old and you're making $180 a weekend,

30 years ago, that's a lot of money. A 12‑year‑old making $180 in a weekend. Having the gumption to knock on doors and say can we cut your yard? Then I worked as a bus boy at Sportsman's Grill. You ask my son who just finished first grade, literally he had his first grade graduation this morning, I'm sitting there in the tiny chairs in the first grade classroom trying to bend down to fit my ass in these tiny chairs. And I realized, A, good God I'm getting old. Betting down into these tiny chairs is hard. They're so damn little. B, maybe I shouldn't have had those apple galettes last night because I feel like one of my ass cheeks is hanging over the tiny chair in the first grade classroom and I don't want the moms and dads behind me see me spilling

over the chair. And C, I'm watching my first grader getting honored as all his classmates are by the teacher in a 45 minute ceremony, and my eyes are tearing up. I got tears running down my cheeks. And I realize, goodness gracious, these two little boys we call sons are our hearts that are walking outside of our bodies. And they are absolutely our pride and joy.

I'm getting choked up right now. But you ask our seven-year-old, what is it you want to do when you grow up? He says, I want to be a YouTuber. I want to have an online Pokemon store. I want to have an online Pokemon store. I want to be an influencer. You asked the teenager or the ‑‑ what's the generation that is high teens, early 20s right now? Is that Gen Zers?

Overwhelmingly, if you said what's your dream job, they would say influencer. Generation Alpha. Generation Alpha? Conan Owen watching the program, his photo on screen, where is online shopping sales tax being reported? I didn't see that in Sean Tubbs' reporting. I did see, however, that the sales tax collection through the first quarter of this year in the city of Charlottesville is substantially below the estimation of $15.8 million it checked

in at $14. Jason Howard's watching on Rio Road. Jerry Miller, maybe now it's harder to run a business than COVID. Businesses and consumers alike are getting squeezed by county and city taxes that have only gone up. Real estate alone is a significant bite. 30% increase in values wasn't enough of a windfall for the county. They needed to juice out another four cents.

Amen, Jason Howard. The Board of Supervisors to raise the real estate tax rate four cents on Alamaro County homeowners is insulting. They did this when assessments have spiked noticeably since before COVID. It's insulting to squeeze another 4 cents on the tax rate. They also raised the personal property tax rate, ladies and gentlemen.

Vanessa Parkhill in Earleysville watching the program, her photo on screen, institutions closing, changing hands, or rebranding is not unique to Seville or UVA. Same thing is happening at State College, Pennsylvania. A few years ago, Penn State alums mourned the closing of the Raffskeller, which as I recall was the oldest continuously operating bar in Pennsylvania at the time. Small business is hard, even harder to have a business continue across multiple generations, especially

when today's students aren't enjoying adult beverages like they used to. She's exactly right. Had the conversation with a captain of a varsity UVA team last week, and I said, what are you guys doing? Are you getting after it? You're closing down the bars? You staying up all night? You boozing?

You getting after it? That's what we did. He said to me, we don't drink. I don't really drink. Captain of a varsity sports at UVA said that. I don't really drink. That was unheard of when I was at UVA. Jason Noble highlights wild wing cafes closing.

That was during COVID. Can't add that to the list, but Jason Noble highlights Wild Wing Cafe's closing. That was during COVID. Can't add that to the list, but Jason Noble, that was back crushing for a lot of people, the closing of Wild Wing Cafe. John Blair's comment coming in, his photo on screen. Is the more appropriate question, Jerry, is it harder to operate a business in Charlottesville that doesn't cater exclusively to the upper class and upper middle class today than during COVID? Restaurants depend on middle class and working class customers. As those classes flee Charlottesville and Alamaro County, it

shouldn't surprise us that they're struggling. But if you know anyone in the handyman industry, they're exploding in wealth and work. Why? Because upper and upper class and upper middle class people will pay top dollars for handyman services. He says, I won't know name names, but a local handyman is getting more than $100,000 a year

for doing handyman work. Maybe that's the question. Maybe the question is this. Alamaro County and the city of Charlottesville are gentrifying out the working class. And as the working class has been gentrified out because of cost of living increases out of Alamara County in the city of Charlottesville, there is not the labor pool for these small businesses. And there's not the consumer pool for these small businesses.

So the remaining employees that will work these small businesses, the hours for these small businesses, are demanding, demanding, maybe not commanding, demanding top dollar in compensation. And the owner has left, I guess I have to pay this. But I'm telling you right now, if you want $20 an hour in living wage to work a front line job, then you better expect $25 ranch hands, $25 nuclear subs, $25 bum steers. I'll say it again. If you want the living wage, the frontline workers hourly compensation to be $20 an hour, which is $40,000 a year in compensation, and then the employer has to pay payroll taxes to the state and federal government folks, a lot of frontline workers

– a lot of workers don't realize this at all. A lot of workers don't realize that their employer is not just paying them what's on their paycheck, they're also paying a boatload of taxes on top of what the average employee is getting on his paycheck. It's not just, oh, my paycheck says my take‑home is this. You want $20 an hour living wage? home is this. You want $20 an hour living wage? Michael Payne? You want $20 an hour living wage into Visible Charlottesville? Well, get ready for your bacon, egg and cheese bagels at Bodo's to be 12 bucks. Or your Big Mac and fries and soda to be 22 bucks. or your Big Mac and fries and soda to be $22, or your Gus burger with onion rings and soda to be $19. You think I'm joking.

Vanessa Parkhill, my daughter recently went to dinner with friends in Belmont. As they were calculating the split of the TAV, they realized that the meals tax was calculated on the FMB total plus the auto calculated tip included by the restaurant. They were blown away by both the amount of the meals tax and the tax that the meals tax applied to the tip as well. And the fact that the meals tax applied to the tip as well. That's insane. Yeah, no doubt.

You go out to a restaurant in the city of Charlottesville and you order a tab, you order food. 12% of the bill, 12 or 13% of the bill is taxes. 12 or 13% of the bill is taxes. Think about that. 12 or 13%. And then you got a tip on top of that. $100 bill, $100 check, right? 88 of that is your food and drink. 12 of that is your tax. Then you're tipping on top of that. So for your $88 for food and beverage at a local restaurant, if you tip 20% on it, you're

at 120. You're at $120. That's $32 in tip and tax on $88 of food and beverage. Think about that. Spend $88 on food and beverage at a restaurant. You're going to have $12 in tax and $20 in tip. We have $12 in tax and 20 in tip. Wild times. Jeremy Wilson's watching the program in Tennessee. My son graduated from Tennessee Tech two years ago and he doesn't drink and he says he never had

a strong desire to drink in his four years of college. Like you, Jerry, I did my fair share of drinking when I was in college. Very proud of my son and his choices. I will echo what Jeremy Wilson said. If our sons choose, and my wife was another one that got after it in college. Is she watching the program right now?

She would tell you absolutely during her four years at UConn that she absolutely got after it in college when it came to partying. I did enough of getting after it for everybody that's watching this program. If our sons choose not to drink and party like we drank and partied in high school and college, then I would welcome it with open arms. I will say thank goodness gracious because your father made a lot of poor decisions. Had a lot of fun though. A lot of fun. It's 1 20 on a Monday. We have more headlines we have to get to. I want to compile a list in the last 12 months of

local businesses that have closed. Please help me do it. Please help Judah and I do it. Please. We have local businesses that have closed in the last 12 months, Blue Moon Diner, Mooses by the Creek, El Joe's Traditional Clothing, Reed's Grocery Store, Guadalajara Restaurant, Fontaine Avenue, Mel's Cafe, Lumpkins, and Little John's. We're not going to include on this list roses, big lots, or 10,000 villages. But those are others that have closed. Please help us compile a comprehensive list. Kevin Yancey, they did not have Easter's when I was there.

But we did have midsummers. When I went to college in August of 2000, I literally never went home. I stayed summer break and winter break and spring break. I would go home on Christmas Eve and stay Christmas day and leave the day after Christmas to go back to Charlottesville. I'd come home the Wednesday before Thanksgiving

and leave the Friday after Thanksgiving. Some Easter's I would come home the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and leave the Friday after Thanksgiving. Some Easter's I would come home. All other days I stayed in Charlottesville. Literally all other days. Other headlines on the I Love Seaville show today that I found compelling. Did you see in the daily progress today that Monticello and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation are launching a dinner series?

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation is the private nonprofit organization that owns and operates Monticello. Monticello and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation are launching a dinner series called Feast and Reason. This dinner series will be a series inspired by Thomas Jefferson's famous dinner parties. This is the same nonprofit that almost purchased Mickey Tavern within the last year. And then that nonprofit, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, had Mickey

Tavern under contract to purchase, then backed out of the deal when the community found out that the Thomas Jefferson Foundation was going to outsource the operations of Mickey Tavern to a company in Pennsylvania. And that third-party company in Pennsylvania was then going to ask every Mickey Tavern employee to reapply for their job. And it was so insulting to the Mickey Tavern employees that have been there for decades that the community outcry and outrage was so significant that the Thomas Jefferson Foundation backed out of the deal and said we don't want to buy this anymore. Because the Thomas Jefferson Foundation is not an operator of a restaurant. So they were going to outsource the operations management to a Pennsylvania company.

Then the Pennsylvania company did not have the common sense to read the proverbial room. They were going to literally terminate team members and make them reapply for their job. That deal falls through. Mickey Tavern goes on the market. We break that news last week. Story goes viral. Radio and television, print, pick up our coverage. They're literally watching us on the show right now. The 22-year-olds fresh out of college working at these media platforms are watching us right now for content for their news cycle. I find it sad, ironic, disappointing, certainly a competitor that Monticello and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation are going to launch a dinner series.

That dinner series would have worked perfectly at Mickey Tavern right next to Monticello, where you would have the garb, you'd have the pomp and circumstance, the mood, the attire of Mickey Tavern to complement what it wanted to do with the Thomas Jefferson curriculum in the dinner party. Sad that deal fell through. Next headline put it on screen. You launched this this is your headline. Yonkin Glenn Yonkin the headline set the table for the viewers and listeners, Judah Wickhauer. Glenn Yonkin has a new executive order expanding Virginia's fight against anti-Semitism. And he's also gone on a talk

at a combat anti-Semitism movement, Faith, Freedom, and Legacy, honoring Virginia's Jewish heritage dinner in Richmond, where he spoke about the existence of anti-Semitism and the fact that we need to educate people on it and keep working to eradicate it. He mentioned several schools of them. UVA was included. They have had some issues with antisemitism. Big issues. Big issues.

Some students at UVA have even suffered death threats. Other schools mentioned were students in Fairfax County facing harassment, including Sieg Heil salutes, swastikas in public spaces. George Mason University has had students, a student charged with plotting a mass casualty attack on the Israeli consulate in New York. This is clearly a problem and it's nice to see that it's being addressed. Look, it's about damn time that we treat anti-Semitism. The same as any other? The same as we treat any racism against any skin color, religion, ideology or belief.

For so long, antisemitism has been a watered down form of racism. And it's deplorable. Anti-Semitism is equivalent to racism against black and brown people, sexism against women. It's all in the same category. We're not going to start differentiating various forms of racism. Yeah. You want to put something else in the same category? Affirmative action. You want to start prioritizing two students, taking a look at two students getting into a university, one student versus the other, and choosing a student that is not as qualified, that may be of a challenged background

or a disenfranchised background, and picking the disenfranchised or challenged background student despite that gal or girl not being on the same playing field as another student, that's wrong. That is wrong. What we've gotten to with this level of diversity, equity, and inclusion, it's gotten to a level where it was never intended to be. It's clouding judgment.

It's convoluting perspective. It's demeaning. It's racism. It's all in the same category. Antisemitism, same category. Racism against black and brown people. Antisemitism, racism against black and brown people, same category as sexism against women. Sexism against women. Racism against women, racism against black and brown people, anti-Semitism, same category into this perverse world we're living in where diversity, equity, inclusion is unrecognizable.

It's all wrong. Common sense, it's all wrong. Last headline is one that you should find extremely concerning if you're a parent of children. Four pounds of fentanyl found in Almaro County in a drug bust. Yeah. That's... Four pounds of fentanyl.

Who what, when where, why? Do you have that? So far away from say four pounds of anything else. Four pounds is... I mean, do we need to get into how many people that would affect? Four pounds of fentanyl found. This was an arrest after a month-long investigation led by the Culpeper County Sheriff's Office, obviously involving multiple law enforcement agencies as the, the person that was captured was captured in Albemarle County.

They found a lot. They found nearly four pounds of fentanyl and fentanyl-laced powder, 200 grams of marijuana, cocaine, and pills, along with a couple guns. Obviously, he's being charged with possession intent to distribute because he's obviously not using all that for himself. Four pounds of fentanyl. We should all be thankful for all the police departments involved but especially Culpeper County Sheriff's Office who led this and we should be thankful that this guy is off the street

as well as all of this fentanyl. You know what scares me as a father of two boys? It's not the drinking and driving. I have a seven year old and a two and a half year old. By the time they're of party age, they're gonna be Ubering places, or they're going to have some kind of AI-driven car. You see Elon Musk committed to Tesla for the next five years, and he's about to roll out

a fleet of vehicles in Austin so robust, self-driving, that it's going to be the proof of Tesla's performance that will help them scale self-driving across the country. I know people are going to be like AI self-driving cars are going to be dangerous. That's the first step to robots controlling the world. That's what Jude is thinking and alluding to. No, no, I'm thinking about the sad story of a person that was dragged. San Francisco. Underneath a self-driving car. Yeah, San Francisco.

That was, I believe, a GM company. I'm not saying it can't be done. I think that people are going to see them as a allowance to completely take your eyes off the road, and that is always going to be a horrible idea. There should always be airplanes. You want to hear something crazy? Viewersilot is not just like… You want to hear something crazy? Sure. Okay. Viewers and listeners, you're going to call me a lunatic for saying this, but it's a fact.

I have a seven-year-old boy and a two-and-a-half-year-old boy. When my two-and-a-half-year-old son, maybe when my seven-year-old son, but when my two-and-a-half-year-old son is at the point of his life when he's considering marrying Getting engaged and pursuing a partner to marry The world at this time will have men and women engaging and marrying artificial intelligence The AI is going to be so sophisticated and robust that artificial intelligence will look

like me, will look like Judah, will look like you the viewer and listener. They will have the same thinking capabilities, communicating capabilities, sexual capabilities, partnership capabilities. partnership capabilities. Men and women, homo sapiens, will marry artificial intelligence by the time my 2 1 1 2 year old is of marrying age. And you think I'm crazy, but I'm telling you it's a fact. I, as a father, I'm not scared of my kid drinking and driving because he's going to be Ubering places or in self-driving vehicles. I'm not scared of my kid getting blackout drunk because it seems to be a thing of the past.

I'm terrified of fentanyl. Terrified where a speck of something so small that you need a microscope to see it can kill you. I'm terrified of designer drugs. I'm terrified of drugs made in laboratories and people's houses. And they just found four pounds of fentanyl guys in Almar county. Four pounds of fentanyl. There was a time where we would find four pounds of weed and people would be like oh they found four pounds of weed. Four pounds of mushroom. That grows from the earth and on cowdew. And it's not going to kill you. It's going to knock you out and make you pass out but it's not going to kill you. Four pounds of fentanyl would have killed thousands of people. Probably a lot more than that. And who knows what they're putting it in.

Deep throat. Gentlemen, I took a Waymo self‑driving taxi in San Francisco a few weeks ago. The driving was so smooth and the adherence to the speed limit so religious that it felt weird and uncanny. I need to emphasize to you, viewers and listeners, how very close we are to a self driving automobile society. And the next step of a self driving automobile society is artificial intelligence, so sophisticated, so robust and so nuanced that you will have a difficult time separating humans from artificial intelligence. James Watson on LinkedIn. All the new people that are slated to move here for biotech and data science will provide some customer base for the new local businesses. Although my concern is we may see more chains than family owned with the next wave of area businesses. Absolutely. What's

going to start replacing these locally owned businesses on the UVA corner? Chains. Brands and businesses with balance sheets that are very deep in cash that can withstand a capital improvement project or a build out.. The Little Johns folks, the second incarnation was a year? They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars opening Little Johns after it was closed. A boat load of money and they closed a year later. Think Think about that. Unbelievable. All right. We got to go make some money. That is the Wednesday, May 21 edition of the I Love Seville show. If you can think of any other businesses that have closed in the last 12 months that are local icons, please send them my way. I would like to put a comprehensive list together. We will start today. Judah, I'm going to email you the list we have. You'll find it on I Love Sievel and the I Love Sievel Network. Thank you kindly for joining us. For Judah Wickauer, my name is Jerry Miller..