Southridge cafe closing
27.02.2008 02:00
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- Source: JS Online
Greendale - The Cream City Caf at the Southridge Boston Store will close for good on March 4, a year after shutting down its popular bingo games for seniors. "The performance wasn't what we'd expect it to be," said Mary Kerr, spokeswoman for Boston Stores' corporate parent, Bon-Ton Stores Inc. in York, Pa. The cafe is the last remaining restaurant in the Bon-Ton chain, and it might be considered the last department store restaurant in the Milwaukee area. Macy's, at Mayfair, has a delicatessen-style food area on the lower level. When the store opened in 1959 as Marshall Fields, it had a full-service restaurant, the Linden Room. The cafe at the Southridge Boston Store, originally set up as a cafeteria, was remodeled years ago into a more contemporary sandwich-and-dessert format. But the cafe continued to offer daily specials - a fish fry on Friday, for example. At the noon hour on a recent Friday, no more than a dozen tables were occupied at any given time, and just about all the patrons qualified for the senior discount of 10%. Waitresses deliver meals to the tables after orders are placed at the counter. They know their regulars by name and use terms of endearment like "honey" when delivering a plate to the seniors. Cream City Caf has continued to be a popular spot for seniors, even after the bingo games ended. The Greenfield police chief ordered the store to shut the games down after hearing from the state Department of Administration's Division of Gaming. The state said the games were illegal because they included three elements: the award of a prize, winning that involves chance rather than skill, and a cost to play. In the case of the Cream City games, the cost to play was a $7.70 dinner, plus tax. Prizes were small items from the store - candles, dish towels or inexpensive trinkets. The games went on for 22 years with no complaints, until a state administrator noticed a small ad for the event in a local weekly paper. In an interview for a story in 2002, the store manager said the bingo events helped the cafe meet revenue goals but did not go so far as to say the games were keeping it afloat. Kerr said the loss of the dinner revenue from the twice-weekly games wasn't the deciding factor in closing the restaurant. The cafe hasn't been open for dinner on a regular basis for years. Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and on Saturdays. On Fridays, the cafe opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m. Kerr said the company considered closing the cafe while the bingo games were still running. "That's a rotten shame," said Terry, a retiree who had just learned of the impending closing. "The food is good and it's reasonable. It was a favorite hangout for seniors," said Terry, who lives on the south side but declined to give her last name. Marlis McDonald, a senior who lives on the east side near E. Ogden Ave. and N. Jackson St., has been taking the bus to Southridge for several years. "We like to come to this restaurant because it's quiet. There's no loud, blaring music," McDonald said. Kathy Kelly, a retiree who lives near the mall in Greendale, said she isn't much of a shopper. But she said she had lunch at the Cream City Caf at least once a week, and sometimes she buys something because she's in the store. "I walk by and I say 'Oh, look at the pillows. And I buy the pillows.' " Kelly has pleaded with the store manager and contacted the company's York headquarters to try to persuade them to change their minds. She also has a suggestion to boost business in the cafe: Put up signs in the store to let shoppers know that it's there. "To me, it's the best-kept secret," Kelly said.
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