Ken Wilson wrote:That's it? Maker's Mark is a bourbon and a bar owner. The bar is at 4th Street Live. Local bars object to Maker's Mark bar because_____________, so they won't carry its bourbon. Is that it? Unless someone fills that blank in convincingly, I'm not impressed. I'm a big 'Buy Local First' guy, but this issue is too shaky to make me take any action.
I think you've pretty much wrapped it up, Ken.
The only variable you haven't really covered is an emotional one: In the context of the time (three short years ago), it appeared to many people - not just those in the business -that the city administration was bending over backward (or maybe even displaying "round heels") in an effort to make everything go smoothly for the chains in Fourth Street Live, from special and previously unheard-of exceptions to the liquor laws to extra police protection, a lot of regulatory relief and yes, there's more ... while the Baxter Avenue strip, St. Matthews and other local nightspot zones felt under the hammer of Zero Tolerance regulatory burdens and a sense that City Hall was much more concerned about the feelings of a resident troubled by noisy bars than about helping the small businesses that were not in Fourth Street Live. A lot of misinformation and anger was floating about, I'm sure, but for a while there it looked a lot like Mom and Pop taking sides in a battle between the children.
I don't know how much this helps understand the issue in any clear, rational or quantifiable way, but it certainly colored the way people felt about things for a while there. And when the Makers Mark logo went up on a chain-owned eatery under the dome, it did indeed create some hard feelings.