New ETF Book by Larry Connors - Click here to read more
Each year, my wife and I undertake a journey that begins with an artery-clogging lunch at Weiner World, includes stops at S.W. Randall toy store and Macy's, and ends at the Curtain Call on Penn Avenue in the Cultural District.
This year's visit was different -- and not just because the molten orange cheese dip at Weiner World was runny. The Curtain Call was closing its doors. Even if you're not a fan of showtunes and showlife, that's a bummer.
The store, a handsome stronghold of culture and arts in a sometimes seedy city center, officially ended business Sunday, said Jim Barthem, vice president of public affairs for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
The PSO opened Curtain Call at Penn Avenue and Sixth Street in 1999. With its shelves full of coffee table books, sheet music and artsychokes, the place felt like downtown Pittsburgh's slice of New York's Park Avenue.
The store closed and vacated that location to make way for the Sixth Penn restaurant in 2004 and reopened in the former Art Institute of Pittsburgh building on Penn. The space and name were leased to owner Michele Marion, who complained about slow sales as early as last summer.
In a city where "Downtown book store" used to mean a place where everything is wrapped in plastic and no one makes eye contact, Curtain Call in its heyday was akin to having a DJ drop a Bach Brandenburg Concerto in the middle of WAMO's "Crunk and Funk Hour."
By the time I visited the store over the weekend, the shelves mostly were picked clean, and the two teenage girls behind the counter seemed eager to close up and start new jobs elsewhere.
It's a shame to lose a place like this, and I wonder whether Curtain Call might have survived if the owners had held out a little longer. If predictions are accurate and developers keep building pricey condos as if this were Miami Beach circa 1980, Downtown should have foot traffic to support such a store.
The good news is that many CDs and other classical music-related items can be found at the PSO's online store, also named Curtain Call. And Barthem said fans can pick up the latest PSO recordings at live concerts. If you're looking for books Downtown, well, there's always Bradley's on the ninth floor of Macy's.
But if you want a place to chill out in the Golden Triangle, where you'll feel more Wolfgang Amadeus than Larry Flynt, that may have to wait.
To see more of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/. Copyright (c) 2008, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
More News:
Market Updates |
Stock Alerts |
All Trading News |
Stock Index
About TradingMarkets | Contact | Advertise | Careers | Link to Us | Site Map | Help | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Return Policy | Testimonials | Feedback
The Connors Group, Inc. ("Company") is not an investment advisory service, nor a registered investment advisor or broker-dealer and does not purport to tell or suggest which securities or currencies customers should buy or sell for themselves. The analysts and employees or affiliates of Company may hold positions in the stocks, currencies or industries discussed here. You understand and acknowledge that there is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities and/or currencies. The Company, the authors, the publisher, and all affiliates of Company assume no responsibility or liability for your trading and investment results. Factual statements on the Company's website, or in its publications, are made as of the date stated and are subject to change without notice.
It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable or that they will not result in losses. Past results of any individual trader or trading system published by Company are not indicative of future returns by that trader or system, and are not indicative of future returns which be realized by you. In addition, the indicators, strategies, columns, articles and all other features of Company's products (collectively, the "Information") are provided for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. Examples presented on Company's website are for educational purposes only. Such set-ups are not solicitations of any order to buy or sell. Accordingly, you should not rely solely on the Information in making any investment. Rather, you should use the Information only as a starting point for doing additional independent research in order to allow you to form your own opinion regarding investments. You should always check with your licensed financial advisor and tax advisor to determine the suitability of any investment.
HYPOTHETICAL OR SIMULATED PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE CERTAIN INHERENT LIMITATIONS. UNLIKE AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RECORD, SIMULATED RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL TRADING AND MAY NOT BE IMPACTED BY BROKERAGE AND OTHER SLIPPAGE FEES. ALSO, SINCE THE TRADES HAVE NOT ACTUALLY BEEN EXECUTED, THE RESULTS MAY HAVE UNDER- OR OVER-COMPENSATED FOR THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CERTAIN MARKET FACTORS, SUCH AS LACK OF LIQUIDITY. SIMULATED TRADING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFITS OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN.
The Connors Group, Inc.
10 Exchange Place, Suite 1800
Jersey City, NJ 07302
© Copyright 2009 The Connors Group, Inc.
