Merchants

It is inexplicable that in an article about merchants bemoaning credit card interchange fees, the cost to businesses of processing cash and check purchases is never discussed ("Fee to pay with credit card could be in offing," Aug. 14). I worked in retail for many years, and I know that accepting cash or checks costs merchants time and money. There's the issue of counterfeit bills, mistakes in making change, employee pilfering and bad checks that can require the merchant's appearance in court as a consequence.

A shave and a haircut of yesteryear cost the proverbial two bits, 25 cents. A shave alone at The Old Bank Barbers, a soon-to-open barber shop on The Avenue in Hampden, will cost $25. It won't be any old shave, though. Owner Daniel Wells promises an old-fashioned, full-face, straight-edge shave, complete with hot lather, in a leather chair with a headrest that leans back. "It's an old-school barber shop with the tile floors," said Wells, who hopes to open this month at 1100 W. 36th St., the former site of Sixteen Tons, a men's clothing store.

The front page article "Mayor responds to violence" (July 6) was a clear indication of how poorly this city was prepared for the celebration of our independence anniversary. One of the most important facets of this big night was the ability of the merchants along the Inner Harbor to stay open later than usual to help their profitability. Those businesses were forced to shut down — some as early as 9 p.m. This is not the way for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to gain favor in the business community.

Goucher, which wrapped up the top seed and home-field advantage in the upcoming Landmark Conference tournament, will conclude the regular season with Saturday's home contest against the Merchant Marine. The Mariners will visit Gopher Stadium again on Wednesday as Goucher's semifinal opponent in the conference tournament. Gophers coach Brian Kelly compared Saturday's game to a “dress rehearsal” for the tournament. “It's obviously a dress rehearsal for a game that will have a lot of significance for Wednesday,” he said Tuesday.

You might not have paid attention to the fierce yearlong battle between merchants and banks over debit cards, but you'll likely notice last week's outcome in your wallet. The dispute was over the debit card interchange fee — the payment merchants make to banks to process customer transactions. Last year's Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act law required that the Federal Reserve ensure that the fee was "reasonable. " Last week, the Fed announced it was cutting the fee — but not by nearly as much as merchants wanted.

The merchants on Howard Street will be able to breathe a sigh of relief come Sunday, when Mass Transit Administration buses begin rolling down that corridor again after more than a year of being diverted to other streets.The diversion, which took buses along Eutaw and Cathedral streets, was made because of construction of the light-rail system along Howard Street that began in June 1990.That portion of the light-rail system is complete, and MTA officials announced yesterday that bus service will be restored to Howard Street two months ahead of schedule.

Merchants Tire & Auto is relocating two Baltimore City tire distribution and repair centers to the Halethorpe section of Baltimore County, a move that will cost the city nearly three dozen jobs.The company's shift to the county marks the latest blow to the city in its effort to retain service-oriented and other businesses.In the past decade, more than 65,000 jobs have evaporated from the city.Jim Matthews, Merchants president, said the company considered various city properties as part of a yearlong search before leasing a 150,400-square-foot building at 4625 Hollins Ferry Road.

Some nervous merchants are shutting their shops early at Baltimore's Harborplace pavilions as police search for a man believed to have held up four stores at gunpoint this month.As city police and private security guards scour the city's premier tourist and shopping attraction for the elusive suspect, store owners are trying to find a way to end the spree and not alarm customers."He has a lot of nerve," said Mike Durham, president of the merchants' association that represents the 200 stores in the Light and Pratt street pavilions and the Gallery.

Glen Burnie merchants learned last night at a meeting with county police officers, community leaders and politicians that their community is not alone in suffering vandalism and graffiti attacks.The recent wave of damage extends from the Baltimore line to Jumpers Hole Road in Pasadena, county police told them. Since November, about 100 business have been hit, police said.County police said they believe juveniles are responsible. In some incidents, BB guns and slingshots were used to shoot out windows.

As a well-dressed man made a transaction at a bank machine on Cross Street, another man, shabbily dressed and smelling of alcohol, approached him, his upturned palm thrust in front of him."Please, sir, I don't mean to disrespect you," the beggar said. "But I'm trying to get something to eat. Can you help me out?"The upturned palm has become such a symbol around the Cross Street Market that area merchants are asking customers to turn thumbs down on the practice.Posters asking shoppers not to give money have been put up by some store owners, who say the explosion in the number of panhandlers threatens to give the district a tawdry reputation and drive away potential customers.

Graduation depleted Goucher of four starters - three on offense - and the program eventually bid farewell to the most successful coach in its history, but that did not prevent the team from extending its success in the Landmark Conference. Saturday's 7-6 overtime decision over Scranton cemented for the Gophers (7-7 overall and 5-0 in the league) the top seed and home-field advantage in the upcoming conference tournament with just one more league game against the Merchant Marine this Saturday.

Customers at Towson Hot Bagels usually pay with credit, not cash, when buying a bagel or a bottle of water, triggering fees the merchant must pay to process each transaction. Now, the shop's owner and retailers across the country may recoup "swipe" fees as a result of a preliminary settlement with Visa, MasterCard and major banks. When a consumer pays with a credit card, retailers can tack on a surcharge or "checkout fee" of up to 4 percent of the purchase to cover processing. But there's no rush among merchants to start charging this fee. Independent shop owners, national chains and retail trade groups insist they have no desire to pass credit card fees along to consumers so directly.

When Maryland merchants talk about the recent legalization of same-sex marriage, they sometimes talk of broad, lofty themes: Equality. Justice. Civil rights. But there's another practical concept at work: Dollar signs. The financial motivation was on display Sunday at the second annual Gay and Lesbian Wedding Expo at the Tremont Suites Hotel & Grand Historic Venue in downtown Baltimore, where dozens of vendors competed for the attention of dozens of couples whose weddings now carry the official blessing of the state of Maryland.

Baltimore City health officials are right to view the over-concentration of liquor stores in poor and predominantly African-American neighborhoods as a threat to public well-being. They point to academic research showing statistically significant increases in violent crime in communities with an overabundance of liquor stores, as well as a host of other ill effects such as domestic violence, lower life expectancy, cardiovascular disease and sexually transmitted infections. But they didn't need to examine the literature to learn that.

The Rude Mechanicals perform their own version of Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice," Friday, Jan. 11 and Saturday, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. at the Greenbelt Arts Center, 124 Centerway, in Greenbelt. The Laurel-based Mechanicals' production takes place in Baltimore in 1960. Two rival businessmen enter into a bond that will ignite all the tensions, slights and prejudices of the city to explode into its smoky sky. Weekend performances continue Jan. 18, 19, 25 and 26 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $17 general admission; $14 students/seniors/military.

Retailers have had a difficult few years, especially the small shops that make up the bulk of the Maryland Retailers Association's membership. As the trade group's president since June 2010, Patrick Donoho has seen the effects of the recession as many longtime members were forced to close shop. Now with about 250 members, including hardware stores and other independent merchants, grocers, department stores and national chains representing 1,200 locations, the trade group is rebuilding.

The 80-year-old Merchants Terminal Corp. is expanding with a $25 million development of a new perishable foods distribution warehouse in Chesapeake Commerce Center, the former site of the General Motors van assembly plant on Broening Highway in Southeast Baltimore. The refrigerated warehouse company said yesterday that it bought just over 13 acres in the new industrial park from Duke Realty Corp., which purchased the closed GM complex, located next to the Seagirt Marine Terminal, in early 2006.

Seeking to quell merchants' concerns about crime in Towson, Baltimore County's new police chief assured a business group yesterday that officers are fighting robberies in Loch Raven area shopping centers and juvenile rowdiness along York Road's retail corridor."

Ed Williams, the apron-wearing proprietor of the Mumble and Squeak Toy Shoppe on Ellicott City's Main Street, has for decades heard arguments about downtown parking. It's a multiheaded beast - studied often, discussed ad nauseam and yet unsettled - but he figures he can point out what he considers the essence of the problem quickly by stepping out of his store on a bright October weekday afternoon. Note the white Chevy parked in front of his shop, he says, and across the street the white van and another car up the street - all belonging not to customers but to the owners of local businesses.

Charles F. "Blackie" Blockston Jr., a merchant mariner who during World War II survived the U-boat sinking of the freighter Carlton and spent three weeks drifting 600 miles in a lifeboat before being rescued, died Aug. 28 of multiple-organ failure at the Veterans Medical Center in downtown Baltimore. The longtime Rosedale resident was 93. Mr. Blockston's wartime adventures began in the engine room of the SS Carlton, a Lykes Brothers Steamship Co. freighter that departed Iceland on May 20, 1942, sailing for the Soviet Arctic port of Murmansk.