CapeCodToday Blog Chowder

this piece is worthy of a Harvard Business School case study. One needs only to view the newspapers stacked up for sale in a c-store or newsstand. Reminds me of the old adage, "pile it high and watch it die".

sorry dpie---the board did not have a quorum and we were cancelled at the last minute. we are before the Historic group on wednesday evening. Many, many thanks for your kind words and support. We will try to make you proud. christy

that is why the "category killers" have won over the markets. CVS, Walgreen, Walmart, BJs, Super Stop & Shop---pretty soon Boston will be a one-newspaper town--can you imagine just the Boston Herald printing daily? with the Globe losing $1million weekly, its just a matter of time. no takers at $27million.

Pat Butler was a wonderful person who had tremendous skills and the highest ethics. This is a huge loss for Cape Cod
as he worked so hard to make it a better place--he will truly be missed.

This Bailout Mania is one of the worst chapters in American history. Wall street culprits take taxpayer money at breakneck speed; can you imagine the campaign contributions post bailout? There is no end to it. who bails out the taxpayer? We are headed into a steep, long and painful recession-AT BEST. Its every man for himself and its disgusting to watch whether here in the commonwealth, chicago or new york. Walter has it right. Thanks for writing it---

what's the rush--why can't the Chairman of the Congressional Committe request a hearing. What's wrong with oversight. There was zero oversight on the Big Dig and look where we are today;
monumental toll hikes[doubled], indictments, a project that has systemic
problems, and no more money to pay for the mistakes of contractors, and firms now before the Federal Grand Jury---again, what's the rush?

insubordinate and smallguy what ever your name is; came to the cape in 1954-love it, have invested 10s of millions here, created jobs and give to local charities. if its on my property I will put up any sign I want. if you don't like it don't look. to my knowledge there are no SOS signs on any of our properties though. what's your problem. why don't you post your name if you're so proud of who you are and what you say-why be a coward behind a screen? Merry Christmas.

Like I always said...if you liked the big dig you'll love Cape Wind. so similar, Federal Highway Administration, and the Department of Transportation gave waiver after waiver to the Project such that in the end we paid for a Cadillac and got a Yugo. We also got a tunnel system that has systemic problems. That's what's happened here. money buys process in Washington. Thank God the Federal Court system in District One is the place to go now---great judges there. just the facts and they're afraid of no one. Next round---everyone ready?

ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION, THE CITIES AND TOWNS ARE RECEIVING LOCAL AID AT 2003 LEVELS. DEVAL ALWAYS SAID "WE OUGHT TO BE ABOUT LOWERING THE PROPERTY TAX"---ALMOST 2 YEARS OUT AND NOTHING. NO 1000 COPS. NO BIG DIG SPECIAL PROSECUTOR, YOU GOT A 3,000 VOLUNTEER PAID WORK FORCE, 2,000 MORE STATE EMPLOYEES, A DOUBLING OF THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE BUDGET, AND $250 MILLION MORE IN CIGARETTE TAXES---AND NOW THEY ARE PROPOSING OVER $152 MILLION IN TOLL INCREASES AFTER THEY RAISED THEM LAST JANUARY BY $40 MILLION.

failure? the campaign was one of the best times of my life! got to say what was on my mind, had some super policy issues like local aid to cities and towns, corruption at all levels, not taking campaign contributions from lobbyists, special interests, state workers and anyone doing business with my home state and ran a positive campaign. Much of what I was predicting would happen has. Sweet nothings, and whispering promises just does not cut it. True, I self-funded much of it but I highly reccomend it to all. Get involved.

as to your request....just don't let your daughter's boyfriend meet you. Notwithstanding your disgraceful ethnic remarks, marriages amongst greek-american couples have the lowest divorce rates for many years now. But you would know better about failed marriages and alike.

doing real well and paid for them myself. no public monies, unlike the welfare you'll be looking for.

tragic. a great place with high quality aspects at all levels of the operation---David the head Chef was the best on the Cape. Marietta will be missed---wonderful people who provided a superlative offering---our best wishes to you for a speedy and prosperous comeback----

Go for the personal attacks---forget the facts---just keep it all personal. That's the time-worn tactic of the CW mission. don't answer any questions, don't provide access to any information, just send out the long and short knives all the time.

Its $2.09 today. We pay a much higher price for the exxon product because we are dealer of exxon and can not access the open markets. our others sites are in the $1.99 range. sorry--but that's the real fact. buy it where you can and what serves you the best Jon---all the best and stay warm.

Folks---I hear your outrage with this overload of a corrupt government. Our Founding Fathers had it right with the second amendment. What would they say with the wilkerson, dimassi, marzilli, swift, and so many more.

Solon---If you tell the truth, you can't get elected. Would love to be there in 2010 though and give it all I have. see you soon.

Democrant---stop drinking the kool-aid. the state spends over $400 million on mandated road and bridge projects per year. nice job over at Rte. 132 wouldn't you say? same at exit 7.... the Turnpike RAISED the tolls earlier this year to meet the Bond debt on the Big Dig as per the requirements. they just have not cut their operating overhead. next time you're in boston, around Government Center, take a look at parcel 8 garage, retail and office building that has sat relatively vacant for years. the only activity is the MBTA stop, and the t-shirt vendors in front. Turnpike owns and controls the building. Sell it to a developer who will work it and fill it. pay off debt with the revenues. Forget the Gas Tax--Deval is planning to go to the Gas Tax increase of at least 5 cents or $150 million to bail out the MBTA next year..

Possee---am involved in a group that will push a ballot question in 2010 very similar to what California just voted on and passed which takes the redistricting of legislative districts away from the Legislature and places it in the hands of an independent commission. No more gerrymandering districts to empower the entrenched special interests. Better regional representation common interests,etc. For example the seat the Cong.Jim McGovern holds includes the towns of Princeton to Dartmouth. Well--its a start. The special interests will fight this--its up to the people who they want to be represented by. Or let me ask you--are you angry enough to make the change? are you being hurt enough to want to make a difference? Does it sicken you to see your home state abused daily by these public servants?

Posee---The People are so over-burdened just to stay even these days its difficult to take this corruption on! Wishinguwell----Romney would not re-appoint me to the Board when I kept speaking and pushing my plan to sell the service area plazas, pay off the Bonds and eliminate the western pike tolls---Mitt wanted the jobs and the money for his Administration---he was no different from his predesessors. For all of us---its time to stand up to these pols and take them on. Our quality of life in our Cities and Towns will continue to erode, and the cost to live here in the Commonwealth will continue to escalate. Time to fight-

Great Candidate, Great Organization, All for the Right Reasons---Cape Cod and our Commonwealth are the beneficiaries of a wonderful public servant! Success is nice and YOU earned it!

Great Candidate, Great Organization, All for the Right Reasons---Cape Cod and our Commonwealth are the beneficiaries of a wonderful public servant! Success is nice and YOU eared it!

thanks Ned---as regards the vote on the south shore, I lived there for over thirty years. Those towns battled anything together; Greenbush commuter rail, natural gas facility off of hull. That CW is no where in sight they're for it. There was even a battle for the second on-land windturbine in Hull.

is this smahkcep person for real? end of Ted what are you made of? what kind of person are you to mock a person who has the challenges Ted Keddedy is going thru?

prices are coming down. oil is still extremely volatile though. my supplier called yesterday in a panic that it would be up 20cents per gallon last night. it ended almost even for the day. give it a chance and most operators who do some volume will be in line. for us operators, it all depends upon who you buy from, when and how much you buy. OH--the latest on Chavez is that he has enlisted the Russians in assisting Venezuala to construct a nuclear reactor. he is truly worthy of his new nickname.

whole foods might---

whole food might

Walter--you and the boys at CCToday/politics were pretty tough on me in 2006--who cares. we can disagree on anything but people have to be civil about this. I bet both sides in the Cape Wind fight have spent $30+ million=
hell we could have come to some agreement on an alternative site and might have been onto something else by now. someone's politics and beliefs should never keep people apart. EXCEPT for a politician/public servant who chooses corruption over the People's Interest. That I just can't take---saw too much of it at the Big Dig and we are seeing more of it on BOTH sides of the aisle every day. keep the views growing for all of us. now that's a success story.

kapecodda---send me your address AND real name to christy@christysofcapecod.com and I'll be glad to get you one or many. thanks

The People should always vote on any issue whatsoever--- "We the People" sound familiar---what are you afraid of?

go to christy's pay cash and get it for $2.47---

vote YES on 1. the law would enable a two year phase in. LESS IS MORE--our taxpayers are overburdened and their is no loyalty to the TAXPAYERS. The Commonwealth and all its entities, off budget expenditures, bonding for everything under the sun has enough money to run the state. The budget has doubled in 10 years. has your income? don't let an opportunity like Question 1 go down---you must change how our state treats its taxpayers.

Doggie--the 20cents program ended over a month ago. its now 10cents off if you pay cash. we're trying to convince Stop and Shop to do this 20cent coupon again-- PS--why hide behind a poor dogs name. what is it with you that you have to hide?

This must all mean he's the outsider in this election.

JKF was a true hero---just being on this boat in the middle of the day in nantucket sound and observe no steel of any kind to protect you from an enemy seeking to destroy you shocks you into realizing these young men were on missions that were so one-sided and dangerous thay were the Greatest Generation. Proud to have met so many of them during the weekend events. Thank you all. That is all!

its incredible how you know what people are thinking local. how do you do that.

$2.79 if you pay cash--- $2.89 for cash at the exxons. price was up 8cents last night. nice of OPEC to consider a 1,000 barrel production cut/day. with friends like that, who needs enemies. Its the cost of doing business on the cape that makes it so difficult. the process, the agencies. they have to justify their existense.

the republican party will be built upon the backs of candidates like Anastasia. They know the system and want to make it work better for the taxpayers; no personal agenda. just believes in public service. doesn't get any better than that. christy mihos

not_rock....... go buy it. or buy it here for $2.79 paying cash.

you get all kinds of great ideas listening to these comments---best marketing research there is. Would love to go for it again, the state means too much to me to see its potential squandered. things here are going to get real tough. Who knows though--people want to be on the Cape. So here's praying the Cape gets through this meltdown in short order with as little pain as possible. thanks again all. christy

whoopie pies are good for you---don't listen to the liberals on the value of whoopie pies. nantucket has outlawed my operation because we are a chain of stores--no matter we are headquartered on the Cape and operate totally on the cape.

I give up--FREE GAS but you still have to pay or the Whoppie Pies...ps/they're $5 at Fenway Park.

Illegal Immigration will cost the Commonwealth $1 billion in fiscal 2009. ICE stats. The Rs won't do anything about it because they want the lower wages the Ds won't either as they want the votes some day down the line. we all pay for this mess. Again, a bi-partisan FUBAR

john Kasich would make a fantastic governor. all the best to you out there CC Rockhopper---and good wishes to Ohio thru this meltdown.

Mav---I'm shocked. thanks--methinks Buzz has it right too. Happy columbus day to all---great exchanging messages to all--let Indian Summer last and last and last.

remember james schlesinger pres. Carters Energy Czar= the was late 1970s=nothing has happened in a meaningful way since then. As soon as the president said drill baby drill in august, the price has tanked. we have to do everything to bring affordable energy to our people. I'm an independent=a pox on both parties for playing the taxpayers like they have. I absolutely dispise the system that rewards the theives on wall steet and created this meltdown. its your dems and the repubs pal that have killed this golden goose. so don;t give me that crap about one is responsible and the pure pary of kennedy/kerry/frank are innocent. just keep up with the talking points you Ds and Rs are so adept at polluting the air with. And Rant IF public was being ripped off as only you know--call martha coakley and take a excessive profits charge against us.

Dem..rant---you so casually dismiss the cost of doing business on the cape. well--it is what it is and I only gave you a small sampling of the process ot get one of these built. And Buzz--you are right on, we are not a not for profit. hopefully, that will continue even if the Ds grab the White House.

let me give you just a couple. years to go thru a permit process to get a site permitted. mandates placed upon construction. The Cape Cod Commission, property tax rates, cape construction costs, 5 years to get a permit in Buzzards Bay, 8 years at Bourne rotary, $147,000 as mitigation for the permit in bourne to transportation fund and town issues[this all for a 2400 square foot store], $20,000 traffic studies at every turn, legal fees at $100,000 for every site permitted, Towns mandating clerk coverage, lawsuits for any reason to stop growth, each site is a $3million investment with all the above.
Again, please compare apples to apples.
there are different classes of purchasing models. if you are a dealer you can;t compare it to a company operation. ie, in chatham right now we're a dealer operation. the cost of mobil is 25 cents higher than our Christy's brand. same spigot-go figure.

CC Rockhopper--glad you asked about the MASS PIKE Gas locations--I served on that Board as Vice Chair and negotiated the 11 service area plaza operating leases. To keep the gas service at reasonable prices we inserted language that mandated the Pike gas operator could not be higher than the median price of the five closest gas stations in the closest towns. Volume on the Pike gas stations went from 35 million gallons in 2000 to over 64million gallons last year. in this case less is more. As regards the price on the cape, we are in a different cost market and our expenses are much higher than off the cape. we try to stay within the market daily. I do dispute the 10 to 25 cents over the bridge though. Plus, it all depends how an operator is contracted to buy. in half our sites we are a dealer and can not buy on the open market. I can tell you straight-on that the prices this summer were on a rocket rise each day, many times with an emergency price notice at 9 AM whereas the price each day is set at 4 PM or so when the market closes. Its over and I for one am glad that it is.

CF is 3.39 in yarmouth and mobil is 359 there too. we're 3.19 today. Democratrant you are wrong about our prices. we watch the market hourly. you have no basis in fact. We are lowering as the market allows us. Go after the speculators who killed us all. This partisan crap you so well represent won't fix a broken economy and put people on the road to recovery. by next week I hope to be below $3--have a nice day.

Folks--there is only one culprit in all of this--it was the petroleum speculators who drove the price from $60 per barrel up to $150 a barrel, never taking title to a drop of the product. we'll be at $65 next week and below $3 faster. not one of these culprits will do a moment in prison for putting our economy in a tailspin. Oil is a commidty that should never be traded as its a national security issue.

that's the most stupid thing I have ever heard. there are eight gas sites in buzzards bay within 1.5 miles. its just so competitive. look at the cost to operate there as opposed to the cape.
we're at 3.29 today plus the 10 cents off if you pay in cash.

our christy's regular today is $3.29 plus if you pay cash you get 10 cents per gallon off. the exxons we operate are 10 cents higher because we pay for the gas as a dealer not as a distruibutor. Wait on second though---they don't have Wicked Whoopie pies of maine freshly delivered. I'll go to war on that one!!!!

who is this peck fellow and what is it regarding the Bride. is this guy hiding behind a woman.

And lose money on every gallon---you must be very bright and one successful businessman to boot. you might want to try seeking your fortune as a consultant. how about taking people's money and giving it to a private developer who will double the cost of a KWH to make money. That's the ticket you're most comfortable with.

Democrant--we haven't sold gulf products since june. wake up.

folk--hess has over 1300 gas stations, they drill for oil, ship it, refine it and ship it to their sites. at that sandwich location you compare us to, we buy exxon as a dealer which further puts us at a disadvantage. we are at $3.49 for regular gas at Christy's baranded sites--that's pretty competitive today. plus a 10cent per gallon discount if you pay cash today. look--we post our prices everyday. if you think we try hard with gas and other products shop with us. if you rant about everything we do shop somewhere else, life is too hard and short to bitch all the time. have a nice day.

There you go again smahcemp, getting insulting and personal again.

Congratulations to the great State of Rhode Island for going deep water and away from the hazzards posed by Cape Wind. done right, these alternative energy projects will play a significant role in the future of our country.

no offense at all---and I appreciate your past piece on them. We have other sites we are installing them and other tubines at. When we see the best for our limited application we'll make a decision. Solon---honest story. We had a store in Andover and Jay Leno's mum and dad were great customers of the Christy's---so my wife Anti and I are in LV in the late 80s at a trade show and we meet Jay Leno who at the time was an up and coming comic. When we were introduced he went wild in that his mother always sent him to the store to get groceries and he had was naming our people at the store who were nice to him and his parents. He is a wonderful story and its great to see his success. Thanks for mentioning us in the same piece. All the best---

have never been contacted by Ms. Amsler for any information; never. If that is all the town will permit, that's all you get Solon; it is what it is. have permits for more installations.
again--no good deed goes unpunished.

thanks Fleetcar,MAV, Possee We will do our best every day to earn your business. look, everyone is frustrated and angry and frankly a bit frightened about the state of this economy and our way of life. These are not good times. But at the end of the day, its still a great place to live, all we have to figure out is how to get rid of the corruption in the state and we'll all be OK. hand in there. christy

Mr Smahkeep---please stop---you're embarassing yourself. your personal insults from a courageous person hiding behind a label is something to behold. you can not be an adult. some kid just mouthing off and insulting people no end. you must be a real success.

spahkcep---you're not worth good time.

smahkcemp--or whatever the name you hide behind---you always get personal and insulting when people don't see it your way. That's the real rub in this debate. Just deal with the facts and let Cape Wind be transparent in all their dealings. no secrets--its the people's ocean we're dealing with.

not a chance on the industrial plant on the people's ocean. If you liked the Big Dig, you'll love Cape Wind. its so Wall Street though--give a private developer 25 square miles of ocean propert, and a billion in government handouts to produce energy at twice the inflated price we on the cape are now paying. AND--stay with the mantra that it will supply the cape's elecricity. now that Leaman Brothers is gone, and GE does not offer the Turbine CW has chosen, what next for CW. This is Wall Street and Government at its worst. Its Sunday and I'm off to church so have a wonderful Indian Summer day.

we will retain an engineer to compile and share all the information. we have three more stores to finish this year so we do believe in alternative energy sources. we are also going to seek solar panels for our Ocean Street store as it is set perfect for that source of energy. Stand by for the information to come. As for the smaller turbine at the west yarmouth site, and soon to be 156 Iyannough Rd. Hyannis, the local standards pretty much mandate that is all we're able to do. We'd like to be up higher but to no avail. thanks for asking !!

the cut in diesel price helps small businessmen and women with diesel vehicles. Look at it this way. today congress and the Bush adminstration agreed to bail out the fat cats on wall street. hundreds of billions of our money. At the same time, oil went up $7.92 per barrel---my cost went up .12 for regular and diesel too. As for Hess---buy it there. we can not compete with them. we're just too small. Again, they have 1350+ stations, and we have 12. They buy contracts months in advance. that's why they made $600+million in the quarter and exxon who we buy from made $18 Billion. That's why walmart can sell for less than we can buy it. its called class of trade and its the bane on small business existence. One day, I'd like to take on the practice in federal court because in no time there will be no small bricks and mortar businesses. thanks for the comments though--its instructive and great information to have. we'll try to do better.

no good deed goes unpunished!!! do you believe for one moment we buy gas at the same price and terms as Hess? they have 1300 locations, they drill for it, refine it ship it and market it.could you be that stupid? we have 12 locations, the stop and shop promotion has cost us a fortune. just to do the accounting for over 250,000 coupons and purchases we hired two people. can you really be that unaware of what it takes to run a small business in this state.