Last Place on Earth Owner: I'm Not to Blame for Closed Businesses
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DULUTH - Downtown Duluth's Catherine Imports has already announced it'll shut its doors for good at the end of the year, which makes them the third business in the past five years, including The Sandpiper and Torke Weihnachten, to pull away from Superior street.
Workers at the boutique shop say one of the reasons forcing them to end business is because of loiterers believed to be coming from Last Place on Earth.
Last Place owner Jim Carlson doesn't see it that way at all.
"Sandpiper's already gone out of business, before I even started selling this product, because of lack of sales, so it had nothing to do with me" said Carlson.
FOX 21 also talked with nearby business managers from other establishments along Superior Street. They all chose not to go on camera or even have their names mentioned out of fear of retaliation from people who shop at Last Place.
They did say Carlson's head shop has and still is greatly impacting their businesses and costing them money.
Carlson isn't backing down and even goes as far as to blame the problem on the liquor industry.
"It’s not my customers causing the trouble, it's the alcoholic people panhandling that they just can’t get rid of… It’s every month we are adding new liquor establishment in this town, and the bottom line is, is Colorado and Washington state have shown by their voting that not everyone wants to drink" said Carlson.
Friday at 10 a.m. will be another big day involving Carlson and the City of Duluth. They'll be in court again, but so will business leaders and President of the Duluth area Chamber of Commerce David Ross.
Ross says they'll be packing the courtroom because the business leaders are tired of the "shenanigans" happening at Last Place on Earth.
