'Last Place' Owner Seeks Backup Location for His Store
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Photojournalist:
DULUTH - Customers lining up and funneling in Friday morning was just a snapshot of how busy one day can be at Last Place on Earth.
Because each day’s sales are important to the shop's owner, he said he was thinking ahead.
"I think of worst case scenarios and what do I need to do and I get ready for it," Last Place on Earth Owner Jim Carlson said.
Carlson is getting ready for the possibility of the court deciding that his business is a public nuisance.
It could mean the business would be forced to shut down.
However, Carlson said it would only apply to his current address.
"We've talked to other people about relocating," Carlson said. "We'll call around and see who's willing to rent to us and what prices and everything else so we're all set to go if something were to come down, we'd open the next day."
The thought of Last Place continuing to operate does not excite Duluth's police chief.
"Obviously it's been probably our biggest problem over the past two years," Duluth Police Chief Gordon Ramsay said.
Chief Ramsay said that if the business moved, it would not stop his department from pursuing Carlson and his customers.
"If the problems are the same, absolutely, and if he's selling illegal substances we'll be all over it," Ramsay said.
But, Carlson maintains that his products are legal and said there is no reason for people to be alarmed.
"One person whines about something and they want to take it from everybody else and people gotta learn to be more tolerant," Carlson said.
Carlson said he would like to find his backup location within a week, preferably downtown along a bus line.
