Greencastle has a plethora of dining options that run a wide gamut of price, quality and style—you go to school here and probably know that, but I love general introductory sentences. In the past few years, the town has experienced a number of culinary shake-ups: the arrival of Myers’ Market, Anthony’s striking of the death blow to Humble Pie, the expansion of Casa, the closing of Chief’s and the impending arrival of Wasser. In response to this transformation, local business owners have offered up a quiet undercurrent of resentment for DePauw’s role in Greencastle’s Game of Restaurants—these local entrepreneurs back up Cersei Lannister’s claim that “you win or you die.”
Humble Pie was one of the first businesses to close during my DePauw tenure—the tacky and expensive Green Apple Frogurt and generally slow Blue Door Café preceded it. On the company’s Facebook page (no longer extant), the owner criticized the school for picking favorites—we do get a sweet Papa John’s discount. Management asserted that the school’s preference for certain restaurants, which comes in the form of low to zero rent and other incentives, allowed other businesses to survive when they otherwise should not have, creating subsidized competition for Humble Pie, who just could not keep up. While I believe this argument has some merit, it ignores the reality of Humble Pie’s business model: they had great pizza but sky-high prices ($20-plus for a large) and hours that simply didn’t work for college students (3:00-9:00 PM).
The most recent restaurant closure was Chief’s barbecue restaurant. Chief’s was one of my favorites, and I am still upset they have moved on. In its closing Facebook posts, the restaurant repeatedly referred to DePauw as “BIG BROTHER” and charged the University with shrinking the economic pie for businesses not under the school’s umbrella. In a follow-up post, the restaurant stated that it received support from numerous faculty, staff and students and did not blame DePauw exclusively for its closure; nevertheless, the school’s “BIG BROTHER” policies—probably the support of Wasser—were cited as a factor in Chief’s shuttering, along with an admission of general unprofitability. Here, I have sympathy for the local business: the school is heavily subsidizing a direct sit down restaurant competitor only a block away.
The school incentivizing restaurants is not entirely a bad thing. After all, Myers’ has close connections with the school, but it is beloved by student and townsperson alike. However, I recognize the outsize influence the school has over the local economy: businesses have shuttered due to DePauw’s support for their competitors. More businesses talk about closing; specifically, rumors have hinted at trouble for Almost Home. Whatever support the school does offer to associated businesses that seek to break into the Greencastle market, DePauw should be sure to keep these subsidies fair. Furthermore, preexisting local businesses should receive first consideration for the school’s helping hand. Win or die, we all need to eat.
McMurtry is a senior computer science and English literature major from Fort Wright, Kentucky.