The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, February 07, 1996, Image 3

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    Februar
The Battalion
Wednesday
February 7, 1996
Aggielife
Page 3
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Roadhouse: Bar faces end of the road
Continued from page 1
Todd Prewitt, co-owner of the Roadhouse, said
he is meeting with a friend this afternoon to de
termine if he is willing to take the risk and invest
in the bar.
“He is a friend from Dallas who is in the
restaurant business,” Prewitt said. “There is no
guarantee; the odds are up in the air. He will
tell me whether we have a chance. He will at
tract money from other sources. It will basically
be an OK stamp for other investors to come in.”
The financial problems stem from a combina
tion of high operation costs and a lack of a lunch
and afternoon crowd, Prewitt said.
Operating a business on Northgate is more
expensive than on other property in town be
cause of rent and property taxes. However, Pre
witt has confidence the food the Roadhouse
serves is the best on Northgate and hopes to
have a second chance to prove it.
“If we get the go-ahead, it will not happen
overnight,” Prewitt said. “We need help from
everyone, especially with the purchase of food.
“We need a lunch crowd. It is a volume issue. I
believe if you take the menus of every place on
Northgate and compare them, our food would
win. We might switch the style, but it will be the
same quality. We just need to get the ratios up.”
A second problem that Prewitt, like most
businessmen, has to face is the competition.
With over 12 restaurants and bars on Northgate
and in the vicinity, competition for any business
on Northgate is vicious.
“We figured it would take one-and-a-half-to-
two years to get up and going,” Prewitt said.
“We lost a little more this year.
“We jumped in with two feet in the cement
with the big boys. The competition is steeper on
Northgate because we have to convince people
to drink or eat here as opposed to where they
usually go.”
The King of the Roadhouse opened on Feb. 3,
1994. The Roadhouse is the only Aggie-owned
and operated establishment on Northgate.
The goal for co-owners, Prewitt and his
brother, Ray, and Thom Bartkowski and his
wife Jen, was not to become instantaneously
rich but instead to create an environment in
which Aggies would be comfortable.
“This is not here for us, but everyone else,” Pre
witt said. “You can walk in here and say, ‘It’s my
bar.’ It is kind of the Cheers of College Station.
“Everyone who hangs out here knows
everyone else. It is the most friendly at
mosphere that I have been in. It is rare
that customers care about the bar
they frequent and that the bar
cares about the customer.”
Exit 68, a local band, will play
tonight at the Roadhouse benefit.
The band will start playing at 10
p.m., and there will be a $3 cover
charge. All proceeds will benefit the
Roadhouse.
“Our first gig was here,” Hans
Betlen, a senior agricultural develop
ment major, said. “They helped us out,
so it is our turn. We put fliers up all
over campus in hopes to get the word
out. This was supposed to be an off
week, but we want to help out.”
Not only is the Roadhouse Aggie-owned
and operated, but it was also built by Ag
gies. No construction crews were brought in.
Instead, the place was stripped down, and
people volunteered to scavenge for the
wood that panels the walls.
“I’m a member of Alpha Phi
Omega ,and we helped build
it,” Marie Kuebel, a junior bio
medical engineering major,
said. “We have lunch there
every Friday. The original
owners were members of
APO, and it would be a
shame to see it shut down.
It is kind of like our St. El
mo’s Fire.
“It is one of the places that
plays country music that I can
stand to be in for more than 20
minutes. I like the ambiance and
friendliness. Everyone knows
everyone else.”
The decor has always
been thought of as unique,
and it fits no specific
theme. Bartender John Wes-
selmann, a senior business management major,
describes the decor as an “airplane crash in the
middle of a saloon.”
Whether or not the Roadhouse closes, people
will always remember it as the place where they
spend the better part of their college career.
“Where else would we go?” Diana Houghton,
a junior environmental design major, said. “The
atmosphere, the music and the fact that any
thing goes makes it a great place to hang out. It
will always hold a special place in my heart.”
Exotic gifts, peaceful atmosphere make EarthArt distinct
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"/don't think
there's another
store like us in
this whole area.
We bring things
from all over the
world that are
different and
unusual."
—Hazel Todd
owner of EarthArt
By Tab Dougherty
The Battalion
G alveston has The Strand.
Austin has Sixth Street.
Texas A&M has North-
gate and, unknown to most,
downtown Bryan.
The revitalization of down
town Bryan is in effect. With nu
merous specialty shops and
restaurants, Bryan has the po
tential to be the next cultural
mecca of the Brazos Valley.
One of these speciality shops
in downtown Bryan is EarthArt,
owned and operated by Hazel
and Eric Todd.
“EarthArt is a store that spe
cializes in jewelry and gifts
from all over the world,” Hazel
Todd said.
She said EarthArt, which
opened in October ’91, was start
ed because her husband liked to
collect rocks and minerals.
“We found out that there was
an opening for some artists in a
co-op in downtown Bryan,” she
said. “Then it just sort of grew
from there.”
She said downtown Bryan is a
good place for the store.
“I like it downtown,” she said.
“I like the old buildings and the
atmosphere down there. It’s qui
et down there”.
Hazel Todd said EarthArt has
many unique art objects from
countless countries.
“Basically, what we do is buy
things that are interesting to us
and that we really like, and we
just hope other people like them
too,” she said.
She said she hopes to bring
something different to the
Bryan-College Station area.
“I don’t think there’s another
store like us in this whole
area,” she said. “We bring
things from all over the world
that are different and unusual.
A lot of people say that they
have to travel out of town or
buy from catalogs to get the
kind of things that we carry.”
Marty Farrell, a sophomore
chemistry major, comes to
EarthArt for the atmosphere.
“We really need a store like
EarthArt here,” he said. “It’s
like a breath of fresh air from
the same old stuff.”
See EarthArt, Page 4
Texas A&M Memorial Student Center
Committee for the Awareness of
Mexican American Culture
Presents
Rio Bravo
Ballet
The Rio Bravo Ballet tells us the
stories of the inhabitants of both sides
of the Rio Grande, from pre-Colombian
times through the present.
DATE: Friday February 9,1996
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
PLACE: Rudder Auditorium
COST: $7.00 students
$9.00 non-students
*For ticket information, contact the MSC Box
Office at 845-1234.
*For information concerning Rio Bravo contact
Michelle Alvarado at the MSC Student
Programs Office, 845-1515
Persons with disabilities please call 845-1515 to inform us of your
special needs. We request notification three (3) working days prior
to the event to enable us to assist you to the best of our abilities.
YT
mum
STUDENT
FOUNDATION
presents
lAfight
< Zony ® arone
Wednesday February 7, 1996
7:00 p.m. • 206 MSC
EVERYONE IS
WELCOME!!!
Free giveaways include tickets to
The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Basketball Games.
Amy Browning, The Battalion
EarthArt prides itself in having merchandise from all over the world.
• frames • sweatshirts • boxers • calendars • cards • posters • t-shirts • caps ^
SWEATSHIRTS
starting at $19.99 }
LONO SLEEVE SHIRTS f
• starting at $14.99 |
X -ry
-O 2
| *Come check out our new A&M T-Shirts f
| phone 764-4444 at Post Oak Mall |j
• frames • sweatshirts • boxers • calendars • cards • posters • t-shirts • caps •
COLLEGE STATION SUMMER
DAY CAMP JOBS AVAILABLE
Positions available:
Junior Camp: k, 1st, and 2nd graders. Eight positions, full-time.
Senior Camp: 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Nine positions, full
time. Full-time staff work 40 hours per week, M-F.
lob Description: Staff is responsible for providing a safe and
enjoyable atmosphere for the campers, required to plan activities
that are creative and exciting, and must be positive role models.
Staff is responsible for clean-up and care of site and equipment.
Beginning pay is $5.35/hr. Camp will run June 3, 1996 thru
August 9,1996 - 10 weeks total.
Requirements: Fun personality, lots of energy, love and under
standing of children, CPR and First Aid certification. Must be 16
years of age or older.
Applications available at College Station Community office.
Address: 1812 Welsh, Suite 120
College Station, TX
Phone #: 764-5430
Applications must be turned in to
the Community Ed. office by February 23.