Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 15, 1995 TAG: 9506150014
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SHEBA WHEELER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
All 16-year-old Lacie Klugel wanted was a haven free of the scrutiny and disdain of a more conservative public. A place where she could be herself and follow her own unique style of dress, characterized by combat boots, leather jackets and collars with steel spikes, or dark clothes, black lipstick and pacifiers.
She thought she had found it in a funky clothing shop on the corner of Jefferson Street and Campbell Avenue in downtown Roanoke called The Underground. The retail store was one of a kind, the only place in town offering body piercing, reflective soccer T-shirts, platform shoes and colorful hair dyes.
Klugel and her friends hung out there. Then, last month, it closed - and its clientele has been left hanging.
"You could sit and talk there and not get thrown out,'' said Klugel, who's from Roanoke. "We used to sit down at the Market in front of stores that had closed for the night, but cops kept an eye on us, especially 'cause we're teen-agers. They would run us off and say we couldn't sit there. Now that [The Underground] is gone, we'll have to just go back to the Market and have the cops throw us out again."
When Yvonne Wilbourn, 25, and Rob Burch, 28, opened the shop in the fall of 1993, their dreams of success in Roanoke were spurred by visions of a lucrative market: hip youngsters willing to buy anything different.
More than one of the shop's customers has suggested the goods were overpriced.
"How could the average person afford to shop there?'' asked Matt Crass, 18, of Rocky Mount. "It was a place where rich people could go to try and look poor."
And frequent shopper Carrie Shelton, a 16-year-old from Roanoke, said the store and its clothing lost their magic.
"I think they tried to put up this facade that they were cool and weren't trying to be trendy, but their stuff became really plastic," Shelton said. "At first, they were telling us to be yourself and just be cool; but after a while they started pushing this 'rave' thing, but I wasn't into that. They were commercializing our clothes, but I'm not bitter about it because [businesses] do it to everyone."
Nonetheless, things went well for the shop at first.
The landlord, Hong Ki Min, agreed to cut the owners' rent in half when they first leased the property, despite his doubts about the store's potential.
"It was a special, contemporary store, and I really didn't know if this kind of stuff would sell,'' Min said. "But they were good, hard-working people. It was a crazy-looking business, but there may have been some crazy-looking people [willing] to buy."
Wilbourn quickly came to understand most of her customers' like and dislikes, and the regulars knew her well enough to call her "Mother."
Though many of the students were unable to afford her prices, it did not bother Wilbourn to have them congregate in her store. But it bothered others, so much so that Wilbourn felt the need to put a sign in her window denying rumors that she advocated drug use and Satan worship.
"The signs they had up were true," Shelton said. "They weren't into drugs or Satan worshiping. Parents were just paranoid about the place."
Roanoke police said no complaints ever were made against the owners of The Underground for drug possession or distribution.
Officers have been known to ask groups of teens to leave the Market when the Roanoke Police Department receives complaints from other patrons and business owners, Maj. Don Shields said.
"We had received complaints that kids were amusing themselves and attempting to entertain others by doing body piercings, like piercing the tongue, in public," Shields said. "Though this is not against the law, several people did find this offensive. The kids are always real good about moving when asked."
When teen-agers - like Klugel and her friends - began to believe their presence (and their antics) in the Market was not wanted, many would look to The Underground for respite.
The store's situation took a turn for the worse at the start of the year. Wilbourn and Burch faced $1,800 in unpaid rent and growing credit card debts. Trying to keep the business afloat, the owners gave control of the shop's funds to an accountant. The accountant tried to pay off some past debts in January, Wilbourn said, but left little money to cushion the new year.
Mike Sirdah, owner of Night Lites Dining and Lounge downtown on Campbell Avenue, and loyal customers tried in vain to save The Underground when they held a benefit to raise money for the shop May 19. The owners collected $600 - but the amount was not enough to pay the bills.
Wilbourn and Burch were left with no choice. They closed the shop's doors and lowered the dark Venetian blinds.
"It hurts so bad to take it away from [the customers] ... to take it away from me, but things were becoming too hard. It was just becoming a mountain to climb," Wilbourn said.
Wilbourn said she will file for personal bankruptcy, using the money from the benefit to pay for her attorney. Burch declined to comment.
The fluorescent-orange murals of James Dean, Houdini and Einstein on the ceiling will be painted over. Personal messages from customers scribbled on the walls, peace symbols and signs like "Don't Label Me," will be forgotten.
"It will be missed," Wilbourn said. "I was in touch with the kids. They knew that when they walked into my store, they could expect to see and buy something totally different every time. Now they will have to travel out of town to find their clothes, because there's nothing in the malls here. Every T-shirt they purchase in the stores around town will be the same that everybody else is wearing."
by CNB