What is the deal with this ghetto giant at Tucker and Wash Ave. Will is ever disappear... it is such a disgrace for the neighborhood.

I disagree - Gus's is an institution and a very successful business. He is also one of our city's great characters. I had heard that he was purchasing a building on Locust to move his store, but I don't know if he's still going through with it.



I hope Gus is around for a long time. His current store could use some improved signage, windows, etc. but until the building is sold, we won't see any improvements made to it.

DeBaliviere wrote:I disagree - Gus's is an institution and a very successful business. He is also one of our city's great characters. I had heard that he was purchasing a building on Locust to move his store, but I don't know if he's still going through with it.



I hope Gus is around for a long time. His current store could use some improved signage, windows, etc. but until the building is sold, we won't see any improvements made to it.

I agree on all points. Gus obviously has a market and serves it well. He is more successful than many of the more trendy retail estabs on Washington Avenue, I would assume... because ol' Gus is still there!



I would, too, like to see improvements made to physical store, but until the future of Lesser-Goldman comes into focus, then, as DeBaliviere mentions: no improvements will be made. Not that the future of that building includes Gus anyway.

It would be a huge loss for St. Louis to lose Gus. He's an institution. Hell how many other stores do we have that get mentions in NWA songs? If Gus must move - I would welcome him to the loop with open arms.

Disgrace to the neighborhood? Quite the opposite. A successful urban retail district has a mixture of business that cater to diverse shoppers. If Washington Avenue was strictly high-end furniture stores, trendy nightclubs, art galleries and expensive restaurants, it would be bland and uninteresting. Gus's is a mainstay and adds color. If only Amitin's, Knickerbocker, and Goodman's were able to hang on...

Keep the store, but you guys have to admit... it doesn't look very pretty from the outside. When its closed up you can't tell if its abandoned or just closed for the night.

A little grit never hurt anybody. I hope downtown is able to maintain at least a little bit of grit amidst the renaissance. One thing I love about St. Louis is that it feels so real and weathered. The biggest disgrace would be to make it squeeky-clean a la Minneapolis. It would lose a part of its soul.

Oh my god, anybody who thinks Gus's is bad for the neighborhood hasn't been there. It would be a TERRIBLE loss if he ever left downtown. Not everything in a city has to be pretty and nice. This is the CITY-- it should be allowed to have some seedy characteristics. Gus is a wonderful guy and a very colorful character. I don't like the mentality that everything has to be all prettied up just because the neighborhood is getting more popular. Let the city be the city.

Not everything in the city has to be "nice", but we have plenty of things that aren't and not enough that truly is. We are talking about DOWNTOWN--the part of the city that should be the most majestic of all. Even the nicest places on Washington Avenue don't reflect how nice they are on the outside of the building as much as it does on the inside. I think the best places should have great signs, lights, and banners. We don't have enough of this to reflect the greatnest going on within the buildings. Its a fine store, and I think it adds to the community. I just think that the outside of it looks shabby. Yeah, keep some grit. But I think its high time that we start seeing some outdoor glitter, too.

I guess I should rephrase my thoughts.

I never like to see a business go under or close - especially in the city.

However, I personally find Gus' an eyesore and many of the people that tend to "hang" around the orner there are a bit intimidating.

I would hope that the store will revitalize like the neighborhood around it. It looks terrible if you ask me.

does anyone know if Gus' will remian? I'd really hate to lose Gus.

Gus's was supposed to move from Wash Ave to 9th & Locust, but that was over two years ago. They even had a "Moving Sale" last year, but he never left. Now that there is renovation work going on at the building, his move is almost certain.



Slightly different topic...



The St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase featured a documentary about Gus Torregrossa which one first place. I was at the original screening and it was AMAZING!!! This guy is such a character and sooooooo St. Louis. I urge you all to see the doc before drawing conclusions about Gus or his store. Washington Avenue will lose a landmark if Gus's leaves his current location, you can be sure of that.

markofucity wrote:Hell how many other stores do we have that get mentions in NWA songs?

DJ Quick too.....

Just curious ... and admittedly off topic ... who is DJ Quick? Is he from the Beat?

markofucity wrote:Just curious ... and admittedly off topic ... who is DJ Quick? Is he from the Beat?

Like many of his West Coast gangsta peers in the early '90s, DJ Quik's career began wonderfully before slowly descending with each passing year. In 1991, when a 20-year-old Quik debuted on Priority Records, West Coast gangsta rap reigned and his label controlled the rap industry. These factors, coupled with Quik's production abilities, resulted in a very successful debut album, Quik Is the Name. The album did well on the charts and won favor on the streets. Quik had become one of the rap industry's most promising talents. Like Dr. Dre, he embodied everything that characterized West Coast gangsta rap and he could both write, rap, and produce his own albums.



By the late-'90s though, when gangsta rap fell out of favor and Quik's albums began to sound increasingly predictable, many tagged the artist as a has-been, something that had happened to most early-'90s gangsta rappers. Rather than retire, Quik turned to production and reclaimed some of the glory he had experienced in the early '90s. He produced songs for such artists as Kurupt ("Can't Go Wrong"), Xzibit ("Sorry I'm Away So Much"), Eightball & MJG ("Buck Bounce"), and Truth Hurts ("Addictive"), with several songs being sizable hits.



While practically still a teenager, Quik began his rap career at the dawn of the '90s in Compton, CA, where he was born and raised alongside Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Eiht, Above the Law, and numerous other Los Angeles rap artists. Like many of these peers, he recorded for Priority Records. His debut, Quik Is the Name (1991), launched his career well, spawning two sizable hit singles: "Born and Raised in Compton" and "Tonight." The two songs charted Top 20 on Billboard's R&B chart, the latter even charting pop. The hits drove his album into the Top Ten on the album chart and Quik suddenly rose to the top of the rap industry at a very young age.



Unfortunately, his success went downhill from there. Quik released several successive albums throughout the '90s, but none of them came close to matching the success of his debut. By the early 2000s, most of his initial fans had long abandoned him and his releases became increasingly rare. Many criticized him for being formulaic, while others for lightening his style. Arista finally dropped him following the lukewarm reception given to his Balance & Options album (2000).



Despite these struggles, Quik excelled as a producer. Songs like "Buck Bounce" (Eightball & MJG, 2001) and "Addictive" (Truth Hurts featuring Rakim, 2002) became huge hits and Quik reclaimed much of the success that had long evaded him in the late '90s. He readied a comeback album, Under tha Influence, and began working with a variety of collaborators, most notably Dr. Dre. Furthermore, he abandoned his longtime West Coast style for a more unique sound that was very much his own. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

markofucity wrote:does anyone know if Gus' will remian? I'd really hate to lose Gus.

His business does pretty well in that area. Yeah, he should stay, but at the same time spruce up his building a bit cuz it looks like a dump.

wow - thats a hell of a response on the "quick question." I'm suprised I've never heard of him. Thanks.



As for Gus ... the city should hellp him relocate to a side street off washington. He is an institution and it would be a crime to lose him - but I just can;t see him handling the inevitabel rent increases that the new Wash Ave will bring. Plus we need to fill out the area. Once you get off Wash Ave - especially to the north - things get thin quick

DeBaliviere wrote:I had heard that he was purchasing a building on Locust to move his store, but I don't know if he's still going through with it.

An article in the St. Louis Business Journal mentioned today that the four-story building at 921 Locust Street that Gus Torregrossa had bought in order to relocate his business has been purchased by the Roberts Brothers. He bought it for $160,000 in 2001 and just sold it for $850,000. Gus evidently plans on retiring now and is letting his two sons find a new site to reloate the business.

I guess Gus could update his store front now. Congrats to him for not abandoning DT and getting rich doing so.

LOL

not abandoning downtown

His location -- ratty as he made the corner of Tucker and Washington -- was the soul of his business. It is unlikely that a Gus's in Kirkwood or St. Louis Hills would have had quite the same cred.

Deb Peterson says in the Sunday Post that Gus's son is taking over the business and moving it to The Creepy Crawl's space (312 N. Tucker).

I read in the RFT the Creepy Crawl is closing in February and plan on moving to a bigger space. Apparently Pyramid plans on putting a cyber-cafe or clothing store in its place.





>>Link to Story

Creepy Crawl owner Jeff Parks says he's been told a cyber-caf? and possibly a clothing boutique might be in the works for the building.

A clothing boutique? Could that be the same Gus' Fashions we know today?

^If it is Gus's, that's a definate issue of something being lost in translation. Maybe they are going to go with a different business plan. I would never call the current store a boutique. It's in a category of it's own.

I met Gus this weekend and WOW -- what a character!!! He's a short little guy with piercing blue eyes and a mouth like a sailor! He blends in perfectly with downtown... I'm glad that I had a chance to meet him before he moved on.



Yesterday was his last day of business, and he said that his sons will be opening a location behind creepy crawl.