Well that's it. The Webster's of 128 S. Allen St. is no more. Soon, the cafe and bookstore will have a new, albeit temporary, home in 121 S. Fraser St. Of course, as owner, Elaine Meder-Wilgus, noted during one of the community meetings designed to save the downtown cafe: "Webster's is not the building...it's the people that fill it." That remains true, but as Elaine and every Webster's patron knows, that does not mean that the upheaval is not a big deal. It matters. It matters because Webster's used to stand in the middle of Allen St. like an immovable rock of local business, the perfect counter-example to the argument that a community-centered establishment cannot stand in this brave new world of globalization. Unfortunately, that sentiment was nothing but a fiction: Webster's fell behind financially, and the landlord of a very valuable property made a financial decision. Business is business; it has to be about dollars and cents. It is pretty easy to understand, but as a local patron, difficult to take in.


Read on for the rest of my take...