“The Central West End just ain’t what it used to be in the old days when it was packed” wrote Elliot Davis, retired Fox2 anchor and reporter, posted on his Facebook page. He laments the closures of El Burro Loco, Culpepper’s, and Blue Mercury which replaced Coffee Cartel at Euclid and Maryland. The post received a lot of engagement, nearly 5,000 reactions and over 2,000 comments, many screaming “Crime! I never go there anymore, not safe! It was the spot in the 80s and 90s” (when crime in the city was WAY higher). Davis blames Covid closures for the decline, and it “just hasn’t been able to regain its footing.” He didn’t include any of the reportage on what happened to those places. Nor offers any data to back up his claims.
StlToday – El Burro Loco in Central West End owes over $350,000 in taxes, has been dark for days
Stl Mag – End of an era: The remaining Culpepper’s closes in metro St. Louis
Nicki’s Central West End Guide – The aftermath of June 24 fire at Euclid & McPherson
I’m loathe to bring attention to doomer posts like this, but it’s so very wrong; I couldn’t ignore it. Also it’s a part of a nationwide narrative that cities suck, have skyrocketing crime, and need to be saved, reflected in the comments to Davis’ post, justifying invasion and occupation. A narrative which needs to be confronted and dismantled.
I’ll concede the loss of Coffee Cartel was not good for the CWE’s vibrancy. I myself miss Llywelyn’s as my go-to CWE place. The fire at Euclid and McPherson in 2022 was a blow, though Session Taco has recently reopened. The Culpepper’s space is now part of an expanded St. Louis Chess Club. A lesson on the advantages of the fine-grained development pattern and the use diversity destruction in successful places that Jane Jacobs talked about, not a sign of a struggling CWE.
However the numbers don’t agree with the doomer narrative. The CWE Business CID which covers Euclid from Lindell to Washington collects an additional 1% sales tax. Thanks to data from the Missouri Department of Revenue we can see how things are going.
| Year | Taxable Sales and Use |
| 2017 | $87.826M |
| 2018 | $86.13M |
| 2019 | $86.37M |
| 2020 | $53.22M |
| 2021 | $68.61M |
| 2022 | $90.37M |
| 2023 | $97.98M |
| 2024 | $98.93M |
The area has recovered from the pandemic and is doing fine. There’s been inflation of course, but there’s also been a loss of square footage due to the fire and Chess Club expansion. Davis substituted “the good ole days” nostalgia for actual research and presenting a fuller picture. I sure miss Llywelyn’s, 34 Club too; friends and I had many good times there back in the day, but it doesn’t mean the area is struggling today. Maybe it’s time to retire again Mr. Davis, or next time just say, “I miss Coffee Cartel. We need something like that again” and leave it at that.
