Jimmy J's Espresso cart, a decade-long Southwestern College institiution, has dropped its tarps for the last time and gone out of business.
James Jansen (Jimmy J), 62, received 30-day notice in August to pay $11,885 in back rent or vacate the spot rented by the Associated Student Organization (ASO). Student government officials said they wanted to try to work something out, but Jansen complained that the ASO was uncooperative.
"Well it looks like we are going out of business," said Jansen. "I have had trouble with the ASO in the past. I have been trying for the past two years for a renewal of contract. You try to make a living, and every year a new ASO comes in, and they tear you apart."
Jansen was on a month-to-month contract with the ASO. Cart rental fees are $2,500 a month. Monies from the rental space collected by the ASO sponsor student programs and events.
Jensen sent a letter to the outgoing ASO in February asking for a renegotiation of three specific conditions of the contract. They were:
1) Any closure of five consecutive business days, for any reason, planned or unplanned, will result in a corresponding percentage lowering of fees owed for that period.
2) Rental fees for a period with less than 75 percent of the student body (summer session), will be adjusted to the corresponding percentage.
3) Coupons given out by the ASO each semester should be only for the cart only.
"My businesses are dependent on student population and the number of days the campus is open to students," said Jansen. "My old contract with the ASO allowed prorating when SWC was not in session. Things have changed since then."
Jansen said he went to the newly elected members concerning the cart.
"The whole time I am continuously talking to them, to do my best to resolve this situation and then again, they promised me another meeting," he said.
Derrick Dudley, ASO vice president for club affairs, said that getting a meeting together with a new and not completely filled ASO was a difficult task.
"It took time to arrange a meeting with enough members to make a fair decision," he said.
Dudley said there were a few items that concerned the ASO when discussing the cart's financial position with Jansen.
"He could not provide any specific accounting information for the business," said Dudley. "He only had a fist full of bank statements and a calendar with estimated revenues for the cart, and he did not keep separate records for the cart and Tradewinds. Jansen told us that he was not very good as a businessman and admitted that he probably would not be able to pay the past due amount."
Dudley said that the amount in arrears went well into the spring semester. That showed that his revenue and cost were not sufficient to run even during the peak sessions at SWC.
"I know that he has been a part of SWC for a long time," said Dudley. "We could not consciously consider this request with his arrears running so far into the peak seasons. It seemed to us that he was not completely aware of his financial status and he did not project the future."
Jansen said that the ASO has refused to communicate with him in this matter.
"They never responded to any of my demands or requests, but what they did send me was this," he said. "A 30-day notice. The worst thing about all of this is their cold heartedness of their operation. I have been with them for over 10 years and given them over $200,000. I could have shut down the cart completely for the summer session."
Dudley said that the vote was unanimous. He said student representatives had inherited this problem and he wished that this ASO had been able to get involved earlier.
"We hope that Tradewinds and any other endeavors that Jimmy does is successful," said Dudley. "It is unfortunate that he got put behind the 8-ball with rent. It came down as a decision of constant revenue. We made this decision for the students, which is where these funds go. That is what we are here for."
Jansen said at the meeting ASO members compared his contract with him to a mortgage.
"They tell me it is just like a mortgage, but it is not," he said. "It is a business that fluctuates along with the fluctuation of the constant changing school schedules. The administration understands that with Tradewinds."
Jansen said that he was going to do his best to beef up Tradewinds and do his best with what he has left. He said that the ASO has nothing to lose here and that he does not think that he deserved to be shut down. Five employees lost jobs and he said he faces losing everything, perhaps even bankruptcy.
"Unless they put something spectacular in its spot, they are going to run into the same problems," he said. "You don't just say we're going to cut off his rancheros and say we are going to try to work with someone new and make some more money. It is one of those times where the world falls apart right in front of you."
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