We republish this bit of commentary from 2007 in light of the latest developments surrounding the Vale-Rio Diner in Phoenixville. As the Philadelphia Inquirer reported today, owner Frances Puleo, the guy that removed the diner from its long-time location has posted the diner on Ebay for a cool quarter mil. 

PHOENIXVILLE, PA -- It's official: owner Francis Puleo wants to replace his landmark Vale-Rio Diner with a Walgreens and a Starbucks. Puleo, who owns the diner, the business, and the property, assured Roadside that he will move the historic diner to a new location within the borough. He alerted us last month to his plans, and this past week, he and his developer did indeed file plans for the new development. "You just can't make enough money in the diner business these days," he told us.

We note here that Puleo didn't say he was not making any money from the diner, just not enough. He also assured Roadside that his real estate company had a parcel available for the new location. We can't help but wonder if he couldn't make enough money in Vale-Rio's current prime location, how will he make enough money in a less desirable spot? We ask this knowing that it often takes a half-million dollars, or more, to move and set up a diner of this size. There's something funny floating in this cup of coffee.

Just to place this news in perspective, residents of Phoenixville tell us that they already have two drugstores along that stretch of Route 23 within a half-mile of his location. See for yourself: Click here.

But as we've seen in the past ten years, such quibbles matter little to the pharmacy juggernauts or the developers that cater to them. The Vale-Rio Diner is one of only four remaining Paramount diners with the burnished circle pattern in its stainless skin. In our general observations of this business over the past two decades, any closing and removal of a diner to storage immediately endangers it. We don't like the odds of this one ever reopening. .

At Mr. Gutman's talk, the Chamber handed out these sheets that encouraged you to "Build your own Skee's Diner." In about five years, this may be all we have left of it. Click on the image to see a full size version. 

The Waterbury Republican-American recently reported that the project to move Skee's Diner, renovate it, and reopen it as a welcome center just increased in price to an even $400,000, up from $375,000. I could hear the collective groans of the unemployed of northwestern Connecticut from here.

I stopped at the 90-year-old diner last year to check on its general condition. Just driving through the area, I had wondered how eight years of disuse and controversy had treated the old girl. Not long afterward, someone involved with the project to move and restore the diner contacted me in response to the article inspired by that visit, where I laid out my five-year prediction for Skee's ultimate demise.

Eventually, this person asked me to speak at a planned gathering and perhaps give a little pep talk about the diner's prospects and possibly sway some of the thinking behind the plans. Scheduling conflicts forced me to cancel, and Richard Gutman took my place. From the reports that I received after his visit, it looks like I made the right decision — at Mr. Gutman's expense.

Oil spill got you down, Bunky? Seeing all those pictures of pelicans covered with muck just making you sick? Are you asking yourself, "Why won't someone do something about this?" or maybe screaming "Those crooks at BP need to be thrown in jail!"

Do you sit behind the wheel of your car idling in a traffic jam during your morning commute listening to the news on your radio, and all it seems to have is one story after another of this disaster unfolding, and it just gets you more and more depressed?

And are you thinking that maybe we should all just boycott those evil bastards at BP to teach them a lesson?

Is that what's getting you down, Bunky?

As usual, the media, the president, and the general population have completely managed to avoid the most salient aspect of this horrific disaster, which simply is this:

If you have bought into the lifestyle that you cannot maintain without the use of your automobile, then you are a part of this problem. That oil well out there might just as well have your name on it. 

Nobody but Doc Goode really knows why he's closing his diner. Unfortunately, he's yet to give anyone an answer that makes any sense.

For those not following this too closely, Doc Good, the owner of the Little Gem Diner in Syracuse, New York started making noises about six months ago that he needed to expand his diner or he would have to sell it and leave. Not long after that, he used the local media to announce his intention to sell his 52-seat restaurant for $399,000. As explained in a story run on a Syracuse TV station:

To find the root of the diner's problem, all you have to do is walk into the 52 seat eatery on a weekend morning. Every seat is filled and people are lined out the door.

"I had to turn away 60 people away that came and wanted breakfast," said Good talking about the crowd that waited outside his diner a couple weeks ago.

Am I missing something? Apparently in Doc's diner bizzaro world, he has a problem when every seat in his diner is filled. Most diner owners I've met set full capacity as their goal.

Update 3/4/10: After further consideration, I've decided that I erred in the use of Ms. Vance-Kuss's photo. For that I apologize. I do, however, stand by my comments about the practice they depicted.
Update: Ms. Vance-Kuss has responded to my commentary here.

I came across this Flickr post and this accompanying photograph by way of a LifeHacker mention, and soon became pretty horrified at what I saw. A "clever" photographer/collector named Jacki Vance-Kuss had found troves of old Kodachrome slides and decided it'd be neat-o to make a curtain out of them and hang them over her windows. Ms. Vance-Kuss gives us an example of her handiwork in this photo which she has shared with the world via Flickr, Makezine, and Lifehacker.

I've bought and found such troves as well, though not nearly as many as I wish. I enjoy them for not only their imagery, but also for their potential historic value. In a pile of images, you simply never know when you might be the owner of an important clue that would solve a mystery, end a controversy, or simply give inspiration in my daily work as a designer.

Hanging them out in the sun, as this Ms. Vance-Kuss proposes, may seem cute and fun, but before too long, the practice destroys the image forever. I'm happy to admit that this might seem like a good, cheap way to simulate the effects of a stained glass window, but it's easily accomplished with your own roll of slides exposed to mundane images in your own back yard.

So, people, please, if you come across a pile of old photos and/or slides, and you don't want them or would like to see them in the hands who might really appreciate them for what they are, by all means, send them along to me. I will take care of them and put them to good use.

Read the thread here.