Mr. Grumpy Pedestrian vs. Colorado Wine Co.'s Chalkboard Sign

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Apparently, those innocuous sidewalk signs retailers place in front of their stores to attract customers are illegal; the city, however, is willing to look the other way unless someone complains. Franklin Avenue reports that this is precisely what happened at the Colorado Wine Co. in Eagle Rock: "Mr. Grumpy Pedestrian began his campaign against the sign rather passive aggressively—kicking it to one side for starters." Then it became less passive, as the CWC recounts:

"Polite confrontations posing questions like 'excuse me, sir, why do you do that' and 'are you angry at wine?' became pretty heated with quotes like 'all you people are only in it for the money!' and 'why should I have to walk on the side of the sidewalk! I want to walk down the middle and it's a free country!' In it for the money? Clearly he's never been in retail.'"

CWC received a notice from the city to remove the sign, which they did, until an employee "accidentally put the sign out the following week," and then the landlord was summoned Downtown. The issue was put to rest via a phone call. From Franklin Avenue: "The Colorado Wine folks have dubbed the guy 'Mr. Very Angry Irish Man.' MVAIM may soon find a new target of his ire: According to commenters on the Colorado Wine Co. site, the Coffee Table restaurant and bar up the street has started using a sidewalk sign as well."

Mr. Grumpy Pedestrian should just be happy CWC decided to plant its roots in that part of town. After all the articles about Eagle Rock as the next up-and-coming area, it's still rather nascent on the retail front with CWC a stellar standout.
· Colorado Wine Company's Great Chalkboard War of 2008 [Franklin Avenue]