The stars at night are big and bright...

The stars at night are big and bright...
The stars at night are big and bright...

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Get off the road, Tex!


I ran across this story the other day. They are moving the Big Tex neon sign to the State Fair permanently.

I actually used to manage the Centennial at Stemmons & Walnut Hill where Big Tex was. It was the 1st liquor store entering Dallas on 35 from the North. Not the World's best location. Sure you grabbed a lot of customers from the dry areas to the North, but you also had untold numbers of homeless/bums that lived in the woods and under the bridges you had to contend with. 

I came this > < close to getting sliced open by a homeless guy trying to steal a bottle of champagne one night. He took a swipe at me with his knife but dropped the bottle he was hiding under his jacket when he did. He hauled ass after it broke. I hauled ass from working there shortly afterward.

I spent 72 hours there with no electricity. A rock truck ran off the road and for whatever reason, it was 3 days before we got power back. Ever run a busy retail metro retail location on calculators, pencils and paper? Ever do it for 3 days and play (unofficially) armed guard after closing? 

It was an interesting job, but I honestly loved the company and the owners. Corporate VPs were a different story. Unfortunately Centennial was sold by Vantex to an investment group in 2010 and within 2 years they filed for bankruptcy.

Read the full story at The Dallas Morning News.

1 comment:

an Donalbane said...

Ahh, not far from the Wild Turkey.

Also used to have a friend who managed an auto a/c compressor rebuilding business not far from there.

Glad to hear the sign will have a good home.