For the second time this year, Jumpin Jupiter owner Jim Callahan received a business license revocation notice, then paid the overdue state taxes to keep the doors open.
Callahan didn't show up at a business license revocation hearing on Tuesday, and the city revoked his license. City Manager Marty Corcoran gave Callahan until 5 p.m. Friday to show proof that taxes have been paid.
Jumpin Jupiter partner Brandy Dunn came in person to city hall at 4:35 p.m. to ask if a fax would do the job, and Corcoran told her he had to have proof in his hand by 5 p.m.
A fax from the state arrived at city hall at approximately 4:50 p.m. Friday.
Dunn had no comment at the time.
Callahan posted a photo from Jefferson City this afternoon on his personal Facebook page and said the doors would be open tonight.
Callahan avoided being closed in late June when he owed the state $28,000, but paid the amount to stay open.
Also in Patch:
I assume that a review of current zoning compliance by the council is ultimately triggered by complaints to City Hall. Does anybody know what form those complaints should take?
Now I'm not eager to see a business in Maplewood close, nor do I want to see an empty storefront at a busy intersection in our entertainment district. In addition, the owners have obviously invested a lot of cash and sweat equity in their business, but they are obviously scofflaws who think the rules don't apply to them. He skipped a hearing as a delay tactic. Calling it a "misunderstanding," as he did on his FB page, is specious at best. He knows how much sales tax revenue he collects every night, and he knows he's supposed to surrender those funds to the state. Plus, I've seen burlesque and erotic shows done tastefully, and the JJ ain't it. They belong downtown or on the Landing, not here, and that's assuming that the owners are savvy enough to compete and survive in a more competitive and appropriate environment. It seemed like a good idea in the beginning, and I questioned his business plan of relying on one vendor (i.e., Lola) to book all his similarly themed shows, but it has devolved to a lowest-common-denominator establishment that legit performers should (and seemingly do) avoid.
Jim is a rich kid from Wildwood. He may've invested money but not sweat-equity. He had unpaid interns from his studio put most of the sweat into it. The kids had to comply because in order to complete their college degree programs, they needed to fulfill an internship program and were unlucky enough to contact him for the privilege of interning at his studio. Once they accepted, they were essentially his personal slaves. He had them do his laundry, clean his car, and yeah... remodel the old Jive and Wail into his new Jumpin Jupiter.
Carol the Jumpin Jupiter is a mixed performance venue focusing primarily on the art of Burlesque and Vaudeville however they also have comedy troupes, live bands, and other performances on a regular basis in the venue. Although yes there was some controversy over a few of the shows performed this summer I can say first hand that all of their new shows are 100 percent burlesque. These shows being the "Razzle Dazzle" show and "The Absinthe Follies" both of which recently had their closing nights. They have already debuted their Christmas Show and will be debuting the other new show the "Speakeasy Cinema Burlesque" both of which are again true burlesque. Being nearly 50 years old I can tell you that I have seen a wealth of different burlesque troupes along the way and these shows are some of the best in Saint Louis rivaling yes even Lola. In fact I would say these shows are actually THE BEST in Saint Louis because these performers truly love what they do, have AWESOME attitudes and don't have the chip on their shoulder like Lola and her crew do. The taxes thing was truly a misunderstanding, again I spoke with the owners and it was a screw up in the state's online filing system which has been corrected.
Mr. Miner is being a good reporter, and I see no bias in his coverage of this story. To be perfectly honest, I find the whole thing fascinating because I can't recall anything like it in town before. When a business that specializes in T&A in this part of town continues to have problems with the city, that's called news. Especially when the owner owes many thousands of dollars in rent and taxes and fails to show up for city hearings to which he has been summoned. I'm surprised that only Patch is covering this story. But since you seem to have the inside track with the owner, how about clearing the air and explaining this misunderstanding further? How does a business fail to make tax payments twice in the same year?