Copia closes without warning | Napa Valley Register

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Copia closes without warning

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The lights are out at Copia, which temporarily closed its doors on Saturday. Lianne Milton/Register | Buy photos
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The lights are out at Copia, which temporarily closed its doors on Saturday. Lianne Milton/Register | Buy photos

Temporary closure sign greets talent and ticket-holders alike

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Comment

By L. PIERCE CARSON and SASHA PAULSEN
Register Staff Writers

What should be done with the Copia building?

Copia Coverage

October 28th, 2009

Judge expected to approve Copia bankruptcy deal in November

October 3rd, 2009

Copia officially up for sale

August 15th, 2009

Copia bankruptcy maybe almost over

August 7th, 2009

Trespassers are run off, but birds feast on fruit at Copia

Chef’s collection moves from Copia to Smithsonian

July 26th, 2009

Copia plan goes to a vote

June 27th, 2009

Copia case moves along, with flash of anger

June 26th, 2009

Copia case moves along, with flash of anger

June 12th, 2009

A new suit in Copia case

June 7th, 2009

Hotel users may be key to revival of Copia

Sasha Paulsen articles

November 6th, 2009

Accident spurs DUI arrest in American Canyon

November 3rd, 2009

October 2009 DUI Report

November 1st, 2009

Video: .08 what does it take?

Tips to avoid a DUI

DUI: Paying the cost

Without warning, Copia — Napa’s cash-strapped wine, food and arts center — shuttered its doors Friday afternoon.

The sudden closure left patrons for the weekly Friday night film series out in the cold, mulling over a message, taped to the doors, that read: “Copia is temporarily closed.”

The sign referred visitors to the venue’s Web site. But as of Saturday afternoon, the Copia Web site offered no information on the closure. The site’s calendar page continued to list the canceled movie, as well as several other events throughout November.

Copia officials did not return calls seeking comment by Saturday afternoon.

In addition to Friday night’s film screening, a Saturday afternoon cooking demonstration and book signing by New York chef and restaurateur Andrew Carmellini and a Saturday night concert featuring singer Joni Morris were canceled.

Carmellini’s New York publicist told the Register that “Andrew got a call from Copia saying they’re shutting down for a few days due to an emergency and canceling his event.”

Morris, a country singer scheduled to perform Saturday night, said she’d traveled to Napa from her home in Stockton Friday to be get ready for her concert. She’d done a radio spot on KVON/KVYN early in the morning with Richard Miami, who has scheduled Copia’s entertainment, including films and concerts, since it opened. “We gave away tickets” for her concert, Morris said.

Friday evening, she said was “just enjoying myself shopping between 5 and 6” when she got a call from Miami.

“He said he’d just come out of a meeting at Copia and they were closing the doors of Copia immediately until further notice.”

Morris, who has toured the U.S. performing her tribute to the late country singer Patsy Cline, said she has never had a performance canceled on such short notice.

“I felt so bad for my following — people who I know had bought tickets and were traveling to see the show,” she said. “I was shocked. I didn’t want them to think it was anything I’d done.”

Morris is also responsible for paying the members of the four-piece band she had hired, who were traveling to Napa for the concert. “I was able to reach them in time, to tell them not to come,” said Morris, who returned to Stockton on Saturday. She said Miami gave her the number of officials at Copia to call for more explanation, but no one had called her back.

“I’ve never heard of anything like this,” the singer said.

The center for wine, food and the arts opened in November of 2001. The late vintner Robert Mondavi envisioned a celebration of the Napa wine world, as well as the culinary, visual and musical arts, and put up millions to get the center launched. The center has struggled financially from the start, losing millions of dollars a year. Despite several efforts to tweak or revamp its offerings, Copia CEO Garry McGuire and members of the center’s board of directors acknowledge that Copia faces $78 million in debt.

Even as the center’s financial troubles threaten to overtake it, Napa’s Oxbow District has begun to blossom around it, with tasting rooms, restaurants and the Westin-Verasa resort within walking distance.

Copia’s 12 acres include riverfront real estate on both the north and sides of the property. Last week, McGuire said the Copia property is for sale. He and Copia board member Joe Fisher said they hope to find a buyer who will allow the center to stay on the site.

61 comment(s)

krusty wrote on Nov 23, 2008 12:35 AM:

" Wow. I hope those people are able to get their money back. "

Demo Cracy wrote on Nov 23, 2008 7:39 AM:

" jeez. no mention of julias kitchen. what happened there? hf9th "

Project707 wrote on Nov 23, 2008 7:41 AM:

" Let this mark the end of extravagance and elitism in the Napa Valley, or the exact opposite of which it was! "

polsinelli wrote on Nov 23, 2008 7:42 AM:

" Obviously things are even worse than depicted. RIP COPIA; RITZ: OXBOW.. "

Kiddo Young wrote on Nov 23, 2008 8:20 AM:

" "Copia is temporarily closed." Haha! Awesome. Gee, the residents of Napa never saw THAT coming.

Can we make that the new location for our new movie theater now? After all, it'd be nice to go to a decent
movie theater in this town. The Cinedome 8 is a dump. I haven't been there since Edwards Theater opened in Fairfield. It would be a little less of my Napa County earned money going over to Solano County. "

merri wrote on Nov 23, 2008 8:27 AM:

" hey hey hey ha so long ...... parting is such sweet pleasure "

localmama wrote on Nov 23, 2008 8:30 AM:

" What is going to happen to my 401K??????????????????????? "

mafi wrote on Nov 23, 2008 8:31 AM:

" Tacky, just tacky copia! "

tfytmp wrote on Nov 23, 2008 8:48 AM:

" How the closing was done was in very bad taste. Copia should be given no "breaks" and if anything has been done wrong those involved must be punished to fullest extent of the law. As for the people, who paid to see the concert, Copia should pay them 10 times the cost of their ticket(s). "

pernodboi wrote on Nov 23, 2008 9:09 AM:

" My hopes and prayers go to everyone at Copia, Julia's Kitchen, and the Bistro who lost their jobs so quickly.

Joel and everyone else at Julia's Kitchen were doing a wonderful job and deserve better than to be given a days warning.

Pierce - Who was the bum that bought the building? We can let our collective displeasure known in a financial way.

I wonder how long before the new owner puts up cyclone fences around the parking lot and the grounds. I see another overgrown lot with lots of weeds in the future. "

amoderate wrote on Nov 23, 2008 9:54 AM:

" Garry Fisher and the Board should be tarred and feathered! "

yamamama wrote on Nov 23, 2008 10:50 AM:

" Wow, some of you (Merri, Kiddo Young, Project 707) actually sound happy that Copia failed. While Copia was never my cup of tea, I always hoped for its success. It hurts the city to see it close, and that is not good for any of us. "

napablogger wrote on Nov 23, 2008 10:59 AM:

" This is a huge blow to Napa and to the revival of downtown, Copia is in a critical spot. Hopefully there will be someone with the money and clout who can step up and do something with this building.

It needs a profit oriented owner instead of a volunteer board, it needs to make money and to adapt to whatever will make that happen. I think it also needs a clearer vision of what it is.

Any celebration over its demise is misplaced and rude. With $78 million in debt it is going to be tough to find a new owner.

But make no mistake about it, it is a key element in a key location downtown and the community needs to come together to solve it fast. "

jeeper16 wrote on Nov 23, 2008 11:11 AM:

" It's about time...Maybe the City of Napa will build something that the regular LOCALS can use. It's a shame that all these folks running the city do is cater to tourists and totally ignore the people who live here. Good riddance, COPIA! "

psoren wrote on Nov 23, 2008 11:19 AM:

" Another example of American excess and poor planning. Whoever thought they could spend $55 million on this failed project and adopt the following attitude:

"Our previous model was to hope people would come to us. That’s a tough way to run a business. You have to be much more proactive.” (NVR 9-27-08)

What school of business did these clowns attend? You spend $55 million and hope people come to you - try a major advertsising campaign you fools.

But I guess when it is not your money, who cares, right?

Let's hope no one is foolish enough to fund their San Francisco venture without an updated business plan. "

Napoli wrote on Nov 23, 2008 11:49 AM:

" The die was cast from the very beginning, when the board took out roughly $70 million in bond debt to build the building, but failed to raise a like amount to service the debt, as every other not for profit organization does in this situation (a bricks and mortar project with a combination of bond debt and a capital campaign). In fact they even failed to restrict the $55 million they did raise (including $25 million from Robert Mondavi) and allowed it to be depleted over roughly five years of annual operating deficits in the $5 million range. It was always just a matter of time.

The sad part is what it does to Robert Mondavi's legacy and the hard work and passion that so many talented and dedicated people put into the enterprise over the years.

By the way, the property is not Copia's to sell. It belongs to the bond holders and is controlled by the bond insurance company. "

SouthNapa wrote on Nov 23, 2008 11:52 AM:

" Copia is no big loss. People come to the Napa Valley to drink, not go to a "food and arts center" in a bad part of town. People with money stay in the hotels and immediately head Upvalley and get dru-- errrr, go "wine tasting".

I love how the CEO is hoping somebody will buy the property and keep the building in place. Uh huh, keep dreaming there. The bulldozers and wrecking balls will be tearing that place down the moment the property gets sold.

Copia may have had a chance to be successful if it had built along 29 near the wineries. The location (east of downtown, near the river) was a terrible choice and destined to fail. I won't shed a tear over this closing, but I do feel bad for the innocent employees of this epic failure. "

Newview wrote on Nov 23, 2008 11:54 AM:

" Perfectionism runamuck. It is no doubt a folly. It is our own journey to find gold and end with a handful of mica. Please pass the silverware as we stab the steally beast, welcome to Hotel Copia and it's radiant culture. Pass matches to all envolved, the blind leading the blind. "

Rob C wrote on Nov 23, 2008 12:11 PM:

" So ends an extraordinary lesson in hubris bookended by two brutal economic downturns. Its demise mirrors the decline and fall of the Mondavi empire in many ways.

That the posters here exhibit such schadenfreude is understandable - there will always be villagers at the ready with pitchforks and torches.

Yet they do have a point - creative destruction is now needed - the sooner current equity holders are wiped out, the sooner price discovery may occur, allowing planning for what's next to commence.

And while skating rinks, etc., are not likely, perhaps this location, and the adjacent Expo can build a master plan to the benefit of our community and the businesses (yes, that means wineries) that support its citizens.

So, I add my own good riddance's to what amounts to a lingering hangover of yesterdays flawed vision. "

Dirty Napkin wrote on Nov 23, 2008 12:16 PM:

" na na na na, na na na na hey hey hey good bye!

Never went there.. And its not a critical part of down town.. Its not really down town its across Soscol. "

bdnf wrote on Nov 23, 2008 1:03 PM:

" Every restaurant in the Bay Area I've ever known to close always had a sign saying they were "temporarily" shut. "

krusty wrote on Nov 23, 2008 1:36 PM:

" You should have given it a chance, Dirty Napkin. Maybe you wouldn't be so happy to see it gone. "

LoveOfNapa wrote on Nov 23, 2008 2:03 PM:

" When my wife and I moved from Napa, we new that Copia wouldnt survive. To much wine and not enough entertainment. I was shocked, but not surprised..RIP Copia..Yes a Movie Multiplex is needed in Napa... "

jwk wrote on Nov 23, 2008 2:11 PM:

" We better rush to get The Ritz here. And How about ANOTHER HOTEL, Restaurant and Tasting room!! You know the locals really Love catering to outsiders and throwing US under the Bus.. Maybe their NOT the only Game in town after all.. Maybe Barrackas' Radical, Liberal Lefty programs & The Wealth sharing Democrats can support it or bail it out like they did Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac? "

mamawana wrote on Nov 23, 2008 2:33 PM:

" So what, this elitist wine attraction hits the crapper, good riddance!

Too bad for the employees, and performers that were scheduled. What a bunch of low-life for slamming them like this! "

modern napkin wrote on Nov 23, 2008 2:36 PM:

" Although they never did the locals any favors...Copia was at least one place to see interesting films and concerts. And we will sadly miss the nice setting for the Oxbow Lecture Series. It is a beautiful venue and setting, in the right hands, it could be the pride of this po dunk town. "

jpm4444 wrote on Nov 23, 2008 2:42 PM:

" Lets face it; for 20 years Napa has done everything to be a pretentious tourist trap. The wine train has stayed, but Copia was on overpriced place that many thought would not do well from the start. Like in most things, most people became members but rarely came; Just like the luxury hotels going up, our obsession as society to show off and brag about what we have, doesn't work in the Napa Valley; try Marin County for this. "

aaanapa wrote on Nov 23, 2008 2:48 PM:

" I would just like to point out that hundreds if hard working Napans are now have no job because of this closure. Dont rub salt in theyre wounds by cheering and celebrating. I agree that the investors and owners of Copia are greedy, but they arent the ones being hurt by this, the everyday employees are. "

amelia wrote on Nov 23, 2008 3:33 PM:

" I think that if they had placed it more upvalley that it would have had a better chance of success. It's really too bad that it closed since alot of people had jobs there so that is a shame. i don't see the need to insult it like most of the people here. Alot of places try things and this just didn't work out.
Kiddo Young: the idea of a movie theater there is great actually. There is plenty of parking along that area and the fact that you can eat downtown and then walk to the theater is logical. I hope that someone will do that. "

epicuria wrote on Nov 23, 2008 3:59 PM:

" I certainly enjoyed some wonderful music, flicks and wine tastings in this cultural center. But it was too grand and especially now.

All you locals who are gloating, your ox will be gored soon enough if it hasn't been already. It's going to be one gorey time over the next several years. "

Winewoman wrote on Nov 23, 2008 5:00 PM:

" Well I'm glad you brainiacs have figured out why Copia failed - shame you werent on the Board to have imparted your wisdom and saved the universe. To those of you (and there are a bunch of you) who pi** and moan about tourists and wineries - move to Vallejo. They'll be glad to have you and there arent any tourists. News flash - this is Napa Valley. They grow grapes and make wine here. Oh, did I mention that the Napa wine industry infuses $11 BILLION A YEAR into the local economy. Without those tourists and those wineries, this town would be Vallejo. On the subject of the article - Copia had some good programs and is / was the only other place - other than New York City - to offer the WSET program. It's a shame that it didnt work out. Hope the rest of you can escape future business and industry closures and loss of jobs in this difficult economic time. "

elb wrote on Nov 23, 2008 5:33 PM:

" What an absolutely inconsiderate thing to do to your employees, your subcontractors (Musicians), your community!

Hope all you "Copia Officials" have a wonderful Thanksgiving/Christmas now that you've more than likely destroyed the holiday for so many other families.

An 8-1/2 x 11 piece of paper with a bit of ink on it... That was the best you could do? Oh forgive me. You probably used a bit if Scotch tape too. I hope that wasn't what "broke your bank".

You "officials" can decorate your shame with all the fancy houses, cars, clothes and jewels you'd like, but disgrace wears its own crown and there isn't enough materialism in the world to mask its stench. "

funnyme wrote on Nov 23, 2008 5:53 PM:

" You mean no cookies and hot chocolate after the Napa Christmas Parade to see the Tree Lighting?

Where are we going to go after the Parade is over? Locals potluck anyone? "

saneta wrote on Nov 23, 2008 6:33 PM:

" Winewomen your comments are rather funny since one of the reason's that Copia failed is because your precious tourists DIDN'T go to Copia in droves like they predicted!
I am very sorry that the employees lost their jobs especially during the holiday season. But obviously the ones to blame here are NOT Napa locals but Copia itself in the way it was run/managed!
Personally I am glad to see it go as it only catered to a select few! I tried many times to get concert tickets only to be sold out minutes after being opened up. Tell me WHO do you think ended up with all those tickets? NOT the locals! You can "look" down on us locals if you care to but just know it was your precious tourists that let you down not us!
Hopefully they can find a better use for the building. "

vocal-de-local wrote on Nov 23, 2008 6:49 PM:

" I will miss Copia. "

jmo wrote on Nov 23, 2008 7:33 PM:

" This does not bode well for the Oxbow. Its' success was tenuous at best especially now that winter is coming. I am not sure we local Napans can support it without the occasional tourist coming to visit COPIA too.
Betcha the Ritz people back burner the hotel for a couple of years. The rooms won't have the best view with COPIA encircled by cyclone fences and weeds growing up in the parking lot. "

jimmie wrote on Nov 23, 2008 9:04 PM:

" For the naysayers: your glee at Copia's misfortunes will trickle down to your doorstep. While it had it's problems, our local economy would be a dream for most counties in the state. We are ALL in the wine business around here and don't kid yourself into thinking otherwise. If you look down on the people that help foster our economy from wherever they are from, you are dreaming of the day when Kaiser steel had it's heyday - now LONG gone unless you want to move to China.

You go any better ideas? Who's going to pay for them and why? Let's just hope something good can come from this or that soup kitchen line is going to get a little longer every day. You want to be "right" that bad? It's called a Pyrrhic victory. Look it up. "

Rob c wrote on Nov 23, 2008 9:06 PM:

" JMO has a good point - could be a long winter by the 'ole river if you're selling pricey burgers and fries... "

slammin211s wrote on Nov 23, 2008 9:08 PM:

" good riddance, that lot was much better for the community when kids were building dirt jumps for their bmx bikes and people were fishing off the banks of the napa river.

Seeing as it is a fairly low class area of town, i propose it be turned into a strip club .... maybe then the city will capitalize on revenue that is exported to sac and sf. "

cedwardswine wrote on Nov 23, 2008 9:21 PM:

" Mr.Miami did a great job at bringing arts and entertainment to the masses. The flaw at copia was not the concept the flaw was a very poorly managed board of directors and a CEO that has handled the deficit and bailout with misguided thoughts and a lack of ethics. No leader of any ethics would have allowed tickets to be sold and staff to make radio appearances on a day of closure and no press announcement. This lack of ethics puts into question support for all the art venues in the valley as the public has no patience for this unethical and cowardice behavior. To the board and CEO shame on you you were a disgrace to the Mondavi dream and failures in the most dispicable sense damaging not only copia but all of the arts in the Valley. Thiefs of a dream thiefs from those that wanted to see copia live shame on the board now to court and beyond "

cedwardswine wrote on Nov 23, 2008 9:36 PM:

88fan wrote on Nov 23, 2008 10:00 PM:

" There is no doubt that the closing of Copia is bad news. I must say that I am not sure the premise of Copia was really viable for Napa. I have been there a couple times and enjoyed both visits. With that said, Copia is one of those desentations that one says been there done that after the first visit. There really isn't a draw there that would cosisitantly pull one back for more than visit. The Copia attraction much like the Oxbow is limited for the average Napan. "

Newview wrote on Nov 23, 2008 10:49 PM:

" Yes Rob C you are right, the FIRINGI 40th Rule of Acquisition! Profit from anothers demise! "

epicuria wrote on Nov 23, 2008 11:54 PM:

" It was ACA Financial Guaranty Corp., which has guaranteed to repay investors who bought tax-exempt bonds issued for Copia by the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, that insisted the doors be closed without notice. The senior management wanted to give some notice to staff. ACA feared employee theft, etc. "

surfdogge69 wrote on Nov 24, 2008 1:21 AM:

" saneta. I don't know what concerts you couldn't get tickets to. Only a couple of indoor concerts over 7 years were ever completely sold out. Not one outdoor concert was anyone ever turned away at the door. That includes Copia's biggest concert draw each year Pride and Joy at 950 tickets sold in 07. Thank you all the supporters for your comments. As for those naysayers and other negative souls. in about 3 0r 4 years you will whine for what happened to Copia. Triad company has been trying for 3 years to get the land at and around Copia. Same Triad that wants to build a develpment at Angwin and failed in it's renovation attempt at downtown Vallejo. ANY develper that buys the property is going to not care what the locals want. No movie theater or skating rink. More hotels, boutique stores that the minimum wage Napa employees that work in them won't be able to shop at. No parks just Hotels and retail. You should see the projected drawings. Millions in tax revenue though for sure to keep the elites' neigborhoods streets repaired. Out of town developers offering big tax money to the city/county budgets will not give a damn about what locals want.. "

napagirl69 wrote on Nov 24, 2008 1:33 AM:

" Copia may have had mismanagement, but they also did alot of good for alot of local people and many charible organizations. Ask Alta Heights school about their casino nights at discounted rental rates. Or Erica's Dream Foundation or Heidi Klum's fundraiser for $$ to clean up minefields in war torn countries, and countless other organizations that Copia donated or discounted services and rental space for events. The many wineries that poured wine to people that may not heard of them, particulaly the smaller wineries. "

gonzostick wrote on Nov 24, 2008 7:15 AM:

" Everyone at Copia should have known this was a TERRIBLE idea, right from the stsrt!!! This whole experience answered the question, What if they made a museum and no one cared? Worse still, the blood was in the water from the start. Remember the Disney California Park Wine Adventure sponsored by the same folks who thought up this mess? That closed at Disneyland in just months... Pretentiousness is no substitute for a business plan... THAT is THE lesson of Copia... Something should be done about the hideous building... I am only sorry for the faithful employees of this wasteful folly... Of course, watch ROGER AND ME, and see how Flint, Michigan, was built a museum/theme park to the auto industry as the city was imploding thanks to Roger Smith and the GM cretins... That one failed, too!!! I am sure they used Community Redevelopment funds on that turkey, too... So, Copia is Napa's biggest turkey! HAPPY WINE COUNTRY TURKEY DAY!!!

Such a waste!!! "

saneta wrote on Nov 24, 2008 9:30 AM:

" surfdogge69
Your comment :ANY develper that buys the property is going to not care what the locals want. No movie theater or skating rink. More hotels, boutique stores that the minimum wage Napa employees that work in them won't be able to shop at. No parks just Hotels and retail.

Can you please tell me what the difference is between those developers and what the city of Napa already has planned? Maybe you need to take a very good look around napa itself! MORE Hotels, boutique shops that no one in the working class can shop at! This is already been done and will continue to be done. The developers are doing what they do it's their job. It is the city of Napa that has allowed all this as time and time again they have proven that they do not care about the locals of this valley! Name one shop that the any of the hard working class can honestly shop at!
Sorry in all fairness I cannot blame developers but I do hold the city of Napa accountable. "

VPvoice wrote on Nov 24, 2008 9:47 AM:

" Sorry to see Copia fail. Like the idea of using the building as a movie complex. We need a new one but I firmly believe it needs to remain in the downtown area to help the downtown thrive. "

glenroy wrote on Nov 24, 2008 10:39 AM:

" It never made sense in the first place….it was all about an ego…. "

localchick wrote on Nov 24, 2008 11:21 AM:

" As a former employee of Copia who fell victim to the September layoffs, I am very sad to see this happened. Those employees are my friends. Many locals DID come to Copia for events. As someone who grew up in Napa, I hated Copia when it opened and thought it a waste--I never wanted to visit it. But when I started working there, I saw all of the great programs that they offered. They had Taste of Copia Lunches every Friday and the Zinfandel & BBQ one sold out both years that they did it! There were always people at these lunches: I would leave for lunch and come back & not be able to find a parking spot. Do you really think that the tourists were the ones who filled the parking lot Friday after Friday? No! They were locals and those who live in the Bay Area that had given Copia a chance, and realized how valuable it could be. Pride & Joy concerts sold out every time they came, and the Merlove movie debut sold out at least a month in advance--who do you think bought those tickets? Tourists? No, it was the locals.

Copia donated to local groups, they let Big Brothers Big Sisters use the space for fundraisers, they hosted the after party for the "Christmas" parade, they DID care about this community. I'm not blind to the flaws, or that some people involved didn't really care about the locals, but the overall organization did. Shame on all of you posters who have had nothing but laughter and glee at this sad ending.

To all at Copia, I miss you and wish you well.

-Liz "

Rob C wrote on Nov 24, 2008 4:14 PM:

" But see, they could never service the crushing debt load incurred by the "visionaries" with mere BBQ's and cover band shows. Not a chance.

So while it was encouraging to see management finally "come around", the "good" being done by then ephemeral and unsustainable.

The remaining issue is the white elephant in the living room - the building. After the equity holders are wiped, then the decision of whether to part it out or have it kiss the wrecking ball can begin.

What would be unfortunate - as stated in other posts, is endless days of cyclone fencing and overgrown weeds.

But with the inevitable lawsuits over both the blame and the table scraps, the tanking economy and now what appears to be the utter bottom of the cash barrel, this may sadly be the future. "

JustAnotherManicMonday wrote on Nov 24, 2008 10:34 PM:

" HEC....Homeless Encampment Center. The bums, winos, and mentally missing can setup camp on the shores in tents. They can arrive in style in boats down the river. Or they can take the fabulous HTS... Home Transport System, aka Napa Trolley.

As we own the center now, we'll save tons of money in rental fees for a giant hall. Surely PG and E will donate free elctricity, and the police will donate 4 officers a night to supervise. Salvation Army can donate food as there is so much left over, and Meals on Wheels can use their trucks as they are just using them now for lunch. Comcast can deliver free cable, and nurses from the Queen can donate free clinic hours nightly from 5-8PM. Local shops in town can donate towels, blankets, sheets, clothing, as they have so much left over too. The mayor and council members can allocate computers from city workers and send crews in to help train the homeless on new jobs after they have put in 8 hour shifts. From 3-5, kids from local schools can come by and train on how to use the Internet and a computer.

Sound insane? Have you seen the jobless rates and projections? Maybe you, your neighbor and I will be there sooner than you think. "

marine1/1 wrote on Nov 25, 2008 1:32 PM:

" Hopefully it is gone for sure. It was a looser before it even got off the ground. With today's economy, I bet it will sit vacant for many years and that will be a shame. At least the farmers market will only be moving a short distance away. It would be nice if the building was used for something for the Napa community but then again we all know that our city council would never stand for it. Good ridance Copia! "

areyoubitter wrote on Nov 28, 2008 4:38 PM:

" I feel for the Employees. Julia's had staff, servers,cooks and managers. What about them?? Forced layoff means more unemployment. But really they can't live off that!! They should have had at least 2 weeks. Just the same they would expect for an employee to give them. It's selfish of them.
Copia has been sinking for years. It's too bad. I work in the hospitality industry and guests enjoy it. We as locals are jaded :) Guests always ask why its free?? Sounds like an issue there.... "

napathots wrote on Nov 29, 2008 10:38 AM:

" I guess the pooping Pope got the last laugh...but COPIA is a beautiful location and building. It was a great location for a farmer's market. I hope the next use includes thoughts of locals in the planning. It should not be a private non-profit competing with needs based organizations for local charity dollars. "

Vercingetorex wrote on Nov 29, 2008 3:14 PM:

" The misplaced anger over the collapse of the failed white elephant Copia is amusing. The problem isn't the attitudes of locals sick of the tourist tail wagging the dog.
It's the presumptuous elitist attitudes of foodists like Winewoman who want to turn Napa into a yuppie's Disneyland.
You simply have blinders on and miscalculated miserably how many people would be willing to visit what is essentially a food museum.
The numbers of people interested, once the initial fascination wore off, proved to be very small. The ones that would come back again? Even smaller.
Be angry at your miserable business plan. Not at Napans.

And might I add, this sort of preachy, we know what's best for you attitude, didn't do business any good when elitist foodists ran the place.
Don't be surprised if the Ritz also vastly overestimates how many people will be willing to drop big money, on a consistent basis, to visit Napa. "

bogabutsma wrote on Dec 1, 2008 3:00 PM:

" I enjoyed working for a tourism bureau that offered Copia's wide variety of education, classes and concerts and was thrilled to provide information to TOURIST that were coming into the valley for the first time. So maybe it wasn't beneficial to locals, but were are a TOURIST DESTINATION FOLKS!

If locals were lucky to take advantage of concerts, movies and other opportunities that Copia offered...great! If you chose not to participate, stop complaining. They tried to offer options to locals, and had a great vision to start with...it just didn't work out.

Good luck to Julia's Kitchen and the rest of the Copia's staff that were let go so quickly. "

Britta wrote on Feb 12, 2009 3:35 AM:

" Hey there, you mostly, obviously, COPIA-specialists.. I´ve been an intern at COPIA 5 years ago, and I´ve had the greatest time there. It seems that everyone of you knows how easy it could have been to pull COPIA up in a better way, for it to be successfull, you all knew what to do or what kind of propaganda would´ve been good. But.. did any of you ever mada a suggestion? In the end, most of you probably have never even been to COPIA, otherwise you would know what a great place it was. You were definately able to get drunk.. if that´s what you need. They had great WineTastings, shows, Chefs.. there were so many things for you to see, learn and especially taste.. So for me, most of you don´t know anything about COPIA.. I mean.. COPIA itself. You may be right that it was not well plannend moneywise.. but COPIA with it´s program was just great and there really isn´t any other place like that.
I´m back here in Northern Germany..and I really miss everything about COPIA and am truly sad that they had to shut down. And besides.. I bet you guys have never made a wrong decision, hm?! "

Britta wrote on Feb 12, 2009 3:37 AM:

" and before I forget.. god luck to all "my" COPIAns "

jcmccr wrote on May 5, 2009 8:19 AM:

" sic transit gloria Mondavi. Along with the wine company. "

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