Cheap Like Us

Feature: “The Cheapskate Edition,” January 17

Thank you for including an article on my friend Larry Roth in your Cheapskate Edition, and for Justin Kendall’s understanding that this is more than just frugal gamesmanship. People really depend on the savings that coupons and promotions can add to their shopping. Neither Mr. Roth nor any reasonable customer should have to explain what a coupon clearly states, just as cash-register employees should have an understanding of the terms used in sales. Items offered at discount should be in stock, sufficient to meet at least the expected surge of the first days of sale. My first job as a grocery-store clerk was across the street from a retirement home, and I learned the value of wise shopping from the examples of these fixed-income people. Thank you for highlighting the craft of one eccentric genius who makes shopping a little cheaper for all of us.

James Miller, Kansas City, Missouri

How quickly one forgets. Just a few years after The Pitch moves from Westport, the Best of Kansas City happy hour that its employees once enjoyed is now forgotten. In Lorna Perry’s “Buzz on a Budget,” the Buzzard Beach’s incredible happy hour got passed over like the Chiefs’ ’07 secondary. It offers 12-ounce domestic draws at 75 cents and 12-ounce wells at $2, from open until 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and from open until 7 p.m. on Saturday. These prices haven’t changed in more than 23 years. Add that to our Ladies’ Night (same low happy-hour prices for women every Thursday night until midnight) and Wednesday night’s extended happy-hour prices on draws until midnight, and your “buzz” can’t be acquired for less. That is, unless you like PBR, in which case the draws are 75 cents on Sunday from 8 p.m. to midnight. In fact, Buzzard Beach has been selling happy-hour draws for 75 cents since around the inception of The Pitch, back in the early ’80s. The leg warmers and Members Only jackets are long gone, but the 75-cent draws are here to stay.

Mike Heili, Kansas City Missouri

Music: “Need More Pop,” January 17

Richard Gintowt wrote a greatly needed article on Needmore Discs. Thanks, Pitch. This store rules. They found me the new Down album, Over the Under, which no one else seems to have, even online. They kept checking on it for me for almost four months! They also ordered me the new Type O Negative triple-vinyl boxed set. They have very fair prices, a friendly and knowledgeable staff, and an awesome used and new selection of vinyl, CDs, DVDs, boxed sets, and imports. It’s worth the drive for me, coming from Independence, and sure beats waiting for Internet orders to come in the mail. Keep up the good work, and please support your local stores. Go buy an album and cherish the entire package, not just an iPod graphic!

Elliott Henry, Independence