“This helps to explain why I went from 1974 to 1978 without opening another store, something that could be viewed as inexcusable, given the success of Whole Earth Harry. Again, however, I did the right thing for the wrong reason. When Fair Trade on milk and alcohol blew up in our face in late 1976, we were not locked into too many stores that had been built on the assumption that those 1930s laws would last forever. Among other things, this saved us from having increased our huge investment in liquor licenses, which plunged in value when Fair Trade ended. It left us in better shape to transition from Whole Earth Harry to Mac the Knife, a powerhouse that could draw people from twenty-five miles around, provided you leased stores with the boulevard access that would make that possible.”