<p>I’d love a Culver’s (great Butter Burgers and frozen custard-WI based), Pappadeaux’s (seafood-TX based), Pappasito’s (Mexican-TX based), Green Mill Pizza (MN), Gino’s Pizza (IL) and a Nordstrom.</p>
<p>Daughter would love a Garage (Montreal based clothing store) [url=<a href=“http://www.garage.ca/]Garage[/url”>http://www.garage.ca/]Garage[/url</a>]</p>
<p>anybody ever eaten at a Musclemaker Grill? opening closeby…don’t really want “guinea pig” status…</p>
<p>Someone mentioned Portillo’s above - I will trade you ALL OUR BOB EVANS for one Portillo’s!!! The chopped salad!!! It seems there is a Bob Evans on every corner here. In fact, most of our family refuses to go to BEvans unless we are driving to our cottage where Bob Evans is one of the only choices in a town we often take a break to eat at. </p>
<p>I would also like to experience Nordstrom Rack. </p>
<p>Container Store.</p>
<p>I would do cartwheels for an LLBean store.</p>
<p>Dinosaurs is okay, but there’s better BBQ in New York City and the surrounding area. As someone who made a detour to RUB last weekend to bring home BBQ after going to the Guggenheim. (Though I personally like Daisy May’s better.) And Q in Portchester has better sides than any of the NYC places. But I digress… I wish Arthur Bryant’s in Kansas City would come East…</p>
<p>I was happy when Trader Joe’s came East, but it doesn’t seem right without the wine.</p>
<p>But chain restaurants? I can’t think of one I need to have. Our local ethnic restaurants are so much more interesting.</p>
<p>We still have one old fashioned hardware store left nearby. I’ll be very sad if it closes. It even has the unfinished wood floor and the right smell.</p>
<p>I don’t really want anymore chain stores around here. We could use a mom n pop style bookstore/coffee house. My friends and I often meet at a local Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and it’s not cozy enough. Feels like a drive through.</p>
<p>As for In N Out, some schools made S’s list because of their close proximity to In N Out. I think it’s popular because it isn’t everywhere. It’s still a novelty for most people like Krispy Kremes was before it moved into our city. Then, everyone got sick of them!</p>
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<p>Now THAT I have! Twenty minutes drive to the mothership. :)</p>
<p>If anyone is ever in Portland and wants a donut, go to Tony’s Donuts and get a molasses glazed.</p>
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<p>Isn’t that the truth!?! Krispy Kremes are great until about the 4th visit. I’ve never felt that way about any other chain.</p>
<p>Contrary opinion. I love krispy kremes, and have fortunately lived in a town with Krispy Kremes for 29 years, but only have then maybe once in a blue moon. But… the time to eat a krispy kreme donut is hot off the rack. YUMM!!! There is usually a red sign in the window, and when its lit, the donuts are being cooked. You go in, ask for them off the rack, and watch them select your donut(s) for you. They are hot, sweet and wonderful!</p>
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<p>I have lived in the heart of In-N-Out country for decades and I have yet to meet anyone who likes burgers in the first place who has gotten sick of eating In-N-Out.</p>
<p>Our Krispy Kremes all left a couple of years ago much to my S’s dismay.</p>
<p>We recently got a “mom and pop” coffee shop right in our neighborhood and it blows all the chains right out of the water. The coffee, drinks, food and atmosphere is PERFECT! I smile each time I drive by (I do know the owner a bit) and see it filled with neighborhood people —great to see it doing well amidst all the Starbucks and Beaner’s in our town.</p>
<p>Also - how could I forget this BIG DESIRE of mine??? While we do have TJ Maxx I would do TWO cartwheels if we had a HomeGoods!!!</p>
<p>abasket-
What is the difference between TJMaxx and Homegoods? I 've been in both, and even ones with both names on them. They are owned bythe same parent company, and I dont see a difference. What am I missing? I think they might even own Marshall’s too.</p>
<p>A bit unrelated, but…</p>
<p>When my in-laws moved to Kentucky, my sister-in-law (still a teenager living at home at the time) bemoaned the fact that they lived “ten miles from the nearest Taco Bell…and twenty-five miles from the good Taco Bell!” (The closer one was in a gas station.) She was really indignant about it, too. It still makes me laugh.</p>
<p>TJ’s is clothes, shoes, accessories AND some home stuff (decorative, towels, sheets, etc)</p>
<p>HomeGoods is ALL home stuff including lots of kitchen stuff, glassware, small to large furniture, rugs, seasonal home stuff, etc. I can spend a LONG time in that store and do quite a bit of damage. </p>
<p>One of our best road trips about an hour from us in Ann Arbor is to do HomeGoods, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods (sometimes) and a stop at some restaurant we don’t have here in our town. That is a happy day for me. :)</p>
<p>A great shopping road trip for me is to Ikea. It’s about an hour away - just far enough so I don’t go there too much yet close enough to be able to to haul big stuff home!</p>