Stores you hate...stores you love

emilybee
Fri, 08 May 2015 11:21:24 +0000

My hamlet has very few chains and none in the center (aka 4 Corners.) We have a village market & a butcher, a frame shop, a book store, a coffee cafe & bake shop, a yoga studio, a luncheonette (been there for over 50 years,) a pub, 2 pizza shops, a pharmacy, a day spa, a few banks, a liquor store, a jeweler, an upscale restaurant, a Japanese restaurant, a vegan restaurant, a Chinese take out (has a few tables but no one eats there,) a consignment shop and a wine bar is about to open (was an ice cream shop and before that a gift shop.) Most of these have been there for years. We do have a few chains but they are in another hamlet in my town - about 4 miles or so from the village center. That’s where Lowes, Pet Smart & Walmart are and the chain restaurants (though there are also local stores there, too - like a used book store, etc. ) The strip mall a couple of miles down from the village center has mostly local stores and restaurants, too.

We chose to live here 24 years ago instead of other area communities because of having a real village center (and excellent schools) instead of suburbs where we could get a house twice the size for the same amount of $ but had main roads filled with chain stores and strip malls.