The Shop Around The Corner

You'll recall from previous posts my interest in the development of local commercial properties and residential lots. Specifically, where there is an empty storefront I am watching and waiting for what will fill it. It has been slow in many cases, but sooner or later something will come in and occupy something that has been vacant for sometime. It is, I hope, a reflection of an improving economy. Of course, not every new business that so fills a void is terribly welcome.

Some are real disappointments. I recall an empty space back in Highland Park that eventually was taken by some purveyor of cheap toys. That was a real letdown. Likewise there is this new places that is poised to open up in a place out on the corner of my very own street. For some time I tried to figure out what it must be destined for, that place. There were no real clues except that there was a lot of activity in the back. What was happening in the front was obscured.

Finally, we could see the front, and it was a bright, cheery space. I couldn't guess from that what we had in store for ourselves. I would have to way for them to start filling it with merchandise, and only lately have they begun to do that. The first thing I noticed was the cigarette logo in the window. The glassware on the counters told me all I needed to know: this new business was to be a headshop. I think that's what you call it. Obviously it's not for me.

We must assume that the bongs and hookahs are strictly for the legitimate, legal use of smoking tobacco, but even that is not my thing. I am terribly disappointed to see this come in, and not just because it's not something I'm going to patronize. I have two interests as far as new business in the neighborhood. It's important to me that they contribute to the local tax base, lifting up all ships. It's also important to me that they reflect well on the neighborhood. I don't know whether this will do either.