Sunday, March 1, 2009

What crisis?

Practically every sentence starts with "In this economy," and in some places, people are losing their homes and jobs. In some places, however, "this economy" is purring along just fine, or so it seems. I don't know if these are sound business decisions or people with money doing a stupid thing. Either way, they're fearlessly plodding along:
I guess America really does run on Dunkin'. That's a new donut emporium where a bank used to stand. There's another Dunkin' Donuts about two miles away. Can't have too many, right?

A new Rite Aid drug store is going up on this site (across the street from the donut place) where a golf driving range and miniature golf course once stood. There's a CVS and Walgreen's less than two miles from here. Rite Aid's stock is 28 cents a share. I'd guess that they have better things to do with the money they have left than to build another store.

This old Taco Bell has been vacant for about two years. Recently, this sign went up for a new Martino Cartier Salon. It's a franchise that sells expensive hair care products and expensive hair cuts. Perfect for an economic downturn. I miss the Taco Bell.


This old Caldor shopping center has been vacant for 10 years. Over the past few months construction has been going on for this new LA Fitness center. It's close to the donut place.

Just what we need in an economic downturn - donuts, drugs, pricey hair cuts and a gym membership. Nobody ever tears down a building and puts up trees, so if these things go belly-up, we'll be forced to look at a few more abandoned buildings. The only good news about all of this is that they're all taking job applications. The bad news is that they probably pay minimum wage.

8 comments:

kimmyk said...

dunkin donuts are going up all over the place these days. friday morning me and the boy stopped in our newest one to get donuts and coffee and the whole point to dunkin springing up all over is that they are trying to be the face of new economy coffee instead of high priced coffee such as starbucks. (who as i'm sure you know cut thousands of jobs and even closed locations due to "the economy") or so that's what the chick behind the counter told me. they even had signs suggesting such...

and just think once the new gym opens it'll give you a new place to work out or the maybe the old lady who was getting in your way (or was that jamie who was telling me some old lady was on the leg presses for an hour?) either way...it's a new place and it might be nice to try out. possibly free or discounted membership once they open. right up your alley. rite aid's here closed. just walgreen's and cvs' for as far as the eye can see. always right beside or across from each other. everywhere. weird.

Anthony said...

The upside is that the new gym is closer to home than the one I'm at now. The downside is that the membership is twice as much. I'll probably stay.

People are finally figuring out the Starbucks deal. Cheaper and better coffee around here at Wawa and Dunkin. It's all about the buzz anyway, isn't it?

LA Fitness isn't my kind of place anyway. I like dark and dirty with real weights, not machines and sparkly shine. The best places are the dingy ones.

Anonymous said...

Well my name is Martino Cartier and no I am not a franchise. I am a family owned salon that provides exceptional hair care, along with giving back to the community all year long. If you miss Taco Bell there is one right up the street. As far as the new location I think West Deptford is a great place and I can't wait to open! Be Blessed! Martino

Anthony said...

The old Taco Bell is 500 feet from where I live. I can't walk to the Taco Bell up the street, and I don't like it enough to start the car.

The place is kind of an eyesore right now, so anything is an improvement. I just hope you haven't overestimated the allure of a hair salon.

Firestarter5 said...

WOW, that's what New Jersey looks like!

Anthony said...

Pretty much. At least the southern part. Maybe I should do more photo essays. This one was kind of fun. I could do freeway overpasses, landfills and (my favorite) Convenience stores.

Robb said...

Cheap, good, coffee. Here in Canada, the craze is Tim Hortons. These franchises are reproducing like rabbits (or is that rats??). Anyway, If'n y'all live in a small town here-abouts and you get yourself a Timmys, well, your town now is "somwhere", 'stead o' "nowhere".

And, I gotta say, when I travel state-side, Dunkin' is the place to go. Still, I can't wait for Tim's coffee to make a bigger splash down there. Heck, the Wendy's chain owns Tim Hortons! They just gotta start expanding "in this economy"!

Anthony said...

Around here, Horton's will have their work cut out for them. We have a local convenience store chain, Wawa, that serves cheap good coffee. They're neck-and-neck with Dunkin' Donuts.

It'd be a bold move for Horton's to move in. There are plenty of Wendy's around, though.