I see that Popeye’s has closed down. Look, one more fast-food restaurant more or less isn’t going to make or break a town. However, it seems businesses closing down has become a way of life in this once-vibrant community.
Hey, I don’t know if this Popeye’s was well-run, poorly-run, or what, but I’m less inclined to continually blame poor management when place after place seems to shutter their doors after a short visit to our town. Remember, this is a town that couldn’t support a Mickey D’s. How many villages can claim that distinction?
I don’t claim to know the answers. Is it that taxes are insanely high in this village and businesses can’t handle the weight of them? Is it that there’s just not enough disposable income in our town to support anything, so even if there were no taxes they wouldn’t be able to survive?
Look at the downtown- businesses are closing left and right down there. Sterk’s went down the drain in no time flat. We hear from the city fathers that Sterk’s was doomed to fail because it was out-sized for our community, and they seem to be pooh-poohing this new place (shouldn’t the powers that be try to encourage business to locate here instead of telling everyone they think the store will fail?) that might be taking up part of the Sterk’s space. I’m no marketing expert, but things don’t look good when even the mayor can’t muster enthusiasm about his town.
I don’t know the answers to these questions I’m raising about the future or Park Forest. I wish I did. Does anyone have the answers out there? If you do, I’d suggest you send a nice letter to the folks in village hall because I think they could use all the help they can get in figuring this thing out.
