Missing Retail in Northlake

I made another three-mile trip to Tucker today to go to a drugstore – on top of the 2.5 miles to get an ice cream cone the other night. Need a nail? Fugettaboutit without a 3.5 miler to Home Depot or back into Tucker proper. Lordy. I live less than a mile from Northlake Mall and Briarcliff Village Shopping Center, but I know farmers closer to the stuff they need. Why do these conveniences not exist in an urban location with arguably the most streets converging into one place within five miles. Where are the entrepreneurs if not the national chains? Anyone looking for a "beat up/beat down" market with hidden value?

Stock market experts like to say "There's always a bull market somewhere" when the market is not performing well across the board. What they mean is, even in lousy economies, someone is making money somewhere, and investors need to find where. One place they look are "values," good companies with unloved stocks. Stocks can come well off their highs for any number of reasons, not reflecting the company's quality or performance. That's when you buy low.

Another bull market in a bad economy generally is a sector poised for growth no matter what happens. Geographically, money is pouring into Mongolia right now. Do you think the metrics in Mongolia give a damn about meltdowns in the United States or Europe? Other sectors are not geographic. Sin comes to mind. Cigarettes and booze are doing well, and my guess is gambling may get going again.

I'm not promoting Northlake's Overlay as "Sin City," and I'm not sure land prices have come down enough for the area to be considered a value (actually a major factor in Northlake's lack of action for many years). However, I'd bet dollars to donuts that you could open one of the operations I mentioned above or a combination of them and get all the customers you want.

In fact, I can see putting a pharmacy/hardware store/ice cream shop/ all in one place along LaVista Road. How about Fuddruckers or Schlotsky's?