The Long and Winding Road

I grew up on a farm and in a small town (population 250 and falling) out in the sticks. We were a long way from stores, and going to town to buy things was a cost (in both money and time) you simply factored into life.

Until this Summer there was a market up in the SunCrest development on Traverse Ridge. It was a general store type of place for the people living up there. It ran into the same problem every small town merchant has run into: not enough traffic to cover the costs. Now it's gone.

And now the folks up there are going, "Gee, I have to drive all the way to town for my brie. And gas is so expensive." I guess it's lucky for them Harmons just opened a new store at the base of the hill. I can't sympathize much. This is the sort of thinking that led them to build McMansions in a wind tunnel on a sand pile next to a fault line in the first place. But I digress.

If you're planning a business, location counts in new ways. Fuel costs will be dictating not only your expenses but your customers' behavior.