The Only Action In Town

Building in Michigan is very limited these days. The girls and I took note of a new hole being dug in front of our local Blockbuster, wondering if this could be something intriguing. I was thinking a cool ice cream shop or a unique cafe would work well in that spot. Maybe a music store, a vintage clothing shop, a Cole-Haan shoe store, an independent bookseller, a drive through dog wash...the possibilities are endless. The area within a one mile radius of the mystery hole boasts a brand new ultra modern 200 bed hospital, Kroger, Home Depot, Staples, Leo’s Coney Island, Hallmark, Sam’s Club, Applebee’s, Outback, Olga’s, Target, Meijers, a number of banks, and the trifecta of fast food chains.

Turns out a few days later the mystery was solved when we drove by the spot and saw this. That’s right, just what we need to buoy our spirits and shore up the struggling economy, another bank. Yipee. They really know how to excite a girl. Not that I have anything against bank employees, the customer service at my bank is very good. They are efficient, helpful, pleasant and appreciative of my business. I did a little survey up and down this 5 lane highway and within one mile I counted 8 banks, 7 of them less than 2 years old! These things are reproducing like flies, procreating at an alarming rate with no attempt to exert reasonable control. Like out of control financial cloning.

Now, the good part is it brings some jobs to the local economy. Maybe. Construction of commercial retail buildings are often done by the same crew of contractors who travel from site to site in a regional area, erecting the same design repetitively. Notice there tends to be an architectural theme represented by these buildings? Maybe some focus group somewhere has proclaimed the turret like structure to be a symbol of trust in the bling bling god.

New places of business opening in your community means more employees must be hired to staff these buildings. Well, again maybe. I’ve noticed that the 3 branches of my particular bank within a 3 mile radius of my home, they tend to shift employees around. The other thing I have noticed (and this is purely anecdotal) is that I rarely have to wait in line. Now, that is not a complaint because y’all know I love efficient and friendly customer service. I’ve just thought that “in-store” customers are sparse due to online banking and direct deposits. From a practical standpoint, which you know is my specialty, I just don’t see the logic in this banking proliferation. Why incur the expense of more buildings, more employees, more property taxes and maintenance costs?

I’m certainly no banking expert but I am a thinker. Sometimes. I only tend to think about things that really pique my interest (whereas my husband will come up with 50 questions about any given topic). I can understand the importance of the “branding” concept as a factor in this trend but it still doesn’t make sense to me. Couldn’t they just post up a bill board as opposed to a fully manned physical place of business? I’m just saying that in the current economic climate, when everyone’s instinct is to reign in spending it seems a bit odd to continue the present expansion. Maybe demonstrating a little simple financial restraint would be good for EVERYONE (you know what is good for the goose is good for the gander). Not to mention the suburban sprawl is proving to be both boring and unappealing.

Comments

[Kathy]

What little money we have these days we are keeping under the mattress.