I can't say that I am sad to see Petco go. The last time I was in there, the cashier was too busy taking a personal call on his cell phone to ring up my purchase.

I recommend Pet Supplies Plus. The manager and staff are very knowledgeable about pet products. They also carry the higher-end pet foods that are not available in the big box stores.

We are loosing "anchor stores" and replacing them with tanning bed, Dollar Store, Big Lots, and Good Will outlet. Anyone else see a trend here? The west side shoping center is on thin ice. Not sure how to stop it.

I see several issues at play here:

1. The economy in general. People just don't have or don't want to spend the money to shop at an "anchor store".
2. Service. Why should I pay "anchor store" prices when the service is no longer there to justify it? It used to be that you got excellent service when shopping somewhere like Macy's. I went in there yesterday, dropped for me what is a big chunk of cash and I felt like the salesperson couldn't care less about me as a customer.
3. The Internet. See above. If I can purchase something on the Internet at the same price or less with free shipping, why should I frustrate myself with a trip to the store when I can stay in the comfort of my own home?
4. "Anchor stores" tend to have homogenized products. Nothing to differentiate themselves from the rest. So when one goes, the next one will be there to take its place - even if you have to drive a few more minutes to get there.

How to reverse this trend? I think the "anchor stores" are going to have to start stepping up their service in order to compete. They are never going to be able to compete on price because of the brick & mortar overhead. Start giving a damn about your customers and they will give a damn about you.

We have A LOT of empty store fronts on the west side of town. In addition to Blockbuster, Petco, Borders, Michaels, Famous Footwear, Factory Card Outlet, Sears Optical, Office Depot, Coldwell Banker, the other half of the building where Hobby Lobby is and the other half of the old Eagle grocery store (Best Buy only has the west 1/2). I'm sure that I've forgotten some but you get the idea. 1 store goes in and 3 go out.

This is why we need more locally owned business instead of another anchor store. Big corporations use their clout to muscle tax incentives out of local goverents pushing out local businesses, then when the economy goes south, they pull in their tenticles and leave the local economy hurting even more with lost jobs. The big corporation survives to greed another day and what happens to local folk?

It's unfortunate that suppliers to stores do not sell to local store owners for the same price they sell to the chains. Because chain stores can order more with each order, they get better pricing from the supplier then a small, local owned store selling the same product. Petco went under because they priced themselves out of business. Even their going out of business prices are higher then the price you pay for the same item at PetSmart. Go figure.

As I said above, if local store owners can't compete on price, they HAVE to bring it in terms of service. Unfortunately, no one can seem to be bothered to give a damn about their customers any more. That's why when you do find a business that provides good service at a fair price, you have to tell the world about it and keep patronizing them.

What is Mayor Claar doing about this problem on the West side of Bolingbrook? I don't see the same problem on the East side.

I disagree with you Joanne. Stores are closing all over Bolingbrook including the East Side. But this is just not a Bolingbrook problem. This is a problem for all communities. The economy has taken its toll on many good businesses. Not sure why you believe Mayor Claar has the power to keep a business afloat on the East side but not the west side. I don't believe he has anything to do with that. The mayor and the village board can help draw new businesses to town but they can't insure they will be successful. There are too many outside influences that impact on the success, or lack thereof, of the businesses in our village.

I definitely agree with jaskie1505. . . We do meed more locally owned places...